Chapter 3

By the time I got back to the basement apartment, it was late at night.

The air was thick with the smell of mildew and something worse. It turned my stomach.

I had lived like this for seven years. I told myself I could keep enduring it.

But now, all I wanted was to escape.

My fingers traced over the calendar again and again.

Two more days. Mom and Dad were coming to take me home.

The weight in my chest lifted a little.

I peeled off my ruined clothes, managed to change into something clean, and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, the sound of a key turning in the lock jolted me awake.

I looked instinctively toward the door.

The sharp click of heels on the floor told me who it was before she said a word. Maya.

"What are you doing here?"

"Dropping off an invitation. Tomorrow's my engagement party with Ethan, after all."

She pressed the envelope into my hands with a smug little smile.

"Zoe, you and Ethan used to show off your relationship in front of me every single day — and look how it ended. I still took him from you."

"You know he's already bought me over a dozen properties? Meanwhile he wouldn't even let you move out of this tiny basement."

"And those cakes he used to buy you? Discount stuff from the clearance rack. The gift he gave me was a ruby worth millions."

"That job you worked so hard to get? He had someone destroy it on purpose. Just to keep you trapped here."

"Surprised? How does it feel, being betrayed by the person you loved? Does it hurt?"

The blood drained from my body. I couldn't even cry.

My eyes stayed fixed on the direction of her voice.

"Why?"

"What did I ever do to either of you?"

I'd been asking myself that all night and still couldn't figure it out.

Maya just laughed.

There was nothing but contempt in her eyes.

"Zoe, do you remember? Back in college, I was dating an older guy. Everyone was telling me to break up with him — everyone except you."

"I ran away with him. Do you have any idea what he put me through?"

"He tried to use me to get to his boss. If Ethan hadn't pulled me out of that situation, I would have been destroyed."

"Zoe, you never actually cared about me. You just couldn't stand to see me happy."

My fingers clenched tight. I stared at her.

She wasn't wrong that I hadn't said anything. But it wasn't because I wanted her to suffer.

It was because she had blocked and cut off every friend who tried to talk her out of it. If I pushed too hard and she shut me out too, who would she call when things went wrong?

From campus to the city where she'd gone — nearly three hundred miles. A bus ticket ran about forty dollars each way. I kept three hundred dollars set aside. Enough for multiple trips.

All so that if she ever called me in crisis, I could go.

Bitterness spread through me slowly. After a long silence, I finally spoke.

My voice came out rough.

"So that's your reason for betraying me."

"And Ethan? What's his?"