Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed since the wedding disaster. Two weeks of ignoring Blake's calls, dodging his mother's tearful voicemails, and rebuilding the walls around my heart brick by brick. I'd moved into a hotel, unable to face our apartment filled with photos and promises that now felt like elaborate lies.

When Blake's text arrived—'Please meet me at our spot. Just one hour. That's all I ask'—I should have deleted it. Instead, I found myself driving the winding road to Marin County as the afternoon sun began its descent over the Pacific.

Our spot. The secluded overlook where Blake had first told me he loved me four years ago. Where we'd celebrated promotions and birthdays with champagne picnics. Where he'd promised me, time and again, that things would change.

He was already there when I arrived, leaning against his Audi, watching the horizon with that brooding expression that once made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.

"You came," he said, relief washing over his features. "I wasn't sure you would."

"Neither was I," I replied, keeping my distance. The wind whipped my hair across my face, and I tucked it behind my ear, noticing how Blake tracked the movement. "What do you want, Blake?"

He gestured to the blanket he'd spread on our usual spot, a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting. "Just to talk. Please."

I remained standing, arms crossed. "We've done enough talking over the years. It never changes anything."

"This time is different," he insisted, his voice cracking with emotion. "Rachel is getting professional help. Real help, at a facility in Arizona. She'll be there for at least three months."

"And then what?" I asked, the setting sun casting long shadows between us. "She comes back, has another crisis, and we start this dance all over again?"

Blake stepped closer, his familiar cologne—sandalwood and something distinctly him—momentarily weakening my resolve. "I've made arrangements. When she returns, she'll have a care team, her own apartment. Boundaries, Viv. Real ones this time."

I laughed, the sound hollow even to my own ears. "You've been promising boundaries since our second date, Blake. Remember? When she showed up at the restaurant and you spent the entire night comforting her instead of having dinner with me?"

"I was wrong," he admitted, reaching for my hand. I let him take it, feeling nothing where his touch once sent electricity through my veins. "I've been wrong for years. But losing you—" His voice broke. "I can't lose you, Vivian."

He dropped to one knee, and my stomach lurched as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. Inside gleamed a diamond ring that made my abandoned engagement ring look modest in comparison.

"Marry me, Vivian. Not next year, not when things settle down. Now. This week. We'll fly to Hawaii, just the two of us."

I stared at the ring, at the desperate hope in his eyes, at the future I'd wanted for so long dangling before me once again. For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine it—a fresh start, Blake finally choosing me first, the life we'd planned together.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it, eyes locked on mine.

It buzzed again. And again. And again.

"You should get that," I said quietly.

"No." He shook his head firmly. "Nothing is more important than this moment. Than us."

The buzzing continued, insistent and familiar. With a frustrated sigh, Blake silenced his phone without looking at it.

"See?" he said, a triumphant smile spreading across his face. "I'm choosing you, Vivian. I'm always going to choose you from now on."

For a heartbeat, I believed him.

Then his watch lit up with a notification. I caught Rachel's name and the words "emergency" and "pills" before Blake's expression crumbled.

"Viv—" he began, the conflict already evident in his eyes.

"Go," I said, stepping back. "She needs you."

"She's saying she took pills. I have to—" He was already standing, already reaching for his car keys. "I'll call you as soon as I know she's okay. We'll continue this. I promise."

I watched in silence as he jogged to his car, phone already pressed to his ear. "Rachel? Rachel, I'm coming. Just hold on."

He didn't look back as he drove away, leaving me alone with an open ring box and the dying light of day.

I kicked off my heels and walked to the edge of the overlook, feeling the cool earth beneath my bare feet. The sun was a crimson smear on the horizon now, painting the ocean in shades of fire.

Somewhere in the distance, a bird called to its mate. Once. Twice. No answer came.

I curled my toes into the dirt, feeling more grounded than I had in weeks. The numbness that had protected me since the wedding began to crack, allowing rage and grief and finally, finally clarity to flood through.

"Never again," I whispered to the setting sun, to the empty space beside me, to myself. "This is the last time you leave me standing alone."

I picked up the diamond ring and held it to the fading light. Such a beautiful cage I'd nearly walked back into. With one fluid movement, I hurled it over the cliff, watching as it caught the last ray of sunlight before disappearing into the gathering darkness below.