Chapter 1

The day my girlfriend, Sasha Belmont, decides to study abroad, she drops a bombshell. "My first time was with your best friend."

When I stare at her in disbelief, she just shrugs. "It wasn't betrayal. We were just getting back at each other. The night we turned 18, he ran his mouth again. I had too much to drink, got pissed, and pushed him right down on the bed."

Her eyes go soft as she savors the memory.

"You called me seven times that night. I did it with him seven times. The next day in gym class, I started bleeding. You thought I got my period, but that was my crotch tearing.

"He acts tough, but he's a softie. He was so scared of hurting you that he cried and begged me not to tell."

Then, without an ounce of guilt, she fires off a voice message to my best friend, Keith Hollister. "I couldn't help it. I told him everything. I lose this round.

"You want me in that outfit, right? Fine, I'll wear it."

Everything in me goes cold. Just moments ago, Keith had casually asked me what I'd do if Sasha ever cheated. I figured he was just jealous again and joked that even without her, I'd still have him.

Sasha, completely certain I won't walk away from either of them, pinches my cheek and smiles. "Cheer up. You're still the one we love most. I'm taking Keith abroad with me in three days. Don't forget to come see us off."

Chapter 1

Rory's POV

It felt like something had torn open inside my chest, and the cold was pouring straight through.

Keith Hollister was my closest friend. When I was eight, traffickers grabbed me off the street. Keith held onto the van's door handle and got dragged for half a mile before he pulled me free.

After that, we weren't just friends anymore. We were family.

But I never imagined that Keith, who bickered with my girlfriend, Sasha Belmont, every time they were in the same room, would be the one to betray me.

It took a long time before I found my voice again, raw and barely there. "When did it start?"

"Does it matter?" Sasha leaned back, completely unbothered.

"I was annoyed by him at first too. He was always stealing you away from me. But then he stopped picking fights, and I kind of missed it.

"Don't overthink this. I'm still going to keep my promise. I'll finish my studies, come back, and marry you."

I looked at the expression on her face, that unmistakable glow of someone in love, and something twisted hard in my chest. My whole body trembled.

Before I could explode, Keith rushed over and shoved Sasha aside, grabbing my hands. His were shaking.

"Rory, don't be mad at me. Just say the word and I won't go abroad with Sash."

I forced a smile, but it came out worse than crying.

Sash? What an intimate thing to call her.

But Sasha seemed to have forgotten. When the people who came after her family killed her parents, my dad was the one who dove into the river to save her. She made it out alive, but he didn't.

Even though I was still drowning in my own grief, I comforted her. I stayed by her side through the worst of her depression and helped her come out the other end.

Growing up, the thing Sasha said to me most was, "Rory, I owe you my life. I'll spend the rest of mine taking care of you."

Then Keith came along, and the two of them were constantly fighting over who had more claim to me.

"I was here first. I'm his best friend, so back off!"

"Too bad you're a guy. As long as I'm here, you're irrelevant."

Back then, I was naive enough to believe I was the luckiest person alive. But now the two people who made me that happy had both betrayed me.

The second Keith finished speaking, Sasha's face went dark. "If you even think about backing out, I'll knock you out and drag you with me."

Watching her care about someone else like that sent a sharp ache through my chest. I thought about how she used to go out of her way to provoke Keith after every class, how the whole hallway would ring with the two of them going back and forth.

I told her to stop more than once. She'd always scowl and say, "With that temper of his? I'd have to be blind to fall for him."

And Keith would throw his arm around me and scoff. "She's such a princess. I just can't stand her!"

One time during a track meet, I took a fall and went to the nurse's office. On the way, I caught the two of them slipping out of the equipment room.

Sasha's shirt was hanging open, her skin covered in red marks. Keith's lips were swollen beyond recognition.

They said they got stung by wasps. I believed every word and hobbled around on my bad leg, dabbing iodine on both of them.

The memories sank in like hooks.

They'd already been together back then. I just never saw it.

My fists clenched at my sides. I wasn't ready to let it go. I forced the words out past the tightness in my throat.

"Keith, you knew how much I loved her. How could you do this to me?

"And Sasha, did you forget how my dad died? After everything, how do you two live with yourselves?"

"Rory." Sasha sighed and cupped my face in both hands, her voice soft.

"I told you. I'm going to marry you. Just wait for us to come back. It's only three years."

