Chapter 2

I did not sleep at all that night.

Morning came with the familiar aroma of freshly ground coffee.

The other side of the bed dipped inward.

“You’re awake? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home last night? It wasn’t safe for you to be out alone that late.”

Andy tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear with his left hand.

Holding a cup of coffee in the other, he smiled at me.

“Come on, sleepyhead. Go freshen up. Breakfast’s ready, and I made your favorite coffee.”

I got out of bed, but when my gaze fell on the living room wall, I stopped cold.

Our engagement portrait was gone. In its place hung a photograph of a couple strolling along the beach with their backs to the camera.

The blue curtains had also been replaced with pink ones, a color I had always hated.

Even the succulents I had nurtured for years had vanished from the coffee table, replaced by plush toys I had never liked.

Every detail seemed to carry the same silent message that another woman had made herself at home there.

Andy wrapped his arm around waist and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“Something came up at work, Olivia. I have to go. Be good and remember to eat breakfast.”

As the sound of the front door clicking shut came from the entryway, the tablet on the sofa buzzed with a notification.

Before I could stop myself, I opened Andy’s messages. A saccharine female voice filled the room.

“Andy, remember to bring your photo ID. Apparently, that jeweler only allows each client to commission one signature engagement ring per lifetime. I’ll meet you at the boutique. I found the perfect one, and it’s on sale for just under fifteen thousand dollars. We can pay for it in full today!”

Andy replied without the slightest hesitation, “Okay. Whatever you want.”

Those words sliced through my heart like a blade.

I looked down at the tarnished silver band on my ring finger. A dull ache spread through my chest.

My ring cost fifteen dollars.

Andy had picked it up on a whim from a jewelry kiosk. It was not even the right size.

Still, I wore it every day for three years.

Several times on our anniversary, I had asked if we could replace it with a proper engagement ring. Each time, he had brushed me off. “Olivia, we don’t need an expensive ring to prove our love. All that ceremonial nonsense means nothing.”

Only then did I understand that people always made room in their budget for what truly mattered to them.

I smiled bitterly as I slipped the silver ring from my finger and tossed it into the trash.

The bitter taste of the coffee lingered on my tongue.

My phone vibrated again. It was John Colman, our real estate agent.

“Ms. Alonzi, I feel obligated to inform you of this. A colleague of mine saw your fiance paying cash for a thirteen-hundred-square-foot condo for another woman a few days ago. I know it’s a personal matter, and normally I’d stay out of it, but you’re the one making the nearly two-thousand-dollar monthly mortgage payments on the house the two of you were supposed to build your future in. I’d hate to see him take advantage of you. You cured my mother after years of chronic illness. I’ve never forgotten what you did for our family.”

As soon as I ended the call, I called my best friend, Yasmin Marsan, who worked at the bank.

“Could you please pull Andy’s bank transaction records for the past few years?”

After several agonizing hours, more than a year’s worth of transfers to the same recipient appeared on my screen.

Even Yasmin could not help but curse over the phone.

“What kind of man does this? In barely a year, Andy has spent almost half a million dollars on that woman!”

The sheer volume of charges felt suffocating.

The earliest payment dated back to a hotel suite in Southvale a year ago.

That day, my grandmother had been gravely ill. In her final moments, she had kept calling out his name.

“Oli, where is Andy? Why isn’t he here yet? When I’m gone, he’ll be your only family.”

I sobbed and begged her not to leave me while desperately praying that Andy would answer his phone.

Unfortunately, every call went unanswered. My grandmother took her final breath without Andy ever showing up.

My eyes burned, swollen from crying.

At least I had learned the truth before it was too late. I had not yet trapped myself in a marriage with him.