Chapter 2

Alex's POV

Sadie stared at me for two seconds before finally processing what I'd said. Without responding to what I said, she pointed at the open elevator doors and looked at me.

"Go home first. We'll talk after I drop Connor off."

An overwhelming sense of helplessness swallowed me whole. I'd said I wanted to break up with her, yet she acted as though nothing had happened and simply told me she was taking Connor home.

She even walked off without waiting for my response, leaving me there to stare after her retreating figure.

I let out a rueful chuckle and limped my way into the elevator.

The rain was pouring outside. The lobby was packed with people trying to hail a cab.

A few colleagues started gossiping again.

"I'm so jealous! Connor said his feet hurt, so Ms. Jensen helped him all the way downstairs! She's the best girlfriend a guy can have."

"She opened the car door for him, buckled his seat belt, and even prepared a hot drink for him! Connor and Alex may be friends, but the treatment they get is worlds apart."

Listening to them, I couldn't stop the memories from flooding through my head. This wasn't the first time Sadie had helped Connor into her car.

Once, he'd come down with a fever after getting soaked in the rain and collapsed at the office. Her face had immediately turned pale with worry. She'd rushed over, helped him up, and taken him straight to the hospital.

At the time, I'd thought she was wonderful. She was taking such good care of my friend for my sake.

It wasn't until Connor was discharged that Sadie told me, "Alex, Connor gets carsick when riding in a cab. From now on, I'll drive him home. You can take a cab home instead."

When that seemed a little inappropriate to me, she convinced me by saying, "He's your friend, and he came all the way to Southport to seek your help. We should look out for him as much as we can."

I was forced to swallow down my objections, which felt like I was swallowing a bunch of glass shards that cut me up inside.

As time went on, Sadie and Connor grew closer and closer. Soon, they became the couple everyone at work was desperately rooting for.

Meanwhile, I, the boyfriend, became the shameless man who had tried and failed to steal someone else's girlfriend.

Lost in my memories, I didn't know who shoved me. My foot slipped, and I tumbled right down the steps, landing in a puddle of muddy water.

People started muttering behind me.

"Look at him. What a perfectly calculated fall. It's like he's acting out a scene from a movie."

"Is he trying to fake an injury just so he can hitch a ride in Ms. Jensen's car? Can he get any more shameless?"

Not a single person helped me up. I lay face-down in the puddle, bracing myself against the ground as I struggled back to my feet.

My shoes had fallen off at some point. I had to crawl back upright on my bare feet.

When I lifted my head, a Maybach slowly came down the road. The driver's window rolled halfway down, and Sadie's face appeared through the curtain of rain.

Like a drowning man clinging to a raft, I sputtered out, "Sadie!"

She rested one hand on the steering wheel and glanced at me. Then she slowly rolled the window back up. The car passed right by me without stopping, spraying me with muddy water.

…

By the time I made it home, Sadie was already sitting on the couch, checking the latest share prices.

The moment she saw me, she got up. She pulled out a pair of house slippers and bent down to help me put them on, then grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it tightly around me.

"How did you end up turning yourself into such a mess?" she grumbled under her breath. "Connor was right—you're such a klutz!"

I looked down. My gaze settled on the tenderness that had crept into her expression without her realizing it when she mentioned Connor.

My heart broke.

For the first time ever, I didn't respond to something Sadie said. I simply broke free of her warm touch and headed to the bathroom.

"Alex?" Sadie called out.

I didn't stop, and she didn't come after me.

When the hot water hit my wounds, they burned painfully. The feeling seemed to bring me back to life. I leaned against the wall and gasped for breath.

I couldn't remember when this situation had started. No matter what I did, she always found a way to bring Connor into the conversation.

At the supermarket, I'd picked up a few bottles of milk. She'd added a few bottles of low-sugar yogurt to our cart before explaining that Connor liked it.

At the mall, after trying on a pair of brown leather shoes, I asked her for her opinion. She'd already picked out a pair of beige sneakers.

Shaking my head, I told her, "I don't need another pair of sneakers."

But she paid for them without even looking at me, saying, "They're for Connor. He doesn't have any sneakers."

Soon, a third set of dishes and cutlery was added to the house. Sadie said that Connor would start joining us for meals from time to time.

She'd even added his fingerprint to the smart lock, saying it would make things more convenient when Connor dropped by.

Every single day, it was Connor this and Connor that. His name became a curse that hung in the air at all times. It filled every corner of my life with Sadie.

Since things had come to this, I might as well just give them my blessing, right?

When I opened the bathroom door, Sadie was standing outside with a first-aid kit. She led me to the bed, just like she used to, before cradling my mangled ankle in her lap.

While carefully cleaning the wound, she looked at me in concern. "This might hurt a little. Just bear with it."

Listening to that familiar tone and watching as she picked up a cotton swab, I felt my eyes sting painfully.

Years ago, she joined CG Media after graduating as one of Southport University's top students. The very next year, I quit my job as a securities analyst and came to Southport to be with her because I couldn't stand the long-distance relationship anymore.

When she picked me up at the airport, she'd thrown her arms around me, her gaze emotional. She'd given me the tightest hug and said, "Just give me a few years, Alex. We'll get married, and I'll make sure the whole wide world knows that you're my husband."

I fell for her words hook, line, and sinker. Even when she said she wanted to keep our relationship a secret, I agreed.

I'd been so caught up in the blissful start of our relationship that I'd never imagined things would end up like this.