I looked into her soft eyes and felt nothing but ice in my veins.

Keith trailed after me, nervous. "Rory, don't worry, okay? I'll call you every single day. You can keep tabs on us the whole time."

I gave a faint nod, and they both finally relaxed, laughing between themselves.

"See? I told you Rory isn't petty like you."

"Fine, fine, you're the generous one, Saint Keith."

While they went back to teasing each other, neither of them noticed me looking down at my phone, typing out a message.

Chapter 2

Rory's POV

My uncle, Finn Hargrove, replied almost right away. "Rory, you're both welcome. There's always a place for you here. I've already booked flights for you and your mom."

Reading the message, my eyes burned and something bitter crawled up into my chest.

After Dad died, Mom, Linda Hargrove, worked herself to the bone to take care of me and Sasha. Then when Keith's parents kicked him out, she took him in too, stretching herself even thinner across the three of us.

That was until recently, when she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. Now she spent every day fighting through the pain.

The thought of her lying in that hospital bed made me teary. I was about to leave for the hospital when a cluster of voices broke out nearby.

"You've done so well for yourself, Ms. Belmont. Your parents would be so proud.

"And is this your fiance?"

Sasha let out a soft laugh and gestured toward me as she introduced us. A few guys our age shot me looks dripping with envy.

Keith nudged me, grinning. "See, Rory? You've got taste. She's a smart one."

I pulled away from him without a word.

Then Sasha's voice carried over from beside me. "My fiance is very kind. He gave up his full scholarship so his best friend could have it and chose to take the entrance exams instead."

It hit me like a freight train. The air locked in my throat.

Full scholarship? I was told I didn't make the cut. How could it have gone to Keith?

I stared at him, frozen. Keith scrambled to cover it up. "Rory, no, that's not what happened. Sash just misspoke. She didn't mean to—"

But those words dragged me straight to hell.

I had made the cut. I'd spent all those sleepless nights grinding through textbooks, filling notebooks until my hand cramped, pushing myself to study every waking hour just so Mom wouldn't have to worry.

I'd collapsed in my dorm at 2:00 am, but I'd still kept reading with an IV drip in my arm at the hospital. And all of it had actually paid off.

"Sasha! Did you give my scholarship to Keith?"

It came out almost as a scream. The people around us went quiet, then the murmuring started.

Keith couldn't take the whispers. His face flushed, and he clenched his jaw before bolting out of the room.

Sasha moved to go after him, but I grabbed her arm and held her in place. "I want an explanation!"

Her brow furrowed, but she kept her temper in check. "Yes. I gave it to Keith. His grades weren't good enough, and I wanted us at the same university.

"You're smart. If you didn't pass the exams, you could've just repeated a year. What's the big deal? Now let go. Something's wrong with Keith."

I watched her walk away and something inside me just broke.

My eyes blurred with tears. When I first found out I'd lost the spot, I blamed myself for days.

I cried constantly. I kept a brave face around Mom so she wouldn't worry, wearing a mask every time I walked into her room. I even stopped eating, started throwing up, and developed an anxiety disorder.

And now she was telling me none of it was real.

I couldn't take it anymore. I stumbled into a cab in a daze, pulled myself together as best I could, and showed up at the hospital looking like a ghost.

Mom's face lit up the second she saw me. "Rory! How did the exams go? Oh, and where's Sasha? I haven't seen her in a few days. Did you two have a fight again?"

When I just stood there with my head down, unable to answer, her eyes turned red. "Rory, I don't have much time left. The only thing I want is to see you and Sasha get your marriage certificate. You two—"

She didn't get to finish.

Two familiar voices rang out from the doorway. "Mom!"

Sasha and Keith walked in, one carrying flowers, the other holding a cake. They looked perfect together, like they belonged by each other's side.

I noticed the fresh hickeys peeking above their collars, and my stomach turned inside out. My expression went cold. "What are you doing here?"

Sasha smiled and took my hand. "It's Mom's birthday. I brought Keith to celebrate with her."

Mom beamed, reaching for both of their hands, fussing over them and rattling off one piece of advice after another. Halfway through, I noticed the matching rings on their middle fingers.

My breath caught. I lunged to stop them, but it was too late.

Mom went rigid, and her voice came out shaking. "Keith, why are you and Sasha wearing matching rings?"

