Chapter 1

Before the escape room began, I caught my boyfriend, Derek Hayes, and my best friend, Vivian Brooks, planning a prank together.

They planned to leave me locked in the pitch-black room at the final stage.

So when the costumed actor said one woman had to stay behind, my boyfriend, my younger brother, and my best friend pointed at me without a second's hesitation.

My younger brother shoved me, already impatient. "You've always been the bravest. What's the big deal about going last?"

Vivian slipped behind Derek, putting on a wounded look as she tugged at his jacket. "Fiona, if you're scared, I can go instead..."

Derek folded her against his chest, his brow furrowing. "Vivian's afraid of the dark. Don't be difficult."

Before I could say a word, my brother had already pushed me through the door.

Derek must have forgotten that I was afraid of the dark too.

Back when we lived together, if the power tripped in our apartment, he would stumble out of the shower with shampoo still in his hair just to wrap his arms around me while I trembled. "Don't be scared, Fiona," he would whisper.

Now, for someone else, he had pushed me into the darkness without a second thought.

In the dark, one of the costumed actors came toward me from a corner, carrying a faint light.

Instead of delivering his scare, he sighed and handed me a tissue. "Dump him. I've worked here three years, and nothing disgusts me more than a guy who uses his girlfriend as a human shield."

I froze for a moment, then took the tissue. My fingertips would not stop trembling.

So it really was that obvious, the difference between being loved and not being loved.

My nose stung, and I gripped the tissue tighter, letting out a bitter laugh in the dark.

"Yeah. It's time to end it."

Chapter 1

The actor swiped his badge to open the hidden door, and the light outside made me squint.

"Don't look back." He patted my shoulder.

I nodded my thanks, pushed open the door, and saw the three of them in the lobby lounge.

The game had been over for twenty minutes. Not one of them had come looking for me.

Derek was standing at the counter buying coffee. He popped in a straw with practiced ease and held it up to Vivian's lips.

My younger brother, Kyle Carter, lounged on the couch, reading jokes off his phone to them.

Vivian was giggling so hard she could barely sit straight, and Derek watched her with that indulgent smile of his.

What a perfect little picture.

I took a deep breath, walked straight over, pulled out the chair across from Kyle, and sat down. "What's so funny?"

The laughter died instantly.

The smile on Derek's face froze for a split second before irritation took its place. "Fiona, what took you so long in there?"

"Seriously, what were you doing?" Kyle rolled his eyes and tossed his phone on the table. "Vivian got scared in the escape room, so we brought her out for a drink to calm her nerves. You're not going to throw a fit over that, are you?"

Vivian drew in her shoulders instantly, and her eyes turned red on cue.

She pushed the coffee she had just sipped toward me, her voice careful and tentative. "Fiona, I'm so sorry. I was so scared that I asked Derek and Kyle to bring me out first..."

She stepped forward and clasped my hand. "Please don't be mad at them. I barely touched this drink. You can have it, okay?"

Ten years of friendship. She knew exactly how to play me.

In the past, I would have swallowed my anger and taken the drink, just to avoid being called dramatic.

But I glanced at the lipstick stain on the straw, reached out, and swept the cup straight into the trash can beside us.

It landed with a dull thud. Brown liquid splattered across the floor.

"Vivian, I don't want anything you've touched."

Vivian went white. She clapped a hand over her mouth and stumbled back a step.

"Fiona Carter! What the hell is wrong with you!" Derek shot to his feet and pulled Vivian behind him. "She's not feeling well, and you have to make a scene in public? It was just an escape room. Do you really have to blow this out of proportion?"

"Exactly! Do you really have to be like this?" Kyle rushed to dab at Vivian's clothes with a napkin, then turned to glare at me.

I looked at these two men I had once loved with everything I had, and felt nothing but nausea.

"Whether I'm blowing this out of proportion, Derek, you know the answer to that." I grabbed my bag, not bothering to spare them another glance. "The game's over. So are we."

I gave Derek no chance to stop me or explain. I turned, walked out the door, and flagged down a cab.

Through the car window, I saw that Derek had not followed me out.

He was bowing his head, gently comforting a shaken Vivian.

I went back to the apartment Derek and I shared.

I had paid the down payment on this place, but to protect Derek's pride, I had put both our names on the deed.

Looking back, it was the stupidest thing I had done in five years.

I pulled the suitcase from the master bedroom and began packing up everything that was mine.

Clothes, skincare, my laptop.

I would not take a single thing Derek had given me, and I would not leave behind a single thing I needed.

When I opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand to find my passport, a velvet jewelry box tumbled out.

I paused, picked it up, and opened it. Inside was a custom diamond necklace.

I had seen this necklace before.

Just last week, Vivian had shared a photo of that same necklace design to the Close Friends list on her private Instagram. The caption read, "He said he'd make it real for me."

So the signs had been there all along.

