Chapter 1

Eric's POV

Faint rustling and crackling came through the phone, but every word Zoey Hansen and Jared Wheeler said was crystal clear.

I froze on the doorstep, my hand raised to knock on the door. The sounds coming from inside the house remained as loud as ever.

At last, when Zoey realized the call had connected, she exclaimed in a panic, "Wait! You didn't reject the call?"

The call was abruptly disconnected, and within moments, someone opened the door.

Zoey stood there, wearing Jared's shirt. She had an uneasy look on her face. Jared leaned lazily against the doorframe. He even raised a hand in greeting when he saw me.

My mind was a complete blank. I stood motionless on the doorstep. The oversized shirt hanging off Zoey's body couldn't conceal the red marks littering across her skin.

"Eric, let me explain..." Zoey's voice was hoarse as she reached out to grab me.

However, the moment she touched me, I jerked my hand away, and she stiffened.

"Why?"

My voice was choked and barely above a whisper. That was the only word I could get out.

The three of us had grown up together. I always thought I knew them like the back of my hand. Never would I have expected my best friend and the woman I loved most to betray me together.

Zoey's face went pale as she desperately tugged at the collar of the shirt, trying to cover the marks.

For a moment, a heavy silence hung in the air.

Then Jared let out a derisive laugh and casually draped an arm over my shoulder. In his usual cavalier tone, he teased, "Oh, come on. Stop pulling the long face. Well, it's exactly what you see. Zoey and I got together ages ago."

His tone became even more nonchalant toward the end, as though what he said was something perfectly ordinary.

Zoey shot Jared a furious look before taking a deep breath. "Eric, Jared and I were just..."

She paused, stumbling over her words, unable to come up with an excuse.

Jared pulled her behind him and said, "Don't blame Zoey for this, Eric. Blame yourself. You're the one who's such a bore. You don't know the first thing about romance or passion."

His lips curled into a smirk, and when he spread his arms, I saw the hickeys dotted across his chest.

"Zoey and I are just fuck buddies. Don't make a big deal out of it. Besides, we've always shared everything with each other anyway. You can even rest easy knowing Zoey is satisfying her desires with me instead of some other guy."

The moment those words left Jared's mouth, the last thread of rationality holding me together snapped. I charged forward without a thought, grabbed him by the collar with both hands, and slammed him against the wall.

"How could the two of you do this to me!" I bellowed.

Jared's face flushed red from the lack of air. My entire body was trembling. I wanted nothing more than to kill him right then and there.

"Have you two forgotten what you promised me back then?"

The next second, Zoey shoved me away with all her strength, and my forehead struck the corner of the wall. A sharp pain shot through me.

Zoey took Jared's hand, her gaze concerned. She turned her reddened eyes on me and shrieked, "Eric Landry! How much longer are you going to hold that over our heads, huh? Yes, your sister died because of Jared and me, but it was an accident!

"It's been 13 years, and I even married you out of guilt! What more do you want from me?"

They slammed the door shut. It wasn't until the rain began beating against the windows that I slowly came back to myself.

I slid down onto the floor, covering my eyes with my palms as my heart throbbed painfully. The glow of my phone screen flickered on and off in the dim living room.