Chapter 2

My phone buzzed on and off the entire night.

Lyle sent message after message, lighting up the screen every few minutes before it faded back to black.

I didn't open any of them. Eventually, I put the phone on silent.

At exactly 9:00 am, a knock sounded at the door.

Alyssa walked in with a stylist behind her.

She was already dressed for the wedding. Her gown swept the floor, a veil was pinned neatly into her hair, and the diamond necklace I'd given her rested against her collarbone.

The matching earrings flashed beneath the lights whenever she moved.

She looked at me and said gently, "You should get ready. We're running out of time."

I didn't move from where I was sitting. "I told you. The wedding's off."

Her face tightened as her brows drew together into a frown. "The guests are about to arrive. What are you trying to pull now?"

I looked up at her and sneered.

"I'm not going to stand in front of everyone and pretend none of this happened. And I'm sure as hell not marrying a woman who's been sleeping with my best friend behind my back. Alyssa, does none of this make you ashamed of yourself?"

Her lips parted, but before she could answer, the door burst open.

Lyle rushed into the room wearing a dark blue apron from the early childhood center, with a baby cradled against his chest.

"Gordon, please. Let me explain…"

He strode toward me and grabbed my wrist while the baby wailed in his arms.

"What happened back then was a mistake!"

I pulled my wrist free.

"Save it. Even if what happened four years ago was a mistake, are you going to tell me the baby was one, too? For four years, I treated you like my own brother. The entire time, you were sleeping with the woman I planned to marry."

Lyle's lips parted, but he was speechless.

"Gordon, I…"

I looked down, my gaze locking onto the apron he was wearing. "Hillridge Early Childhood Education Centre" was embroidered across the chest.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

I laughed under my breath and turned to Alyssa. "So that's why you always had business trips to Hillridge. That's why you wouldn't answer your phone or text me back. You weren't working. You were going to see him and your child.

"And the whole time, I was sitting at home worrying about whether your flight landed safely. I couldn't even sleep until I got a message saying you'd arrived."

Alyssa lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together.

Meanwhile, Lyle's voice was hoarse when he said, "Gordon, I'm sorry. I never wanted to lie to you…"

Alyssa immediately crossed the room and steadied him.

Then, she took the baby from his arms with practiced ease and gently patted the child's back until the crying began to settle.

The train of her wedding gown dragged carelessly across the floor, but she didn't even notice.

"Lyle, you've been taking care of the baby all day. Go sit down for a while."

She guided him toward the couch with one hand while securely supporting the baby with the other.

That was when I noticed the watch on his wrist.

It was a Patek Philippe worth three times more than the one Alyssa had given me.

The face gleamed beneath the lights, and suddenly I understood why Lyle had always seemed unimpressed by mine.

"I gave up on my own career for you. For eight years, I put everything I had into helping you build yours," I said.

I didn't even know what hurt more. Was it the betrayal itself or the realization of how little she'd valued everything I'd done?

"I was there when we lived in a rental apartment with water leaking through the ceiling. I was there when we were so broke we could barely afford instant noodles. And I was there when you finally reached the point where you were earning a million dollars a year.

"Yet the watch you gave me isn't even worth a third of the one you bought him. Is that really all I ever meant to you?"

Alyssa shot to her feet, her expression dark.

"That's enough! He's been looking after the baby all day. His hands are already shaking, so stop laying into him."

"Fine. I'm done."

I turned, picked up my phone from the nightstand, and headed for the door.

I'd barely taken a few steps when I almost ran straight into Alyssa's mother.

Melissa Peters was dressed in a burgundy gown for the wedding, clearly on her way to greet the arriving guests.

The smile disappeared from her face as soon as she saw me.

"Gordon, do you have any idea what time it is? You're not even dressed yet. Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," I said. "The wedding's canceled."

She froze. "What did you just say?"

"I said there isn't going to be a wedding. I'm not marrying Alyssa."

Melissa's face flushed with anger. "Gordon Tate, are you seriously going to humiliate our entire family like—"

She stopped abruptly.

Her gaze had shifted over my shoulder and into the room.

Lyle was sitting there with the baby.

Melissa stared at him for a second, and then her expression shifted.

"Lyle, why did you bring my grandson all the way out here? He's still a baby. What if he gets sick?"

I froze, stunned.

When her words finally sank in, the absurdity of the situation almost made me laugh.

It seemed that everyone knew about them except me.