Chapter 3

The next day, while I was at the office handling my handover, a coworker named Kara Perry came over to me.

"Jace, did you really break up with Ms. Holloway?"

I nodded.

Kara looked furious as she said, "Good riddance! Nolan Prescott is no good. Just now, Ms. Holloway gagged a couple of times, and he completely panicked. He scooped her up and ran straight to the hospital."

My fingers froze over the keyboard. "She was gagging?"

Kara gave me a pitying look. "Yeah. Everyone's saying she's probably pregnant."

She glanced around and lowered her voice. "Jace, I know he's supposed to be your best friend, but he's never treated you like one. He and Sienna have had something going on for a long time.

"Nolan didn't even meet the hiring criteria here. Sienna took a pay cut just to get him brought on. But when you came in, she didn't speak up for you at all."

I swallowed the bitter feeling in my chest and forced a smile. "So it wasn't a campus recruitment offer."

Kara shook her head firmly. "Of course not. HR told me personally. You're a designer who's won a gold medal, and they stuck you at the front desk. It's insulting.

"Just go. Get as far away from those two as you can."

Her eyes turned red-rimmed as she helped me pack up my things.

Back then, I hadn't wanted to move to Crestfield, but Sienna and Nolan kept pushing me. They said we'd all gotten offers and could look out for each other.

Well, they kept that promise, in a way. They'd been looking out for each other all the way into bed.

I'd spent eight years at this tech company, yet everything I owned barely filled a single box. It was the same story at home—eight years, and my belongings couldn't even fill a carry-on suitcase.

Sienna was right. I was slow and stupid. Anyone with half a brain would have figured it out, but I had to wait until a hotel booking confirmation landed in my lap before I finally let go.

Back in college, Nolan was the one who threw himself in front of me when some thug tried to rough me up. He was the one who slung his arm around my shoulders when I was too scared to enter a design competition and said, "My boy's the best there is!"

He was the one who thumped his chest before my final interview and swore, "You've got me and Sienna looking out for you. Nobody's going to mess with you."

The look in his eyes when he said those things was so sincere. That was why, no matter what came after, I never could have imagined that the person who'd hurt me the deepest would be him.

Hatred was one thing, but a decade of friendship couldn't simply be dismissed either.

…

I stumbled into the hallway of the hospital, clutching my cardboard box.

Sure enough, there they were in the ward. They had their backs to me and were wrapped in each other's arms.

Nolan's eyes were red-rimmed, and his voice was shaking as he pleaded with her, "Sienna, get rid of it. Jace already had the whole wedding planned out. We can't keep doing this to hi—"

Sienna cut him off before he could finish. "No. I've only been going through the motions with him. You're the one I actually love.

"I wanted to come clean the first time his parents visited, but you kept stopping me. This baby is perfect timing. We can finally—"

The door banged open. I stood in the doorway, white as a sheet. "You really thought you could hide this from me forever? You were that sure I was too stupid to figure it out?"

Sienna whipped around, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out.

Nolan pushed her away from him. "Quick, explain! Tell Jace what happened!"

But Sienna only froze for a second before smiling. "Maybe it's better that you know. I'm tired of hiding it."

"Sienna!" Nolan grabbed at her sleeve.

Frantically, his eyes darted to me, and he said, "Don't say that!

"Jace, listen to me, it was an accident, I swear. She'll get rid of the baby. I'll leave and never come near you two again. Please don't hate me."

His voice cracked on the last word, and Sienna went pale with worry. She pulled him close, half-supporting him as she murmured gently, "Nolan, don't. It's not your fault that I don't love him. Seeing you cry like this breaks my heart."

One was crying, and the other was soothing them. I never knew my ex-girlfriend could be this tender with someone.

Ten years together, eight of which were spent under the same roof, and she'd never once shown me that kind of softness or compromise. Every bit of it went to my best friend instead.

At some point in the murmur of their voices, my eyes started to sting. I wiped them dry before anything could fall and took a few steps back.

"Nolan, Sienna and I already broke up. Whatever you two do from here has nothing to do with me."