Chapter 2

At one in the morning, I stuffed the last piece of clothing into my suitcase.

Cole suddenly came home, with Yvonne right behind him. The moment she noticed the suitcase at my feet, she blinked in surprise.

"Wait, you're actually leaving?"

I ignored her.

She pursed her lips. "Come on, it's not that serious. When we were kids, we once yanked Cole's pants off and threw him into a swimming pool, and he didn't hold a grudge. This asshole locked me in the men's room for half an hour once, and I still went out drinking with him afterward."

I looked up at her.

"That's between you two."

Yvonne faltered, then frowned.

"Fine. I'm not getting involved in your relationship drama, but there's one thing I have to say for Cole."

She patted him on the shoulder.

"He's an asshole and he takes his jokes too far, but if he didn't actually care about you, why would he go to all this trouble just to mess with you?"

I suddenly laughed.

So in their eyes, hurting someone was somehow proof that you cared.

Cole planted a hand on the lid of my suitcase.

"Where do you think you're going? Haven't you dragged this out long enough?"

I didn't even want to look at him.

"That's none of your business. Cole, we're broken up."

His eyes widened in anger, and before I could react, he reached into my bag and pulled out my passport.

I immediately lunged for it.

"Cole!"

He simply raised his arm, holding it well out of my reach.

"You'll get it back when you've calmed down."

Yvonne clicked her tongue from the side.

"Come on, Cole. That's just pathetic.

"If she wants to leave, let her. She'll probably come back on her own by tomorrow afternoon anyway.

"I know her type. She's stubborn as hell, but that's all it is."

I turned a cold look on her.

"You know me that well?"

Yvonne blinked.

"We've known each other for three years. Of course I do. Don't you do the same thing every time?

"First you cry, then you get mad, then you stop talking to everyone. In the end, Cole buys you a bag, says a few nice things, and everything's fine again."

A chill slowly spread through me.

So that was how they saw it.

My dignity, my hurt, all of it was nothing more than a routine I put on to get another handbag.

I pulled out my phone.

"If you don't give me my passport back, I'm calling the police."

Cole's expression darkened immediately.

"Quinn Xavier, you're threatening me with the cops now?"

I stared straight at him.

"Don't you love watching me panic?

"Then let's see who's panicking when the police get here."

His jaw tightened. A second later, he threw my passport onto the table.

I bent down, picked it up, and slipped it back into my bag.

That was when Yvonne muttered casually, "It's just a relationship. Do you really have to act like you're so precious?

"Those pictures of you before weren't even..."

My head snapped up.

"What pictures?"

Yvonne cut herself off at once.

Cole's expression changed too. After a moment of silence, he said, "The ones you sent me before."

Cold crept through my entire body.

We'd been together for three years, and yes, I had sent him a few intimate photos.

Nothing explicit enough that I would be terrified of anyone ever seeing them, but they were still private. No third person had any right to see them.

"Why has she seen them?"

Yvonne answered first.

"You mean the ones on Cole's phone? Yeah, I saw a couple.

"Come on. I've got all the same parts you do. It's not like I was dying to look."

She waved a hand as though it were nothing.

"We used to compete over who had more embarrassing stuff on their phone. I've gone through Cole's camera roll a million times.

"Your pictures were mixed in with everything else. Of course I saw them."

My hands and feet went cold.

"Those were private."

Cole rubbed between his brows.

"She didn't see them on purpose."

And in that moment, I finally understood.

The worst part was never that they didn't understand boundaries.

It was that every time they crossed one, they always had a reason why I shouldn't make a big deal out of it.

They were best friends. It was only a joke. Everyone did things like this.

So no matter how uncomfortable or hurt I was, somehow I always ended up being the one who was overreacting.

I held out my hand to Cole.

"Give me your phone. I'm deleting the pictures."

He stared at me for several seconds before finally handing it over.

I immediately found every one of them and deleted them all.

Yvonne clicked her tongue beside me.

"Seriously? Like anyone even cares."

I didn't respond. I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and headed for the door.

Just as I passed Cole, he spoke behind me.

"Quinn Xavier, if you walk out that door tonight, don't expect me to come after you."

I never broke stride.

"Fine by me."

The door slowly closed behind me.

A second later, I heard something inside smash violently against the floor.