I took out my phone and snapped a photo of the necklace next to the screenshot of Vivian's post.

As I was about to leave, my phone buzzed with a text from Derek.

Even through the screen, I could hear his condescension. "Fiona, are you done throwing your tantrum? Vivian's still crying because of what you said. Get over here and apologize to her. Now."

He probably thought I would give in like I always had.

That all it took was a cold look from him, and I would come crawling back without a shred of dignity.

I tapped the screen, sent him the photo I had just taken, and attached a single line: "Derek, we're done."

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, I ran into Derek in the hotel lobby. His face was dark as a storm.

He had clearly tracked down my hotel reservation to find me.

"Fiona, are you done throwing your tantrum?" He grabbed my wrist, brows drawn tight, his voice full of blame. "All this over one necklace? You blocked everyone, and now you want to break up. When did you become so impossible?"

I said nothing. I just quietly clenched the hand hanging at my side.

That was not it.

It was not about a necklace. What I could not take anymore was five years of him always choosing her over me.

Every time the three of us went out for dinner or a trip, Vivian would claim the front passenger seat as if it were hers by birthright.

Once, when I was drenched in sweat from period cramps, Derek had made me a cup of hot tea. Vivian said she was thirsty, picked it up, and drank the whole thing. Just like that.

Every time I tried to push back, Derek would pat my head with a helpless sigh. "Fiona, Vivian's just clueless. She doesn't mean anything by it. Let it go."

But I did not want to be the bigger person anymore. I did not want to be the one who was always told to be understanding.

When I stayed silent, Derek took it as guilt.

He let go of my wrist and straightened his tie. "I'm giving you three days to cool off. After that, apologize to Vivian like a good girl. And don't throw around the word 'breakup' so easily."

With that, he turned and walked away, fully confident I would do as I was told.

I stood there watching his back, so calm that even I was surprised.

Back in the hotel room, I started packing. My eyes landed on the faded band on my ring finger.

Derek had bought it for ten dollars at a flea-market stand when his business was at its lowest, a promise of the future.

Vivian had once sneered that it looked cheaper than a soda can tab. I had treasured it like it was priceless.

Five years I had cherished it. I never even took it off to shower.

Now I realized that the cheap thing was not the ring. It was me.

Without expression, I slid the ring off, dropped it into the toilet, and flushed.

As the water swirled and vanished, my thoughts slowly settled into clarity.

All these years, I had been living for other people's approval. It was time to live for myself.

I opened the laptop I had brought with me and sat down to handle my work transition.

The moment the laptop connected to Wi-Fi, Messages opened automatically. Unread notifications began piling up in the corner of the screen.

Derek had forgotten that his messages were still synced to this laptop. The notifications came from a group chat Kyle had created for the three of them.

Kyle had sent a voice message, his tone dripping with glee. "Derek, my sister's all bark and no bite. I bet you anything she'll come crawling back to apologize to Vivian within three days."

Vivian had sent a tearful emoji. "Derek, maybe just give the necklace to Fiona instead. If you two break up because of me, I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life."

Seconds later, Derek replied, "Giving it to her would be a waste. She can't tell real from fake anyway. I once gave her a knockoff designer bag that was laughably bad, and she carried it around showing it off to everyone like it was real."

I stared at those words on the screen, and every breath I took hurt.

Every birthday, Derek would bring home a designer bag, but the poor craftsmanship always gave it away as a counterfeit.

I had noticed, but seeing how pleased Derek looked, I could not bring myself to call him out. I told myself he was young, that someone had ripped him off because he did not know designer bags.

Now I knew. It had been deliberate all along.

I logged out of his account, cleared every trace of the login, and submitted my resignation on the spot.

I did not want to spend another second at Derek's company.

When everything was taken care of, I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the very bottom of my contacts, to a dormant profile picture that had been dark for three years. I sent a message: "You mentioned your research institute abroad was still hiring. Does the offer still stand?"

The reply came almost instantly: "It does. You're welcome anytime. I'll come get you."

Chapter 3

The next day, I pushed open the glass door to the office. My desk was buried under Vivian's belongings.

The monstera plant I had tended for three years had been tossed into the trash, and the air was thick with her cloying perfume.

"Derek, how do I adjust the chair height?" Vivian cooed.

Derek pressed in behind her, an arm around her waist as he leaned over.

At the sound of the door, Vivian turned.

Her collar was slightly open. The diamond necklace glinted at her throat, and on her collarbone sat a fresh red mark.

Derek straightened up without a trace of guilt. He frowned at me. "So you finally decided to show up. Vivian's handling the big clients now, so this office goes to her."

I ignored him. My gaze had fallen to the wastebasket by the corner of the desk.

The cameo pendant my grandmother, Evelyn Carter, had left me lay broken in two.

When the company was just getting started, the funding dried up.

I drank until my stomach bled while courting investors. Even in the hospital, with an IV in my arm, I kept Grandma's cameo pendant clenched in my fist.

