Chapter 6

Four years ago, Chandler and I were accidentally locked in the company warehouse overnight.

I'd always suffered from claustrophobia, and back then, I was so terrified I could barely breathe. It was Chandler who held me tightly, comforted me, and promised he'd find a way to get us out.

But now, it seemed he'd forgotten entirely about my claustrophobia.

I was locked in a dark, damp basement. My phone was taken away, cutting me off from the outside world entirely.

Time lost its meaning as I drifted in and out of sleep in the darkness and spent every waking moment crying in a breakdown.

I couldn't understand how Chandler had turned into a man like that. He used to love me so much, but the moment Heather appeared, it was as though he'd been bewitched to shower all his love and trust on her instead. Or perhaps, the scale deep within his chest had always been tilted in her favor.

Was it just because her parents were gone, and she had no one else to rely on?

I couldn't make sense of it. Eventually, cold and exhausted, I curled up and fell into a deep slumber.

Slowly, I sank into a long dream, where I was nestled safely beside Grandma, with Alfie listening intently by our side as she gently told us fairy tales.

But in the next moment, both Grandma and Alfie began drifting away from me, their calm voices shifting into heartbroken sobs. I tried to run to them, but a looming figure blocked my path.

It was Chandler, who frowned and berated me for disobeying his words, before Heather's mocking voice followed. "Look closely. This is what happens when you try to take what's mine!"

When I jolted awake, I found myself drenched in cold sweat.

Just then, the basement door swung open before Chandler rushed in and gathered my soaked body into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Danielle. I was too impulsive, and I never should've lost my temper or locked you in here."

He held me as though afraid of losing something precious and carefully carried me out of the basement.

I stayed silent the whole time, too emotionally and physically drained for days to respond. All I felt was weariness.

Back in the light, I realized Chandler hadn't kept me imprisoned for the whole week just as he'd instructed. He'd released me on the third day.

Grandma's belongings and the torn picture album had been carefully gathered and placed on the desk in my room. But it made no difference because the damage was done, no matter if the harm was great or small. I'd stopped believing in him from the moment he chose Heather.

Chandler laid me on the bed and gently pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm sorry, my love. I won't ever do that again."

He handed me two theater tickets and added, "To make it up to you, I booked us tickets to the musical tomorrow night."

I stared blankly at the tickets. It was the same theater where he'd proposed to me seven years ago.

At the same time, I picked up my phone, unused for three days, and saw multiple notifications from Heather. They were intimate pictures of a man and a woman, along with raw video clips. All of them were taken during the two days I was locked in the basement.

It was as if she were using me as her personal sex diary with Chandler.

Beside me, Chandler still had his arms around me, oblivious to what was happening on my phone. I looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why don't you take Heather instead?"

He flinched before looking at me with a mix of surprise and guilt. "What are you talking about, my love? This is our date; what does she have to do with it?

"Are you still upset? Don't worry. Heather and I are just friends, and she'll be leaving soon."

I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at the steady, practiced calm on his lying face.

"Alright." I softly agreed as a grand, final farewell to this relationship. Next week, I'd leave this all behind.