Chapter 3

Halfway through dinner, Alex got called away by a work call.

Before leaving, he turned to me and said, "Whatever she asks for, no matter what it is, you make it happen. If she wants to do something, go somewhere, or have something, you listen to her. If she's unhappy, you'll answer to me."

I lowered my eyes, avoiding his intense gaze, and said, "Yes, sir."

With Alex gone, it was Sophie and me left in the huge apartment.

I was the first to laugh. "Sophie, how come I never knew you were Alex's fiancée?"

Sophie let out a sigh of relief and grinned at me. "Oh, come on, it's all an act. My dear bestie, do I really look like someone who could handle a guy like him? He's basically an ice-cold tyrant."

She started talking nonstop, telling me how Alex had coached her on how to get under my skin and put on a show of being all lovey-dovey in front of me.

I couldn't help but laugh. Five years had passed, and Alex was still as childish as ever.

Sophie frowned, her delicate brows drawing together. "When you asked me to keep an eye on Alex while he was overseas, I could see he still cared about you. But how did things get so messed up? What went down between you two?"

"Why..." I muttered, my voice barely more than a sigh as my gaze drifted out of focus.

Seriously, how did two once inseparable people end up like this?

The first time I met Alex, he was ten years old, skinny as a stick, with his face and neck mottled with bruises.

He burst in front of my dad and me, clutching my clothes desperately and gesturing wildly with his hands.

I could tell he was begging for help.

My dad and I found out that Alex's parents were a couple of lowlifes. They had him by accident and barely bothered to raise him.

When they were in a good mood, they'd toss him a scrap of food. But when they were pissed off, he was their punching bag. Sometimes it got so bad that there wasn't a single unbruised spot left on his body.

When their cravings hit and they were out of cash, they'd push Alex to steal cigarettes or money for them.

To the neighbors, Alex was a born troublemaker. He was the cautionary tale everyone used to warn their kids to stay away from.

Alex grew up in that miserable, hopeless place, never speaking a word. Maybe it was something he was born with, or maybe in a home like that, talking was pointless or dangerous.

In the end, Alex became someone who never spoke.

That was the first time, when I was ten, that a thought hit me so clearly and urgently.

I had to save him.

With the support of my family and the police, Alex sat there, so small and fragile, in the courtroom, testifying against his parents for years of abuse. He helped send them to prison himself.

After the verdict, Alex officially stayed with us as a guest, and we started going to school together.

He was a genius at schoolwork. Within two months, he managed to catch up on everything he had missed before fourth grade.

Having Alex stay with us made money more of a struggle for my family.

But still, I looked forward to every day with him around.

We were like two entwined vines, nourishing each other in the barren soil we called home.

Every day after school, I'd teach Alex sign language. He never forgot a thing. I taught him once, and he'd pick it up instantly, using it like he had been doing it forever.

Sometimes, he'd teach me.

For example, when it came to signing my name, instead of the usual sign, he'd simply raise his hand and place it over his heart.

That meant I was someone he treasured.

Alex started smiling more and more, and little by little, the true, lively self he had kept hidden finally began to show.

He was coming to terms with who he used to be, and opening himself up to a whole new life.

And I would stay by his side, for as long as he needed me.

When we hit middle school, Alex shot up in height, and for the first time, he finally lifted his head, showing off those clear, striking features that had always been hidden.

As for his grades, always at the top didn't cut it. He was crushing the competition, totally dominating.

Everyone at school knew the top student, the good-looking guy who never spoke a word.

Alex first spoke up in our sophomore year of high school, after I got targeted by a bunch of thugs for standing up to them.

They beat me up, kicking and punching until I blacked out.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I suddenly heard someone shouting my name.

When I woke up, the boy who was always so calm and collected had red-rimmed eyes, tears falling one by one.

"L-laura, I-I'll always p-protect you. I'll make sure you never get hurt ever again," Alex stammered.

He gradually regained his ability to speak, and together we worked hard, both getting into college. Day by day, life got better for us.

But life didn't let one stay happy forever. In my sophomore year of college, my dad was killed in a car accident, and Alex stood by me through the darkest days of my life.

That was also the year I realized my feelings for him had grown into something deeper than family.

Guilt and anxiety gnawed at me, and I started to pull away from him.

But Alex suddenly pulled me into his arms, saying, "Laura, I've never thought of you as family, not for a second.

"I want us to be together. I'll protect you, not as a brother, but as the one who loves you. I'll be your rock, your safe place always."

I finally spoke the words I had buried deep in my heart since childhood. "Alex, I'll always stay by your side."

And from that moment on, we were together.

Alex still treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world, always putting me first in everything.

Whenever other girls tried to get his number, he'd politely turn them down. "Sorry, I've got a girlfriend."

He'd get sulky and jealous if he saw me chatting and laughing with other guys. Then, when it was just the two of us in the quiet of the night, he'd pull me into his arms and kiss me so deeply I could barely breathe.

Alex'd make me promise over and over again. "Laura, you can only have me in your heart."

We were the legendary couple everyone on campus talked about as a match made in heaven.

Alex was the computer science genius, so quiet one'd barely notice him, but scholarships kept rolling in, and his professors expected nothing but greatness.

And I was the liberal arts star, always ready with a sharp comeback in debates and dropping references like it was second nature.

Everyone thought we'd go straight from campus sweethearts to wedding bells.

We were meant to be.

Just then, Sophie asked, "And then? What happened?"

"He never once broke his promise; he loved me with all his heart, always. But I was the one whose heart changed," I said.