Chapter 3

Hearing Shaun's cold words, I felt strangely calm.

He spotted my luggage and frowned, clearly confused. "What are you doing? We're getting engaged tomorrow."

I laughed quietly, "Oh, so you do remember tomorrow's the engagement, huh?"

He frowned, his brows furrowing in confusion as he looked at me.

That's when it hit him—I wasn't the same as before. I had stopped greeting him with all that enthusiasm when he came home. And I had stopped doting on him like I used to.

He looked annoyed and said, "Sylvia, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop overthinking things between me and Elaine. We're..."

I interrupted him, keeping my voice steady and my expression blank, "Just good friends."

For a split second, he looked embarrassed, almost flustered.

I kept going, my voice steady. "Yeah, just good friends. So close that you pick out pajamas and even buy underwear for each other.

"Close enough to share a bed. To sleep together."

Before I could even finish, Shaun smacked me hard across the face.

My ears rang. The whole world went blurry.

I numbly touched my cheek, feeling it swell up almost instantly.

Elaine put on a fake gasp. "Shaun, seriously? Why would you hit Sylvia? Aren't you two getting engaged tomorrow?"

Shaun sneered, "She doesn't even act like she wants to be."

She pouted, acting all sweet and clingy as she tugged on his hand. "If you don't get engaged, Sylvia will be so sad—and honestly, me too. You know, ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be your bride. If you two call it off, how am I supposed to be Sylvia's bridesmaid?"

"Alright. Whatever you want," he replied, his voice full of indulgence. But to me, it was just grating, like nails on a chalkboard.

He turned to me, his voice as cold as ice. "Apologize to Elaine right now, or I'm calling off the whole engagement."

I gave them a bloody grin, the taste of iron spreading as blood dripped from the corner of my mouth.

I stared at them, my whole body trembling with fury and disgust.

I couldn't believe they had the nerve to say that.

I gritted my teeth, shooting them a cold, icy glare.

I said, "Elaine didn't tell you? I'm not marrying you."

My glare made Elaine flinch. She instantly ducked behind Shaun, clutching his sleeve like a frightened child.

She whispered, "Sylvia, you're so scary... It's like you want to tear me apart."

I hadn't eaten all day just to try on wedding dresses.

Now my stomach was killing me.

The burns on my skin hurt. My cheek throbbed where he'd hit me.

I had nothing left to say. All I wanted was to get out of there. If I stayed any longer, I felt like it might destroy me.

Seeing Elaine shrink back in fear, Shaun just smirked at me, his eyes full of cold contempt.

He sneered, "Sylvia, you've been relying on me for everything all these years. Without me, how are you supposed to make it on your own?"

Then he turned to Elaine. "Elaine, come on. Let's go pick out your gown. Tomorrow, you'll be the prettiest bridesmaid there."

After they left, I dragged myself to the door, barely able to stand.

The moment I opened it, everything went black. I passed out.

Right before I lost consciousness, I caught a glimpse of someone's face, wide-eyed with panic.

*****

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed.

The harsh scent of disinfectant hit me.

Strange, but it felt comforting.

There was a guy resting his head by my bedside, sleeping soundly as sunlight streamed across his face.

I moved just a little. He woke up right away, rubbing his eyes, still half out of it.