Chapter 3

Rory's POV

I was about to explain when Keith yanked his hand back. "Mom, you're seeing things!"

"My eyes aren't that far gone. I know what I saw!"

Mom was shaking badly. She looked at Sasha, then at Keith, and something clicked. Then she pointed at both of them and screamed, her voice raw.

"You two! Sasha, Rory's father saved your life. You promised yourself to my son! And Keith! When your parents threw you out, I'm the one who took you in!

"This is what you do while I'm sick? You take advantage of my boy…"

Something bitter surged through me, and I tried to calm her down, my eyes stinging. Keith tried to explain again, but it only pushed her over the edge. Mom's rage boiled over and she collapsed, unconscious.

I was on the verge of falling apart myself, but I stumbled out of the room to get a doctor. Once they wheeled her into the emergency room, Sasha stood there with a strained look on her face.

"Rory, the rings were just an accident. Keith and I were just messing around."

Keith nodded frantically. "Rory, I swear, it was all her idea. If you don't believe me, I'll throw the ring away right now!"

He pulled it off his finger and hurled it out the window.

Sasha stared after it, stunned, like she'd been slapped. Her eyes went red, and she grabbed Keith's wrist. "Keith, you said you'd keep it on!"

Keith looked ready to lose it. "Sasha! Read the room. You think this is the time to make a scene?"

I'd had enough.

I shook my head, watching the two of them put on their little lovers' act with bitter disbelief. The anger hit like a flood. I grabbed the vase off the table and hurled it at them.

"Get out! Both of you, get out!"

Keith flinched and stumbled back. Sasha opened her mouth to say something, but the look on my face stopped her cold. They left without another word.

I slid down the hospital wall and crouched there, hands pressed together, my chest aching until it went numb.

"Dad, if you're watching from up there, please look after Mom. She's been through enough."

Tears hit the floor one after another.

The light above the operating room finally went off, and Mom came out safe. The weight in my chest finally eased.

I stayed up all night at her bedside. Sasha and Keith both tried to visit, but I turned them away every time.

Mom watched me with worried eyes, but I reassured her. "I'm fine, Mom. Just focus on getting better. Once you're through this round of treatment, we'll go abroad for the next one."

She nodded, tears soaking into the pillow, but I could see the hope in her eyes.

Outside the room, Sasha was sitting there looking lost. She scrambled to her feet when she saw me.

"Rory, is Mom okay? I know you blame me. That's fine, blame me all you want. But Keith had nothing to do with it. I made him wear the ring. The proposal was all me."

I cut her off, my voice hoarse. "Sasha, why did you stop loving me?"

Her brow pinched tight. Seeing how calm I was, she let out a dry laugh and told me.

"Rory, do you remember when you started fighting in the ring to pay for Mom's treatment? And what those people did to you?"

My fists tightened. Every word cut deeper.

"I'll never forget the day you came back covered in filth. I felt sorry for you at first, but after that, every time I looked at you, I felt sick. I just couldn't accept what you'd become."

So that was the truth.

A grim smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, and the ache in my chest became suffocating. It was never my fault. The person I loved just didn't have a heart or a conscience.

Sasha offered a few more empty words of comfort and left.

Over the next few days, Mom's treatment went smoothly. Sasha and Keith tried to visit her several times, and I turned them away every single time.

After the latest rejection, Keith showed up with red-rimmed eyes and handed me a card. "Rory, maybe you should just let it go. The three of us grew up together. You know how Sash is. Why not try meeting someone new?

"Remember Greta Neville? Top of her class? She's had a thing for you forever. I gave her your number, so just talk to her. Don't get hung up on one person."

I looked down at the card and pictured Greta and that desperate way she used to stare at me. My stomach turned.

I picked up the glass of water from the table and threw it straight in his face. Keith recoiled, wiping his face. It must be nice, Keith. Sitting up there on your high horse after taking everything from me.

"How about I drag that old woman from your hometown over here, the one who's been single for 50 years? You want to marry her?"

The color drained from Keith's face.

I let out a cold laugh. When we were 16, his parents tried to force him into marrying that same woman, who already had one foot in the grave. I went into that backwater town alone with a knife to get him out and nearly lost my eyesight from the beating I took.

After I pulled him free, he dropped to his knees in front of me, sobbing. "Rory, I owe you my life, every last bit of it."

