Chapter 2
Edward didn't answer right away.
He stared at the police report on the desk, as if he was reading the words for the very first time.
Sophia was the first to start crying.
"Olivia, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked to see the car. My parents are from a small town, they've never seen anything this fancy, I just wanted to make them happy," Sophia said.
She cried quietly, knowing exactly how to play the victim.
Tears hung on her lashes, her makeup was flawless, and she stayed perfectly composed.
Edward's shoulders visibly dropped.
"Sophia, you don't owe her an explanation," he said.
That line hit me like a slap.
Sophia shouldn't have been the one explaining.
It should've been the one who had my car locked remotely.
It should've been the one who called me, laughing, asking, "Why are you on the highway?"
The officer asked again, "Name?"
Edward pressed his lips together.
"Jason Miller," he said.
The officer's pen paused. "Contact info?"
"I'll call him," Edward said.
Edward pulled out his phone and moved off to the side, dialing the number.
The call went through almost immediately.
With the speaker on, a young man's drawling voice filled the room.
"Eddie, the car stopped, right? Your girl didn't make a scene, did she?" Jason said, sounding totally laid-back.
It was so quiet in the room, you could hear the buzz from the lights.
Edward's face turned grim.
"Jason, I'm at the police station," he said.
There was a long silence on the other end.
After a moment, Jason chuckled awkwardly.
"Seriously? She actually called the cops? Women, man, always so much drama. Come on, I just locked the car for a minute, it's not even a big deal," Jason said, sounding totally unfazed.
The officer motioned for Edward to put the phone on the desk.
"Just so you know, everything you say is being recorded. Did you take control of the car without the owner's permission?" the officer asked.
Jason's voice changed.
"Officer, I was just doing a favor for a friend. We use a special internal tool to troubleshoot cars when there's a problem. I didn't mean any harm," he said.
"Did you know the car was on the highway?" the officer asked.
"I didn't know," Jason said.
"Doesn't your system track the car's location?" the officer pressed.
There was silence on the other end.
I saw Edward's fingers curl slightly.
He knew.
He couldn't possibly not know.
On that call, he'd said, "So you wouldn't run off too far."
The officer asked Jason to come down to the station to help with the investigation.
After the call ended, Edward turned to look at me.
"Olivia, is this what you wanted?" he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
There was a metallic taste in my throat.
I nodded.
"No," I said.
Sophia looked up sharply.
"Olivia, what more do you want? Jason's got a good job. If he gets punished for this, what is he supposed to do?" she said, her voice trembling.
Honestly, I almost burst out laughing.
I was this close to dying.
And she was worried about what would happen to the guy who nearly got me killed.
Edward rubbed his temples.
"Sophia, that's enough," he said.
But in that light, careless rebuke, there wasn't a shred of concern for me, not even a flicker of anger.
All he cared about was whether Sophia felt hurt.
The officer pulled up the dashcam footage.
On the screen, my car was cruising in the middle lane of the highway.
Suddenly, the dashboard went black, the power warning started flashing, and the car suddenly slowed to a crawl.
The truck behind me blared its horn, and the screech of tires was so sharp it sent chills down my spine.
I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, veins bulging as I fought to get into the emergency lane.
As the video showed me finally stopping, Janet muttered under her breath, "So, nothing happened after all, right?"
The officer looked up at her.
"She didn't get hit because she reacted fast. Don't think that means you did nothing wrong," he said.
Janet went quiet, clearly embarrassed.
Edward's face grew even darker.
"Janet, that's enough," he said.
He and Janet clicked so easily.
But I kept thinking back to three months ago, when he came home with me to meet my parents.
My mom kept piling food onto his plate and telling him to eat more.
He smiled and said, "Once Olivia and I are married, I'll take good care of you too, Mrs. Bennett."
That night, he hugged me outside my apartment and promised our home would be in my name, and the car would be whatever color I liked.
Later, we were short 70 thousand dollars for the down payment on our future home.
I sent him all the money I'd spent five years saving.
And in the end, that car just became something he used to impress Sophia's parents, nothing more than a prop for their approval.
The officer handed me the report to sign.
Just as I was about to sign, Edward pressed down on my wrist.
"Olivia, I know you were shaken up today. Just go home for now. I'll have Jason apologize to you, and I'll make it up to you," he said.
His hand was warm.
I used to cherish that warmth, more than anything.
Now, it only weighed me down.
"Let go," I told him.
Edward didn't let go.
"Don't take it out on our relationship," he said.
I met his gaze, my eyes cold and steady.
"Edward, whatever we had, it's over," I said, my voice calm and final.
For a split second, his face went completely blank.
Sophia started sobbing even harder.
"Edward, don't fight with Olivia over me. I don't need to see the car, and my parents don't need dinner either. We'll just go," she said, her voice trembling.
Edward snapped out of it, let go of me, and went straight to her side.
He moved like it was second nature, as if he'd done this a million times.
Just like every time in the past seven years, I was always the one left behind.
That year, I was curled up in pain from appendicitis, sweating through my clothes, and I called Edward over ten times.
Edward finally replied, "Sophia just got dumped. I'm out drinking with her. Don't make a big deal out of it."
The next day, he walked into the hospital carrying porridge, patted my head, and said, "You're always so understanding."
Those two words, "so understanding," were like chains, holding me back for seven years.
After I signed the report, I picked up my phone.
On the screen was a confirmation message from the bridal shop.
I had a wedding dress fitting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
I opened the appointment page and hit cancel.
When the refund notification popped up on my screen, Edward was busy comforting Sophia, gently wiping her tears away as if nothing else in the world mattered.