Chapter 4

I walked through the house a few times. Three years wasn't a long time, but it had been enough to trap me here. And three years wasn't exactly short either, not with all the memories gathered during that time.

I decided to leave with nothing. I'd walked in with my heart overflowing with love, and now I had nothing left, so there was nothing worth taking with me.

I stopped at the wall we decorated together, covered in pictures of us from the very start of our relationship.

[Our first ride on the Ferris wheel.]

[The first time we held hands.]

Every one of those photos used to prove how much we loved each other. Now, they were just knives, and each one cut straight into my heart.

I was standing there staring at all those memories when Elena walked in, which surprised me. She barely glanced at the wall before she rushed over, tore every photo down, and ripped them apart one by one.

When she finished, she turned on me with pure hatred in her eyes. "You actually have the nerve to stand here reminiscing. If it weren't for you, why would Jasper be dead? Come with me. You're going to apologize to him. I want you on your knees in front of him."

I stood there quietly and watched her lose control in front of me, just as she had remained unmoved whenever I begged her.

Elena gave a signal, and a few large bodyguards stepped into the room. If I refused, they'd drag me out themselves. I tried to escape, but they caught me and dragged me back before I got far. It looked like I had no choice but to accept whatever guilt she'd decided to pin on me.

On the drive out to the cemetery, I managed to text Zach without her noticing. Whatever crime she wanted to blame me for, I wasn't going to admit to it.

We reached the graveyard, and everything went dead silent. Jasper's memorial portrait seemed to mock me from where it sat. Someone stood off to the side holding up a phone, filming everything at Elena's request. She wanted to destroy me completely, starting with my reputation.

She wanted me to bow my head in front of everyone and apologize to Jasper, to give him the justice she thought he deserved.

I tipped my head back and laughed. Not hysterically, not out of control. When I looked back at her, there was nothing in my eyes but cold, quiet resolve. She looked genuinely shocked, having never seen me like this before. In front of her, I always played the part of the gentle, considerate husband.

"Elena, since you love him this much, let's just get divorced. I've forgiven you time and time again, and you've treated every single one of those times like it was owed to you. Jasper's death has nothing to do with me. He killed himself. That's not on me.

"You need to remember something. In this marriage, you're the one who did something wrong. I loved you so much I covered up your affair. I told myself over and over that I'd accept it, that you just didn't love me anymore."

Something like guilt flickered across her face for a second, followed immediately by unmistakable rage. I could tell none of what I said had actually reached her. My love for her had stopped mattering to her a long time ago. Why would she care about it now?

She used to lean against me and say, "Owen, they say there's no such thing as everlasting love, but I don't believe them. What you and I have, it's exactly that. If I ever do something to hurt you, I want you to walk away and never look back. I want to know what heartbreak actually feels like."

Standing in front of that gravestone with her beside me, I thought, 'Now you know what it feels like. Just not because of me leaving.'

I ran.

I got out of there and climbed into the car Zach was waiting in, and the two of us drove without any real destination in mind.

"Owen, you're really leaving without taking anything?"

Zach looked at me like his heart was breaking for me.He had witnessed everything I had given to Elena over the past three years.

He had even tried to persuade me not to love her so blindly.

But back then, my eyes had been filled with Elena, and no one could have stopped me.