Chapter 2
Frank Lane, Ian's best friend who had been watching the whole drama unfold, looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Stephen, are you crazy?" he yelped. "You can't actually do that to Ian!"
I blinked at him, all innocence, asking, "Why not? He's dead, isn't he?"
Frank stammered, unable to find the words. He couldn't exactly tell the truth.
Later, in a private lounge, Stephen pinned me against a floor-to-ceiling mirror. His mouth was on mine, hungry and desperate, as his hands slid down to my legs, pulling me hard against him.
After a long, breathless kiss, I pushed him away, claiming, "Stephen, we can't."
He was panting, ripping at his tie.
"He's dead. You're single. What's the problem?"
I dodged his attempt to kiss me again.
"It's not the same. As long as he's legally alive, it's not official."
He was on the edge, pressing his forehead against mine, letting out a low plea.
"Please, baby. Just one more kiss. I'm losing my mind."
I placed a single finger on his lips, stopping him.
"Not yet, Stephen," I purred. "First, you have to make him disappear for good."
I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Then, and only then, will I give you a chance to win me over."
*****
Right at that moment, Ian was on a plane to Iceland, Nora sleeping soundly on his shoulder.
But he couldn't sleep. His mind was filled with images of me, heartbroken and alone. One of his so-called friends had sent him a video of me "fainting" from grief.
[LMAO. Dude, the idiot actually believes you're dead. Look at her, crying like that. It's so ugly.]
[Seriously, Ian, relax. I bet when you come back and tell her the truth, Lydia won't even be mad. She'll probably just love you even more.]
A pang of guilt hit Ian. He almost told the pilot to turn back. But Frank talked him out of it.
Frank made him think I was totally whipped, the biggest doormat he had ever met. He probably said I would just wait for him at the bus stop like some lost puppy.
Convinced, Ian believed he could go enjoy his romantic getaway with Nora without a single worry since I would never betray him.
Besides, he had asked his uncle and his best friend to look after me. Those two would walk through fire for him.
What his loyal friends didn't tell him was that Stephen was busy getting a very real death certificate issued and wiping his legal existence from every government database.
By the time he decided to come back and let me "rescue" him, he wouldn't even be able to buy a plane ticket.
Meanwhile, I took a box of fresh cherries to the hospital to visit my mother, Nicole Grant.
The afternoon sun streamed into her room, where she was laughing with a man sitting by her bed.
"Lydia, you're here!" she said brightly. "I went for a walk this morning, and if it weren't for Frank, I would have collapsed in the garden, and no one would have even found me!"
Frank, Ian's best friend since childhood, was the one chiefly responsible for convincing him to fake his death and escape the wedding.
He was partly to blame for every fight Ian and I ever had.
Indeed, he had been trying to break us up for years, hoping to take Ian's place.
The bond between men was as fragile and fleeting as a mayfly.
I set down the gift box and gave Frank a warm smile, asking him to step into the hallway with me.
"Frank," I said softly, "everyone else has been so cruel. You're the only one who has been genuinely kind to me."
He scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"So, uh, what are your plans now that Ian's gone?"
I leaned against the wall with a bitter smile, whispering, "My mom's treatment is 200 grand a month. There's no job I can get that would ever cover that.
"When I was a kid, I dreamed of taking over my dad's business to be successful. I never thought I'd end up so useless."
"Our family went bankrupt. My dad killed himself," I choked out, tears welling in my eyes. "And now Ian's gone, and I can't even afford to keep my own mother alive.
"I'm such a failure! If my mom dies, I... I don't want to live anymore either."
Listening to me, Frank was drowning in guilt. He had no idea my life was this tragic. And he had helped Nora bully me. He was a real piece of shit.
He pulled out his phone. A few taps later, a notification popped up on mine. He had sent me three million dollars.
I looked up, my eyes wide with panic. "Frank, I can't! I can't possibly pay this back! I can't even afford the fees to send it back to you!"
He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders, his gaze steady.
"From now on, your mom is my mom. Lydia Grant, you don't have to be so strong all the time. Ian's gone, but I'm here now. I'll protect you."
I wiped away my tears, offering him a fragile, grateful smile.
"You're such a good man..." I whispered. "I wish it had been you I was engaged to all along."
His face instantly turned beet red. He was so flustered that he nearly tripped over his own feet as he walked away, the warm breeze carrying the scent of my perfume to him.
He was practically giddy with delight, thinking he was a genius for cooking up the whole fake-death idea.
The second Frank was out of earshot, Nicole kicked her door open.
"God, I thought he'd never leave!" she boomed. "So, how much did the little punk give you? Split it with me. I'm hitting the club and finding myself eighteen new sugar daddies!"
Before Frank had even left the hospital parking lot, Nicole had traded her hospital gown for a low-cut, skintight dress.
After my father died, I needed a way to get money out of Ian fast. So I told him my mother had cancer.
Ian wasn't wrong. I was a clinging vine. But he forgot one crucial rule of nature: give a vine enough sun and nutrients, and it can strangle a century-old oak.
I made a vow to myself that day. Ian was going to die by my hand.