Chapter 2

Harry's POV

When I came out of the restroom, the two of them were nowhere to be seen.

A notification popped up on my phone. Steven had just posted a photo on social media. In it, Giselle was crouching beside him, gently rubbing his swollen foot.

She was such a germaphobe that she wouldn't even share a straw with me, yet she was willing to go that far for Steven.

So they had already left without me.

After hesitating for a long moment, I liked the post. Then I called my boss, Robert Garfield. "Mr. Garfield, I've made up my mind. I'll accept the overseas transfer."

He sounded surprised. "Didn't you say you couldn't bear to leave your fiancee? What made you change your mind all of a sudden?"

"I finally came to my senses," I replied. Accepting the transfer meant giving up on my relationship with Giselle.

I walked out of the attraction and took a cab back to the hotel alone.

I'd just finished showering when Giselle stormed into the room.

"First, you walked off by yourself, then you went and liked Steven's post just to get on my nerves. Did the cold freeze your brain?"

I met her gaze and saw the undisguised concern for Steven in her eyes.

I'd spent countless late nights planning this trip, working until my eyes were bloodshot. And this was what it had all come to.

As I sat there drying my hair, I smiled. "Sounds like he's your fiance, not me."

"You!" Giselle exploded and lunged toward me, but Steven quickly stepped in to calm her down.

"Giselle didn't mean it." He turned to her. "Come on, we're on vacation. Let's not ruin the mood. Help me rank up in the game."

Giselle's anger melted away. She playfully flicked him on the forehead. "You're terrible at that game. Just promise you won't drag me down tonight."

The two of them laughed and bickered as they headed into the room next door together. They acted as if they were the couple who belonged in the same room.

A moment later, Mr. Garfield messaged me to say my overseas transfer paperwork would be finalized the next day.

I thanked him, pulled the covers over my head, and fell asleep.

In the morning, I packed my luggage and went down to the car.

On the drive back, Steven sat in the passenger seat, bickering with Giselle as she drove, just like they always did.

Neither of them bothered to explain why they'd spent the night in the same room.

I was her fiance, yet I sat in the back seat, unable to get a word in. I'd lost count of how many times the two of them had acted like I wasn't even there.

I never imagined that the trip I'd spent more than six months planning would end like this.

Giselle dropped me off at home first. A few minutes later, she came in carrying a takeout order of cinnamon oatmeal from my favorite cafe.

But Steven was the one who loved cinnamon oatmeal. My usual order was a vanilla oat milk latte.

Giselle didn't notice her mistake and wrapped her arms around me from behind.

"Still jealous? Sorry, Steven and I stayed up too late playing games last night and just fell asleep. We didn't think anything of it. Besides, your buddy's a two-minute man. I wouldn't be interested in him."

I froze for a moment, then laughed. "And how exactly would you know that?"

Her hands stiffened around my waist. I pulled them away and turned around. Her expression darkened at once.

"Are you done yet?" Her voice grew sharp. "I bought you food to make it up to you, and I already apologized. What more do you want from me?"

Silence fell between us. The only sound was her heavy breathing.

A moment later, she spoke again, her voice icy.

"Your dad drove himself crazy with his paranoid suspicions. Are you going to follow in his footsteps? You don't have Steven's family background or upbringing. Can't you at least try to be more like him? You're disgusting!"

My eyes widened at her words. I stared at her as if she were a stranger.

My dad had once been committed to a psychiatric hospital after he became convinced my mom was cheating on him. Later, he slit his wrists and collapsed in a pool of blood.

His last words to me were, "Don't make the same mistake I did. Never ruin your life over a woman."

I'd promised him I wouldn't, and I intended to keep that promise.

I looked Giselle straight in the eye and smiled. "If Steven's so great, why don't you go be with him? We're over."