Grandma had told me that whenever I held the pendant tight, she would be there with me.

Back then, Derek had held my hand, his eyes rimmed red, his voice breaking. "Fiona, with your grandma watching over us, we'll get through this."

Now the cameo lay broken.

Vivian followed my gaze and let out a little gasp. "That thing broke the second I moved in. What bad luck."

"Bad luck?" I was shaking all over. I turned to look at Derek.

Derek avoided my eyes and said flatly, "It was just an old trinket. Vivian didn't break it on purpose..."

Something inside me snapped.

I charged forward and slapped Vivian across the face as hard as I could.

"Fiona, are you insane!" Derek shoved me aside and backhanded me across the cheek.

Caught off guard, I fell hard. My palm scraped against broken glass, and blood seeped out instantly.

When he saw the blood on my hand, a flash of panic crossed Derek's eyes.

He instinctively reached out to help me up.

"It hurts..." Vivian whimpered, leaning into his chest. "Derek, is my face ruined?"

Derek's outstretched hand froze in midair.

The next second, he pulled it back without hesitation and turned to cradle Vivian's face, examining it anxiously.

I watched his hand retract completely, and the corner of my mouth twisted into a bitter smile.

My eyes drifted down and locked onto the papers scattered beside the trash can.

Chapter 4

They were the love letters I had written to Derek on every anniversary for the past five years.

He had once held them with tears in his eyes and promised to lock them in a safe and keep them forever.

Now they had been ripped open and tossed in with discarded reports, scattered at Vivian's feet.

Some even bore the imprint of a stiletto heel.

I looked at the barely concealed triumph on Vivian's face, and at Derek frantically dabbing ointment on her cheek.

Five years of love and devotion, ground into the mud in a single moment. Rotted through.

I did not scream or cry. I slowly pulled myself to my feet, picked up the broken cameo, and closed my fist around it.

I unclipped the ID badge from my chest and slammed it onto Derek's desk along with the resignation letter I had already prepared. "I quit."

The dead look in my eyes startled Derek. Then his face went dark.

Vivian covered her cheek and put on a worried expression. "Fiona, don't be rash. You turned down an offer from a major company to stay with Derek. At your age, with no big-firm experience, who's going to hire you?"

That instantly gave Derek back his smug sense of superiority. "Vivian's right. Where else could you go? You can't even put together a decent resume. Stop making a fuss, swallow your pride, and the director position is still yours."

I looked at this self-righteous pair and felt nothing but disgust.

"You know what, Derek? You're right. The credentials I built at this company aren't worth much."

I turned and walked out of the office without a backward glance.

That evening, I went back to the out-of-the-way hotel.

Grandma was the only one in my family who had ever loved me. She had once stayed at this place, and I was trying to hold on to whatever warmth remained.

But even the hallway lights in that out-of-the-way hotel were broken.

The owner, Frank Miller, kept dodging my eyes from behind the front desk.

He mumbled something about a water leak upstairs and said he was moving me to the last room at the end of the basement hallway.

I was too exhausted to question it.

Exhausted, I made my way to the heavy metal door and pushed it open.

Before I could even reach for the light switch, the door slammed shut behind me. The sharp click of a padlock followed.

"Who's there?! Open the door!" I lunged for it and pounded on the metal.

No response.

In that instant, a fear buried deep in my bones erupted.

When I was eight, I broke something at home. My parents locked me in a windowless cellar for three days.

I had suffered from severe claustrophobia ever since.

The only people who knew were Derek, Kyle, and Vivian.

The familiar terror flooded back. I was shaking too hard to stand. I clawed at the seam around the door, choking on desperate gasps.

Then someone slid an old phone with a glowing screen through the gap beneath the door.

In the dead silence, a recording began to play. My brother, the boy whose four years of college I had paid for, spoke in a bright, amused voice: "What's she so scared of? She's the brave one, remember? She slapped Vivian. She deserves this."

Then came Derek's voice, casual and careless: "It's not the first time anyway. She'll be fine."

The recording ended. My fist tightened around the broken cameo.

I suddenly remembered how, when Derek and I first got together, I had told him, trembling all over, why I was afraid of the dark.

This six-foot man had listened and cried until his eyes were red.

He had pulled me tight against him, his voice shaking: "Don't be scared, Fiona. You have me now. I will never let anyone hurt you again."

So promises had expiration dates too.

Lack of air blurred the edges of my consciousness. I did not even have the strength to cry anymore.

I did not know how much time had passed when hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Fiona! Don't be scared, I'm here!"

Derek's voice was frantic, layered over Kyle's shout.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?"

Derek kicked the lock open, and the beam of light settled on the figure curled up on the floor in the corner.

He rushed over, reaching out with anguish written all over his face. "Fiona, it's okay now. I..."

His voice cut off the instant the flashlight fully illuminated the face.