Chapter 4

A wave of absurdity rose in my chest.

Apparently, when pain reached its limit, it started to feel almost funny.

I smiled mockingly. "So now you want me to thank you for taking my girlfriend to abort your child?"

Hunter's lips moved, but no words came out. He reached for my wrist, and that was when I noticed the silver ring on his ring finger. The metal had an unusual color, with a dull, grayish sheen.

My entire body went rigid.

I knew that ring.

After my father died, I had mixed a small portion of his ashes into molten silver and forged that plain band with my own hands.

The night after Jennifer and I first slept together, I had slipped it onto her finger myself.

Back then, Jennifer had made me a gentle promise. "Connor, I'll always wear it. When we get married, I'll move it to your hand so your father can see with his own eyes that you've found where you belong."

But now it was on Hunter's hand.

My whole body began to shake. "Where did you get that ring?"

Hunter's eyes darted away. He could not get a single word out.

In that instant, I lost every shred of reason. I lunged at him like a man possessed and tried to tear the ring from his hand.

Hunter went down under the impact and cried out as he clutched his lower abdomen.

Jennifer pushed open the door in a panic. The moment she saw Hunter slumped against the edge of the bed, with the IV needle torn from the back of his hand, she rushed over to steady him.

Then she turned to me, and her eyes went cold. "Connor, have you lost your mind?"

I did not look at her. I crouched on the floor with the ring clenched in my hand as tremors ran through my body.

"You can humiliate me all you want, but you don't get to humiliate my father."

Jennifer rose to her feet and looked down at me. A second later, she reached down and knocked the ring from my hand.

The silver band skittered across the tile floor with a sharp, ringing sound.

"Connor! I've had enough! Your father worked himself to death because he had no self-restraint! Your father is dead, and your mother went insane.

"I understand that you've had a hard life, but the whole world doesn't owe you special treatment. I don't, and neither does Hunter. Now apologize to him."

I forced down the dull ache in my chest and hardened my resolve. "Never."

Jennifer let out a cold laugh, pulled out her phone, and made a call.

A few minutes later, an orderly came into the room.

My eyelid twitched as dread tightened my chest.

Jennifer bent down, picked up the ring, and walked toward the window. "You don't have to apologize. But I hope you can live with what comes next."

I immediately understood what she intended to do and lunged forward in panic.

It was already too late. The orderly grabbed me and pinned me in place. No matter how hard I struggled, I could not move an inch.

Jennifer opened the window and tossed my ring out of the hospital window with all her strength.

"No! No! Jennifer, I'm sorry!" I screamed and begged.

However, none of it mattered anymore. Through the glass window, I watched the ring soften and lose its shape until it finally melted away without a trace.

By the time the orderly released me, I had cried myself hoarse.

I collapsed to my knees and pressed my face against the cold tile. Tears and snot covered my face, but I no longer cared.

Jennifer was already helping Hunter out of the room. She didn't spare me another glance.

I had no idea how much time passed before I finally dragged myself to my feet.

I made my way out of the hospital with one hand braced against the wall. Strangely, with every step, the dull ache in my chest grew a little lighter.

I did not go home. Nothing in that place belonged to me anymore. Instead, I hailed a cab and told the driver to take me to the airport.

The city blurred past the window until, at last, my tears ran dry. "Jennifer, from now on, you're nothing to me. We're through."