I left the hospital. The time for my departure was coming up fast, so I went home to pack. The moment I stepped inside, something hit the back of my head and everything went black.

When I came to, my wrists and ankles were bound and a heavy, sweaty body was pressing down on me.

"Rory, I finally found you."

The voice was thick and crawling, and a chill ran down my spine. I knew exactly who it was.

It was Greta.

Chapter 4

Rory's POV

How was she here?

Before I could process it, Greta's hands were all over me, sliding from my face down to my neck and lower. Her eyes were completely unfocused. Panic tore through my voice.

"Greta! You could go to prison for this! My fiancee is Sasha Belmont!"

Her expression twisted the second she heard the name. She backhanded me across both cheeks so hard that my eardrums nearly burst. Blood seeped from my ears, but she just smiled, unhinged.

"Rory, you're mine. What does Sasha even have that I don't? You still don't know, do you? Keith and Sasha were already all over each other in front of everyone!"

I went still. My resistance stopped.

So even the confession had been a lie. They hadn't come clean at all.

When she felt me stop fighting, she went at my clothes with renewed frenzy. I fought back, and just when I was about to give up, Sasha kicked the door in with a group of bodyguards behind her.

They pinned Greta down, but Sasha wasn't done. She grabbed a stiletto heel and brought it down on Greta again and again. Blood spattered across Sasha's face, and she didn't stop until Greta went limp.

Only then did Sasha pull me into her arms, her voice shaking. "It's okay, Rory. I'm here. You're safe."

For a moment, I was back in those years after Dad died, when kids used to corner me. She'd held me the same way back then.

But the next second, her eyes landed on the marks across my body, and a flicker of disgust crossed her face.

Every ounce of warmth drained out of me. I shoved her away, stumbled into the bathroom, and scrubbed myself raw under the water, over and over.

Tears ran with the shower water. I slapped myself across the face and stared into the mirror.

"Get it together, Rory. Cut them out."

When I came out, Sasha was gone. She'd texted saying Keith was blaming himself over what Greta did and that he'd gotten upset and stormed off.

I didn't bother replying. I packed my things and headed to the hospital as Mom's final round of treatment had just finished. I pushed the door open, ready to take her home.

Instead, I found Sasha and Keith at her bedside, begging. They were holding hands, both of them teary-eyed.

"Mom, please just give us your blessing! You can't keep holding Rory's father over my head forever. I have the right to love someone else!"

Mom's chest heaved. "You two… Do you have any idea what you're doing to Rory?"

My skin crawled. I was about to rush in when Keith suddenly stood up, begging Sasha to stop.

"Sasha, please, we can't do this. Rory is my best friend!"

Mom couldn't take it anymore. She climbed out of bed and swung at Keith. "You worthless little… You still have the nerve to call him your friend?"

But Sasha stepped in front of him and took the hit instead. "Mom! That's enough!"

Mom was shaking with fury and about to lay into them again when she clutched her chest and collapsed backward. The moment she hit the ground, something inside me shattered.

I threw myself across the room and caught her, screaming. "Sasha! Get a doctor! She's dying!"

But Sasha was already pulling Keith toward the door. "Keith's having an episode. I need to get him out of here!"

I screamed into the hallway. "Someone help! Please!"

They rushed Mom back into the emergency room, and before I could even breathe, the doctor told me the surgery would cost 200 thousand dollars.

Sasha had been covering all of Mom's medical bills. I called her in a panic, but she hung up on the first call, then the second.

When she finally picked up, I didn't waste a second. "Sasha, I need money for Mom's surgery."

"All you ever do is ask for money. You triggered Keith's episode, and you have the nerve to ask me for money?"

She hung up. After that, the line went dead no matter how many times I tried. I ran all over looking for her and couldn't find her anywhere. By the time I made it back to the hospital, the light above the operating room was already off.

The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry for your loss."

I stood there, staring at the doors. "Doctor, please, just wait. The money's coming. I'll have it any minute now!"

But they were already wheeling Mom's body out. Her eyes were still wide open, full of grief and fury.

I simply broke down.

…

Three days later, I scattered Mom's ashes into the river in Crestfield, the same river where Dad drowned saving Sasha.

"Dad, Mom's on her way to you now. Can you see her?"

Then I picked up my ticket and boarded the plane without looking back.

From here on out, there was nothing left between us but distance. We were done.