Chapter 3

I should’ve left.

But my body just wouldn’t move.

All because he’d said, “Wait for me.”

I sat there until the foie gras on the plate in front of me went cold, the fat congealing into a white, greasy film on top.

It looked disgusting.

Only then did I really understand—

Ann’s appearance had changed this man.

He wasn’t mine anymore.

I woke up from the dream with a jolt.

At the same time, my phone started ringing.

David.

I’d thought I would still be furious or heartbroken when I saw his name, but strangely …

All I felt was bone‑deep exhaustion.

“Ashley.”

David’s voice was hoarse, tinged with a guilt that was hard to catch.

“We should talk.”

My own voice was calm and cold.

“Talk about what? Your stand‑in that you can’t let go of?”

“No,” David rushed out, suddenly anxious.

“Ashley, Ann saved my life. In that shootout back then, if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have lived long enough to wait for you to love me.

And besides… I’m a father.”

“Ashley, you understand me, don’t you?”

I pressed my lips.

There it was again—that same excuse.

He always liked to tie himself to some “moral” labels, while in fact it was all just for his own selfish greed.

He’d never cared about my resentment or my hurt.

I hung up the phone without another word.

Before I could even put it down, the doorbell rang.

Through the peephole, I saw Joe standing outside.

My first love.

The man who’d mocked me after I got together with David.

“Ashley, I know you’re in there! Just let me say a few words!”

He was soaked from the rain, water dripping from his hair and clothes.

I didn’t even know why I opened the door.

Maybe I just wanted to see what other ridiculous things he could say.

I stared at him coldly.

“Talk.”

Joe’s expression flickered with hurt.

I let out a small laugh.

It was almost funny—

the man who’d hurt me was looking at me like I’d wronged him.

“I was wrong,” he blurted.

“I was drunk, I didn’t mean it—

I’ve actually liked you this whole time, I just didn’t dare admit it.

Can’t you give me another chance?”

I didn’t answer.

It was like every man used “I like you” and “I love you”

to try to cover the truth they’d hurt you.

But it wasn’t anyone else’s fault.

I was the one who’d been blind enough to not see how rotten these brothers really were.

Annoyance rose like a wave in my chest.

“Get out,” I snapped.

“I don’t want to see you.”

When he saw me starting to close the door,

Joe immediately shoved his shoulder against it, words tumbling out of him.

“You don’t want to see me, fine—but you think my brother David,

the one you married, is any more sincere than I am?”

He thought I was wavering.

Panicked, he dug a recorder out of his pocket.

He hit play.

A woman’s voice came out first—it was Ann’s.

I recognized it instantly.

“What exactly are you trying to do? You’re about to get married.”

Then David’s voice cut in, almost impatient:

“I can call it off.”

On the recording, Ann seemed to hesitate.

“Isn’t she the one you’ve had a crush on for years?”

This time, David didn’t say anything for a long time.

So long that I thought the recording was over.

But Joe’s expression told me it hadn’t.

David finally spoke.

“She can’t live without me,” he said.

“If she doesn’t have me, she won’t survive in this circle.”

That was his explanation for his hesitation.

Once again, he’d climbed up onto some moral high ground, threatening another woman into compromise.

The words hit me dead center in the chest.

The Smith family might not be as powerful as the Johnsons, but I was definitely not someone who “couldn’t survive” without him.

I was the one who’d chosen to compromise for him.

I no longer cared which of the two brothers was “more sincere”.

I slammed the door, leaving Joe pounding and shouting outside.