Chapter 4

I froze.

Did it really mean nothing to him?

Four years of my life, my anniversary, and the embarrassment I suffered in front of everyone, but to him, they were nothing more than a dessert.

"It's not just a dessert," I screamed, on the verge of losing my mind. "On our anniversary, that woman was sending you a come-on, and you just went along with it."

He took a sip of water, finally turned around, and met my gaze head-on.

There was no guilt, no remorse in his eyes.

It was just a cold, condescending stare.

"Your losing control tonight just shows how deeply insecure and immature you are," he said.

His voice was utterly cold, not a hint of warmth.

"Mentoring a junior colleague is just basic decency. But you? You taint it with your narrow-minded, unfounded suspicions, and even try to put me on trial for it," he added.

My brain just shut down.

What the hell was he even talking about?

"You think the problem is with Helena, or with me," he said, shaking his head, a hint of pity curling at his lips. "But have you ever stopped to think that maybe the real issue is you?"

"Just a dessert, and you lose it like this. What does that say about you?" he pressed, stepping closer.

"It means you're insecure to your bones. Deep down, you don't think you deserve me, so every girl who comes near me turns into your imaginary rival," he sneered.

"A real relationship isn't shaken by something this trivial. But the way you acted tonight, like a crazy woman, didn't just embarrass me, it made me wonder—" He leaned in, each word like a final verdict.

"Are you really cut out to be my partner?" he added.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

My anger, my hurt, and my questions, in his airtight logic, all under the guise of love, became nothing but proof that I was immature, insecure, and childish.

Was it my fault?

Was I not good enough for him?

Was I just being unreasonable?

His words left me speechless.

He looked at me, seeing me as nothing more than a beaten, soaked dog.

He sighed, then reached out and pulled me into his arms, holding me tight.

It was a hug with no apology, just a patronizing kind of forgiveness.

"Honey," he whispered in my ear, like he was calming down a sulking child. "How come you just don't get it? I'm only doing this for us, to keep us safe. Don't let your mind run wild, alright?"

I stiffened in his arms.

I caught a whiff of his familiar scent, the one that used to make me feel so secure.

But right then, I felt like I was getting tangled up in this huge net called love, and it just kept squeezing me tighter and tighter until I could hardly even breathe.

The judgment that anniversary night was like a thorn in my heart.

No matter what I did, it just wouldn't go away.

I started losing sleep, lying awake night after night, asking myself if I was the one at fault or if something was just wrong.

On the weekend, Landon got up early.

As he was fixing his tie, he said, "The company's throwing a last-minute lock-in for team building, trying to hit our quarterly KPIs. I won't be home this weekend."

"Everyone's going?" I asked.

"Yeah, just the core team," he replied.

He grabbed his briefcase, kissed me on the forehead, and said, "Be good, stay home."

His kiss, just like everything else about him lately, felt like he was just going through the motions.

I just nodded and watched him shut the door behind him.

For some reason, I didn't feel sorry for him busting his ass at work like I used to.

For the first time, I started to wonder if something was up.

I grabbed my phone and called my bestie, Kiara Benson.

"You free right now?" I asked, keeping my voice steady. "I need a favor."

Half an hour later, Kiara and I pulled up across the street from Landon's office.

We sat there like two clumsy detectives, staking out the entrance.

Honestly, I couldn't help but want to laugh at myself for being so absurd.

How did I end up like this?

Landon used to spoil me rotten and couldn't wait to tell the world I was his. How did he end up making me doubt him like this?

I remembered back when we first started dating.

He'd hold my hand and introduce me to all his friends, again and again. "This is my girlfriend, Iris Montgomery. She didn't make it easy for me." He'd set my photo as his phone wallpaper and put my name right at the top of his contacts.

When I was working late, he'd drive an hour just to bring me a bowl of steaming soup.

If I said I was cold, he'd take off his jacket and wrap it around me without hesitation, even if his lips turned purple from the cold.

He remembered every little thing I mentioned offhand and would quietly make it happen for me.

Back then, he made me feel like nothing in the world could ever hurt me.

I honestly thought I must have saved the universe in my previous life to end up with someone like him.

But when did it all start to change?

Everything changed.

He started avoiding me, got stingy with his feelings, and kept pushing me away.

He was like an iceberg; sometimes he'd thaw just enough to give me a bit of warmth, just enough to keep me hanging on.

"He's here," Kiara whispered, poking me.

I jerked back to attention, just in time to see Landon's car rolling out of the underground garage.

But instead of heading out toward the offsite team-building, he went a different way.

He made a turn and pulled up right outside a cozy restaurant not far from us.