Chapter 2

I barely remember making it upstairs.

By the time I reach the bedroom, the nausea has turned into sharp cramps. I hurt too much to go out for medicine.

Some time later, my phone buzzes.

It is Julian.

“Adrian returned the bracelet. You didn’t want it?”

I try to answer, but my voice comes out weak.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think something I ate made me sick.”

He goes quiet for a moment.

“Come downstairs in twenty minutes. There’ll be medicine waiting for you. We’ll talk when you feel better.”

Tears slide into my hair.

Twenty minutes later, I force myself downstairs.

The house is quiet now, but Adrian is still in the living room.

He lifts a small note.

Take care of yourself.

A man’s handwriting.

His face darkens.

“What is this?”

“Medicine.”

“Who sent it?”

I don’t answer.

Adrian picks up the pharmacy bag and throws it into the trash.

“You can’t go one night without some guy taking care of you? You couldn’t buy your own medicine?”

“It’s just medicine.”

Vanessa gets a headache and Adrian drives across town for her favorite tea. If she has to take pills, he brings candy because she hates the taste.

But another man sends me medicine, and suddenly I am the problem.

My silence makes him angrier.

He grabs the glass ashtray and hurls it across the room.

It hits the wall beside me and shatters.

A sharp piece catches my forehead.

Warm blood runs down my face.

Adrian freezes.

I don’t move.

Maybe I’m too tired.

Maybe I’m thinking about the four weddings we were supposed to have.

The first was canceled when the venue fell through.

The second ended before it began when Adrian’s grandfather died.

The third was called off because of a family emergency.

The fourth was postponed because Adrian was too busy with work.

By then, everyone understood.

The Hawthornes didn’t want me.

I became the scholarship girl who spent years trying and failing to marry into their family.

One of Adrian’s friends once asked if I was “not good enough in bed” to make him marry me.

Another cornered me in a bathroom at a party and tried to put his hands on me.

So when Adrian says there will be another wedding next month, I already know what that promise is worth.

He stares at the blood on my forehead.

“Claire.”

I say nothing.

“Why didn’t you move?”

He reaches for me.

“Come here. Let me clean that up.”

Adrian has treated my injuries before.

I used to think that meant he cared.

Now I know he just didn’t want anyone asking questions.

I step away, bend down, and pull the medicine from the trash.

Before he can say anything, a woman’s voice comes from his phone.

“Adrian, stop fighting with her. We’re still waiting for you.”

My fingers stop.

Vanessa.

I look at him.

“Were you on the phone this whole time?”

“Yes.”

So that is why he is still downstairs.

He was about to leave.

For her.

Vanessa’s voice comes through again.

“Are you coming or not?”

Adrian hesitates, then grabs his coat.

“I’ll be back later.”

The door closes behind him.

I go to the kitchen and open the refrigerator.

There isn’t even a bottle of water left.

The shelves are packed with Vanessa’s drinks and desserts.

I close the door, turn on the faucet, and swallow the pills Julian sent me with tap water.

My stomach turns again.

I don’t know how many people heard what happened tonight.

My phone rings.

It is my brother.

His first words are:

“Did you cheat on Adrian?”

Ryan doesn’t let me answer.

“Do you have any idea how many people are laughing at me right now?”