Chapter 2

Ever since Kermit returned from abroad, he'd been appearing in Sadie's life more and more often. I felt as though Sadie was slipping through my fingers, and I started arguing with her. I grew increasingly neurotic.

Kermit kept goading me. I was already deeply depressed, yet he never stopped provoking me. He sent me pictures of the two of them sleeping in the same bed and flaunted the diamond ring she had given him.

He even called me during one of my worst episodes. "Your wife spent the night with me last night. She said you can't even compare to my little toe."

His words felt like a poisoned knife plunged into my chest.

I told Sadie about my depression, but she thought I was just throwing a tantrum. When I broke down and smashed things, she said I was emotionally unstable. When I couldn't sleep because of it, she said I was overthinking everything.

I grabbed a razor blade and slashed my wrist. I could barely tell whether I was still alive. I lay in the bathtub as my blood slowly tinged the warm water around me a faint red.

My phone was still on, and Kermit's last voice message played through the speaker. "Sadie said no one would care if a guy like you died. You know that?"

His laughter sounded like a dull knife sawing through my nerves. In my stupor, the water stain on the ceiling seemed to form a face that smiled mockingly down at me.

The cut was deeper than I had thought. Blood kept pouring from the wound.

Strangely enough, it didn't hurt. More than anything, I felt liberated.

My phone vibrated again. I raised my head with difficulty and saw a photo of Kermit with his arm wrapped around Sadie's waist as he whispered something in her ear.

The caption read: [She wouldn't even spare you a glance if you died right now.]

My fingers trembled, and the knife slipped from the edge of the bathtub. It hit the floor with a clang.

The housekeeper heard the noise, looked inside, and immediately ran out.

The world began to darken. Then I heard someone breaking down the door.

Sadie had brought someone to kick it open. Her eyes widened when she saw the pool of blood and the stream still flowing from my wrist. Her knees slammed against the tiles, but she didn't seem to notice.

Her trembling fingers closed around my wrist as if she could somehow force the blood back inside.

"Wake up! Flynn, look at me!" she shouted hoarsely. "Call an ambulance! Now!"

She wrapped her arms around me as though I were the most precious thing in the world.

In the ambulance, she held my hand tightly.

Even when the doctor tried to examine my injury, she refused to let go. "Stay with me, Flynn. Please... I'm begging you... I can't live without you..."