Chapter 2

Katherine's Pov

I could not breathe properly anymore. Every memory I treasured suddenly became ugly inside my mind.

Every kiss, every touch. Every promise whispered softly against my skin during vulnerable moments when he knew exactly how deeply I loved him. Damon had known about my feelings from the very beginning and still chose to use them anyway while happily taking every piece of affection, loyalty, and devotion I offered him without ever intending to love me back.

“So what you mean now is that I was convenient for you? An easy and available girl for whenever you wanted to have sex?!” My vision blurred with tears while anger and heartbreak collided violently inside my chest until I genuinely thought I might collapse right there in the middle of the jewelry store.

“Kathy,” Damon said again, sounding more irritated now than apologetic, “Don’t make this dramatic. I really care about you, but you created expectations that I never actually promised. You had fun as well, screaming and moaning my name whenever we had sex. So why are you acting like this?!”

“I did it because I liked you! You were the one who said you would make our relationship official and now you're telling me that you want to date some other girl?!”

Damon's face instantly grew darker. “Some other girl? Hailey is my girlfriend, she has always been. If you opened your eyes enough to see that, then maybe you wouldn't have had those stupid thoughts in your head. I would never date someone like you, Kathy. Who knows just how many people you've had sex with. Unlike you, Hailey is purer and less easy. You should be satisfied with just being best friends.”

Before I could even think rationally, my hand flew upward. The slap echoed across the boutique so loudly that several employees looked over immediately in shock while Damon stumbled backward half a step, his eyes wide with disbelief as a bright red mark spread slowly across his cheek.

“How dare you,” I whispered brokenly while tears streamed freely down my face now. “How dare you make me feel stupid for loving you when you spent years encouraging it.”

“Katherine…”

“No,” I snapped harshly while stepping backward away from him like his presence physically disgusted me now. “Do not say my name again. Fuck you, Damon. Fuck you!”

A man sitting near the waiting area rose abruptly from one of the leather couches after hearing the commotion, and I recognized him immediately as Zeke, Damon’s longtime friend who looked between us with obvious confusion written across his face.

“What the hell happened?” Zeke asked cautiously while staring at Damon’s reddened cheek.

But I did not stay long enough to hear the answer. I turned around quickly before Damon could see me completely break apart, then rushed blindly out of the boutique while sobs clawed violently up my throat the moment cold evening air slammed against my face outside.

The streets of Manhattan blurred around me beneath endless city lights while crowds moved endlessly in every direction, yet despite the noise surrounding me, I had never felt so completely alone in my entire life.

Then, through the closing boutique doors behind me, I heard Marcus speak again. “Bro, aren’t you going after her?” he asked in disbelief. “She looks completely destroyed.”

Damon scoffed loudly enough for the sound to reach me. “Please,” he muttered dismissively. “Katherine is obsessed with me. She’ll cry for a few days and come right back like always. Just let her calm down a bit, things will go back to how it used to be.”

I stopped walking immediately. Anger unfurled slowly inside my chest while those words echoed repeatedly through my head like poison.

He thought I would always crawl back to him no matter how badly he treated me because he genuinely believed my love made me weak..By the time night settled fully across the city hours later, I could not bear the thought of returning to my apartment where every corner reminded me painfully of Damon, so instead my feet carried me automatically toward the only place capable of distracting me from my humiliation.

Rhodes Enterprises.

The cold night air slapped harshly against my face as I stormed down the sidewalk, but somehow it still was not enough to cool the rage burning through my veins so violently that my entire body trembled with it.

My chest hurt and the pain was ugly and sharp enough to make breathing feel like punishment. I could still hear Damon’s voice inside my head so clearly that it almost made me sick.

“I would never date someone like you. You should be satisfied with just being best friends.”

A shaky laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it, though it sounded more angry than amused.

Three years. Three entire years wasted on a man who looked me in the eye while sleeping with me and somehow still convinced himself that I was the easy one. My heels struck aggressively against the pavement as I walked faster, desperate to outrun the humiliation clawing through my chest, but suddenly my phone buzzed violently inside my purse.

Damon. His name flashed brightly across the screen.

For a second, hope twisted painfully inside me despite everything, maybe he regretted it already and he wanted to apologise.

The phone rang again, but when I didn't pick up, another message came through immediately after.

{Stop being childish and pick up. You still have to help me pick out the ring.}

“This fucker…” I nearly threw the phone across the street. Instead, I silenced it furiously before shoving it back into my purse and continuing forward blindly while anger burned behind my eyes.

That was when I saw her. At first, I almost thought exhaustion was making me hallucinate because only twenty minutes had passed since Damon proudly announced that Hailey was the love of his life, yet standing across the street outside a black SUV was Hailey herself. And she was definitely not alone.

Hailey laughed brightly while wrapping both arms around the neck of a tall blond man dressed in a gray coat, her body pressed so closely against his that there was no possible way this interaction could be misunderstood as friendly. Then the man kissed her, he literally kissed her like he owned her and Hailey kissed him back even harder.

My eyes widened. “What the hell…” I whispered faintly.

The blond man grabbed Hailey’s waist possessively while she giggled breathlessly against his mouth, completely unaware that I was standing barely twenty feet away watching the entire thing unfold in real time.

“You’re insane,” the man murmured against her lips with a grin. “What if your boyfriend finds out?”

Hailey rolled her eyes dramatically before kissing him again. “Please. Damon worships the ground I walk on. That idiot would believe anything I tell him.”

Something inside me snapped. Because suddenly every disgusting thing Damon said to me earlier replayed viciously inside my head while the woman he defended so passionately stood right in front of me cheating on him without even a hint of guilt on her face.

My body moved before my brain fully caught up. “Katherine?” Hailey’s eyes widened the second she noticed me marching toward her across the sidewalk, though shock quickly transformed into irritation afterward. “What the hell are you doing here?”

The blond man looked awkward instantly. “Uh… babe, who’s this?”

Babe? I almost laughed.

“You should ask her how many boyfriends she has before calling her that,” I replied coldly while stopping directly in front of them, my pulse roaring violently inside my ears. “Actually no, let me rephrase that. You should ask her how many men she’s juggling at the same time.”

Hailey’s face drained instantly. “What are you talking about?” she snapped quickly, though panic flickered behind her eyes for just a second too long.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I hissed. “Damon practically called me a whore tonight while defending your purity like you’re some innocent little angel, meanwhile you’re out here sucking face with another man less than thirty minutes later.”

The blond man immediately stepped backward. “Wait. What the hell are you talking about?"

“Oh my God,” Hailey groaned dramatically while glaring at me. “You psycho bitch, are you stalking me now because Damon rejected you?”