Chapter 3

Adrian fell silent, looking rather sheepish.

When we got out of the car, he hurried around to my side and reached out to hold my hand.

Without a word, I sidestepped out of his reach and shoved my hands deep into my jacket pockets.

The next second, Maya squeezed in between us.

She slipped her arm through his with easy familiarity.

Adrian didn't pull away, even instinctively shielding her with his arm to make sure she didn't bump her head on the car door.

I watched the whole thing without saying a single word.

I just walked straight ahead.

The moment we stepped inside the new house, Maya's stomachache seemed to miraculously vanish.

She dragged Adrian along with her, pointing at everything and commenting excitedly on it all.

"Adrian, didn't I say before that I hate the color of these guest room curtains? Why haven't you had someone change them yet?"

I heard that, and my feet stopped dead in their tracks.

"I'm the one who told the workers not to change them. The color you picked is hideous.

"Since this is the house Adrian and I are supposed to live in after the wedding, I'm pretty sure you don't get a say."

The smile on Maya's face froze instantly, completely caught off guard by me putting her on the spot in front of everyone.

She stood frozen for two seconds.

Then she immediately scurried over, hooked her arm through mine, and started batting her eyelashes.

"Emery, don't talk like that. Are you still mad because we went to Seattle without you?

"I'm sorry, okay? I just thought you were way too swamped lately, so I wanted you to have a chance to properly chill over the weekend. That's all it was... We've been friends for eighteen years, why are you keeping score like this?"

My face hardened as I violently yanked my arm out of her grip.

"Keeping score? Are you planning to marry Adrian for me, too? Maya, precisely because we've been friends for eighteen years, I know exactly what's going on inside your head.

"Stop playing dumb with me."

Maya was struck speechless for a moment, her eyes instantly welling up with tears.

"No, no, no, it's not like that. Emery, please don't look at me that way, I really only meant—"

I took a deep breath.

Since things had already reached this point, there was no point in keeping up appearances anymore, so I might as well lay it all out in the open.

"Every single text I sent in the chat got deliberately ignored by you two. You'd spend hours chatting with each other until late at night right in front of me, while ignoring my private messages.

"And you hid behind the excuse of being best friends to watch movies, grab meals, and take private trips with my fiancé. If you asked a complete stranger on the street about this, ten out of ten people would call it completely messed up.

"Maya, do I need to spell it out any clearer for you? Have some self-respect, will you?"

Maya was left completely speechless by my harsh words, covering her face as tears streamed down even faster.

Adrian couldn't stand watching it any longer.

He stepped over and gave me a hard push.

"Emery, what are you even saying?

"Maya and I really don't have anything going on! We've known each other for so long. If there was going to be something, it would've happened years ago. Can you stop driving yourself crazy with paranoia?

“I brought you here to comfort Maya, not for you to stand there pointing fingers and screaming at her!"

I lost my footing, stumbling back hard against the wall behind me.

A dull grunt of pain tore from my throat.

Adrian instinctively started to reach out and catch me, but his hand froze halfway in mid-air.

Instead, he turned and threw his arm around Maya's shoulders to comfort her.

"Emery, apologize to Maya.

"Let's just drop this. Stop making a scene."

I looked into his accusing eyes, but my heart had already burned through all its pain.

It felt completely numb.

I just braced myself against the wall, stood up straight, and looked right at Adrian.

"I’m not dropping it.

"There are some things I want to talk to you about alone. I'll be waiting for you in the master bedroom, and you'd better not bring anyone else with you."

With that, I brushed past him and walked away.

Even then, Adrian dragged his feet for a bit, murmuring a few more comforting words to Maya while handing her a gift box and a set of keys.

Only then did he finally come to find me.

"Emery, this is for you.

"Maya and I picked it out together in Seattle. We were thinking about you the whole time we were there, so please don't be mad anymore. I promise I'll be more careful from now on and won't do anything to tick you off."

I glanced at the gift box, not bothering to take it.

Instead, I held my hand out toward Adrian.

"I don't want your gift. Where are the keys to the new house?

"When we had the locks changed, didn't they give us two copies? One for you, one for me, perfect."

Adrian looked away, guilt flashing across his face.

"I... I'm going to be picking you up from work every day from now on, so you don't really need a key. Carrying it around just means you'll probably lose it."

"You gave them to Maya, didn't you?"

I let out a harsh, bitter laugh, finding the whole situation genuinely absurd.

"Adrian, I'm your fiancée and the future lady of this house, and I don't even have a key to my own front door?

"Do you hear how insane that sounds to yourself? You knew I was mad, you knew it bothered me, and you still gave the key to someone else? Is this supposed to be our marital home, or is it yours and Maya's?"

Adrian was choked up by my questions, completely lost for words.

After sputtering for a long second, he muttered under his breath, "I'll get a spare made for you later.

"You know how rough Maya's family situation is, I just gave her a key so she could have a sense of security. As her friend, don't you want Maya to be happy—"

I snapped, letting out a sharp roar.

"Whether I'm actually her friend or not, you know the truth better than anyone!"

Before the words could even fade, the door to the master bedroom was shoved violently open.

"Adrian, you grabbed the wrong box!

"I'm supposed to have the cheaper one. Why did you give me this expensive designer bracelet instead? It even has my initials carved into it. Give it to Emery right now!"

Adrian glanced down at the box.

"It's the right one. You said you'd never worn a bracelet that expensive before, so I wanted to buy you one."

With that, Adrian turned and shoved the gift box forcefully into my hands.

Then, terrified I'd throw another fit, he softened his tone and tried to placate me.

"I don't have that kind of cash on me right now, so just make do with this one for now. Once I get my year-end bonus, I'll buy you an even better one. You know how Maya's situation is. She doesn't make much money, and she only has her job because you pulled strings to help her out.

"Just have some pity on her and stop making a big deal out of these tiny little things, okay?"

Maya looked at me, her eyes swimming with fresh tears.

"Emery, please forgive me."