Chapter 2

On the drive back to her place, Chloe remained distant, her mind clearly elsewhere.

The bouquet of roses I had given her lay abandoned at her feet. A few blooms beside her had been instinctively crushed into a messy ball. Pale red petals stained Chloe’s hands, and even the engagement ring was smeared with a faint floral tint. Its original luster was barely visible beneath it.

She pulled out a tissue with visible disgust and wiped her fingers clean. “Don’t give me things like this next time. It’s tacky.”

My grip tightened on the steering wheel, a sudden ache cutting through my chest.

Three years ago, when she received a single rose from Gavin on Christmas, something he had given her almost casually, she was overjoyed. She posted multiple updates on social media and even used the photo as her profile background.

She had not changed it.

Before, I just thought that she simply loved roses. It turned out she did not love roses at all. She loved Gavin, who had given her that single stalk of rose.

The car fell into a suffocating silence. We did not appear like an engaged couple. We looked more like strangers.

Chloe held her phone, frowning as she refreshed her social feed again and again. Then, I heard her thoughts.

‘Did Gavin see my engagement post yet? Does he really not care about me anymore? Back when I got close to Owen, he used to get jealous. Why is there no reaction now?’

I stared at the traffic outside, feeling something inside me slowly die. I had loved Chloe for seven years. For seven years, I had watched her come and go from Gavin’s life.

Every time they broke up, I was the one who stayed by her side. When she finally collapsed into my arms after another breakup, crying, I thought she had finally been moved by my sincerity.

I never imagined it was just another way to provoke him.

Everything I had given her over the years had been reduced to a single line—‘Even looking at him makes me sick.’

As we each sank into our own thoughts, the phone suddenly rang. A flicker of excitement crossed her face. She glanced at the caller ID and immediately declined.

“Pull over up ahead. I’ve got something urgent at work.”

She lied without hesitation, completely forgetting she had set a special ringtone for Gavin.

I turned to look at her, feeling my chest tighten. “Chloe, didn’t we agree to go to the bridal boutique? Is work really more important than this?”

The impatience in her eyes deepened. “We can go later, can’t we?”

However, her thoughts betrayed her. ‘I never planned to marry him anyway. Why waste time picking a wedding dress?’

Later?

There was no 'later' in the life she had planned. It was a life that never included me.

I pulled the car over at the curb without saying a word. Chloe clutched her phone and got out in a hurry. She was moving so fast that she did not even notice she had kicked over the bouquet of roses beside her.

Broken stems and scattered petals fell to the ground, only to be crushed beneath her heels as she walked away. All that remained was a mess.