Chapter 2

He froze for a second.

Then he laughed, half-dismissive.

"Evie, quit it."

"Mia's your best friend. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to look out for her when you're not around?"

"We kept it from you because you're too jealous. If you're really that worked up about it, next time I'll bring you on the trip. Happy?"

He reached out, as if to ruffle my hair the way you'd humor a child.

I stepped aside, looked him in the eye, and said, word by word:

"Julian. I'm serious. We're breaking up."

The smile on his face slowly froze over. His eyes turned cold.

He let out a low, cold laugh.

"Evelyn. You're breaking up with me over something as stupid as me going hiking with Mia? Calling off the wedding?"

"Your mother's dead. Your father's a drunk. With a family like yours, who else is going to marry you besides me? Or are you planning to grow old alone?"

I stared at him in disbelief. My eyes burned. My lips trembled.

When I was seventeen and my father nearly beat me to death in a drunken rage, Julian had stepped in front of me and taken the hit.

He'd once promised:

"As long as I'm here, no one hurts you."

The day my mother died, I sobbed until I couldn't breathe in front of her headstone. He'd held me then, too.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Evie. I'll love you the way she did."

Now the same man was using my dead mother and my broken family as weapons to cut me.

He saw my body stiffen and reached for my hand again.

"I'm sorry. I was angry. I didn't mean it."

I shook him off and forced my voice to steady.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Julian. I'm leaving—"

Before I could finish, a slender figure rushed through the door.

Julian dropped my hand instantly.

Mia looked at him first, and only afterward turned to me, eyes shining with tears.

"Evie, thank God you're okay. I was so scared you'd do something stupid, so I rushed back."

"From the day you introduced me and Julian, the three of us have always been closest friends, right? Those posts were just friendship stuff."

"I hid that account from you because I didn't want you overthinking."

When I stayed silent, she gave a small, careful laugh.

"You don't actually believe that whole 'watch out for your best friend around your man' thing, do you? That's absurd. How could I possibly steal Julian from you?"

Right.

We were supposed to be closest friends.

When we were kids, Mia and I had lived in the same run-down neighborhood, and she often had nothing hot to eat.

I used to steal bread from home to bring her. I took my father's beatings for it.

She'd looked at the bruises on my body and cried.

"Evie, thank you for being my friend. I'll spend my whole life making it up to you."

I'd put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"From now on, I've got you."

But from the day I introduced her to Julian, she began to change.

I was quietly pushed out of their world.

When we went shopping, I always trailed behind them.

When we ordered food, no one asked what I wanted.

Even when a storm forced them to change our flight during a trip, no one bothered to tell me.

And afterward, they'd always brush it off.

"Evie, don't be silly. We can't pay attention to you every second. If something's bothering you, just say so."

I had said so.

Had anyone ever listened?

"Whatever. I'm done with both of you."

My voice was soft, but Mia wouldn't let it go.

Her face crumpled into a look of hurt and grievance. Tears fell onto my palm.

Once, I would've felt sorry for her—comforted her gently, taken her out, bought her whatever she wanted, done anything to make her happy.

Not anymore.

Mia's voice trembled now, every word a small blade.

"It's my fault the wedding didn't happen today. Let's do it tomorrow. I'll be there, I promise. Please don't be angry."

I was done. Utterly. I threw her hand off, hard.

"Enough! Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's death!"

She stumbled back two steps, staring at me, stunned, tears sliding down one after another.

"Evie, I just forgot for a second—"

Before she could finish, Julian shoved me aside and pulled her behind him.

I slammed back into the shelf.

The framed photo on the shelf toppled off. The glass shattered, and a flying shard sliced across my calf, drawing blood.

Julian glanced at me once and said impatiently:

"We're busy. Forgetting is normal. Not everyone gets to sit around like you do. Was it really worth going on and on about this?"

"Evelyn Hart, you look like a shrew. You want this wedding so badly you've lost your mind."

Julian stood right in front of me.

But he felt very far away.

"I—"

Before I could speak, Mia threw out one line and pushed past him toward the door.

"Fine. From start to finish, this is my fault. I'll go. Don't fight because of me!"

Julian took a step after her, then stopped. He turned back to me.