Chapter 3

Astrid's POV

Leah resigned almost immediately and became Jacob's personal assistant that very afternoon.

To celebrate her new job, the three of them rented out an entire lodge for her.

I frowned at the invitation on my phone and declined without hesitation. "I'm not going."

Leah burst into tears again, and Jacob was so desperate to comfort her that he came straight to my house.

He cornered me outside my bedroom. "Can you stop being so difficult for once?"

I sighed. "What exactly have I done? Am I not even allowed to say I don't want to go?"

Over the years, whenever I refused to go along with Leah's wishes or she started crying, I was automatically to blame. No one ever bothered asking what I wanted or whether I was happy.

When it was time to take our graduation photos, the three of them bought flowers for Leah but forgot about me.

Leah insisted on giving me her flowers, but I refused to accept them. Rather than let her get upset at the sight of me, they simply excluded me from the graduation photos altogether.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, and I didn't even get to be part of it.

Even our trip to the amusement park for my birthday had been Jacob's idea because Leah liked it, not because it was somewhere I wanted to go.

But to Jacob, the exhaustion in my tone was just another sign that I was being unreasonable.

He pressed his lips together and tried to speak as calmly as possible.

"Leah's a small-town girl. She's finally found a group of friends she can count on. If you don't come, she's going to take it personally. Astrid, I'm begging you. Please, just come with us."

I stared at him in disbelief.

I'd never imagined that Jacob, who'd always had everything handed to him, would ever have to beg anyone for something.

Yet, here he was, begging me to do something for another woman rather than for me, his own fiancee.

I lowered my head as tears blurred my vision.

"Fine."

He breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to leave, he snatched the emerald pendant from my nightstand.

Grandma Hilda had left it to me before she passed away. Every night, I held it in my hand until I fell asleep.

"I'll hang on to this for now. You'll get it back when you show up tonight," said Jacob.

My heart sank. "Do you even know how much that pendant means to me?"

"Of course I do. That's why I know you'll actually show up if I have it. Otherwise, Leah will just get even more upset."

With that, he turned and walked away.

I watched him leave, and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face.

Jacob knew that Grandma Hilda had raised me. He knew that when she passed away, I'd cried so much that I developed pneumonia and nearly died myself.

Yet, he'd still taken the one thing she'd left me, all for Leah's sake.

I squeezed my eyes shut and wiped away my tears, determined that I'd never shed another one over him.

That evening, I arrived at the lodge to find it decorated like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Leah immediately came over and took my hand when she saw me.

"Astrid! I knew you weren't really mad at me," she exclaimed.

"Yeah."

I quietly slipped my hand out of hers and walked over to Jacob. "Give me my pendant back."

He frowned impatiently. "What's the rush? If you start demanding it back now, Leah will know you didn't want to come. I'll give it back when the party's over."

Caleb glanced at me. "Astrid, you're acting like a child."

Meanwhile, Lucas stood off to the side, deliberately blocking Leah's view of us so she wouldn't see us arguing and get upset.

My throat tightened. I still hadn't fully recovered from my fever, and even swallowing was painful.

Meanwhile, Leah sat down on a chair and blinked expectantly.

"It's time!"

Jacob immediately pushed me aside and brought out a custom-made cake. "Look, Leah! That's us on the cake. We'll always be here for you."

Caleb and Lucas had each prepared extravagant gifts for her, one giving her a house and the other a car. They seemed determined to give her everything she could ever want.

Leah was so touched that she couldn't stop crying.

I glanced at the cake and saw four little figurines on top. Once again, I wasn't one of them.

But it didn't matter anymore.

I looked away, knowing I had zero desire to be part of their little group.