Chapter 3

"Mom, I need you to check the security footage for me."

After that day, I went right back to my old routine, eating and drinking my way through life with my friends, no different from before.

The only real change was that I started coming home later and later.

One night, when I pushed open my bedroom door, a dark shape was standing right in the middle of the room.

I nearly screamed before I flipped on the light and realized it was Vera.

Her face was dead serious, her brow furrowed tight enough to trap a mosquito.

"Why are you getting home so late?"

I yawned and asked, offhand, "Is something wrong?"

Vera's expression darkened. She opened her mouth to say something, then suddenly froze.

"Whose perfume is that on you?"

Before I could answer, she yanked my jacket open and that was when I noticed the lipstick mark on it.

Her lips pressed into a thin red line, and she let out a cold laugh.

"Grayson, we're still technically together. I'd appreciate it if you kept yourself in check."

I glanced down at the jacket on the floor. The mark had come from running into Elaine Grace, my sister's friend, at a restaurant.

She'd just been saying a normal hello to me when someone bumped into her from behind, and the lipstick had rubbed off on me when she stumbled against my chest.

Nothing had happened between us. Not even close.

And even if it had, it wouldn't have been any of Vera's business.

Seeing how unbothered I looked, Vera took it the wrong way.

She stared at me, her tone turning playful. "You're not regretting calling off the wedding, are you? Playing hard to get now?"

Her voice had gone smug, and the anger drained right out of her face in an instant.

"You're such a drama queen. Did you actually think I'd go back to keeping tabs on you like before? Dream on."

But right at the end, she stopped herself and studied my face for a second.

Her tone turned haughty. "Honestly, if you did regret it, I could understand. I'll just pretend I never heard what you said, and we'll go register the marriage like planned. Except I still need to take care of Sebastian," she started, before I cut her off.

I already had a headache from drinking, and her rambling nonsense nearly made me pass out.

I cut her off, annoyed. "I don't regret anything, and I'm not playing hard to get like you think."

I picked my suit jacket up off the floor and carefully brushed the dust from it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vera standing there stiff as a statue, so I forced down my irritation and said, "Anything else? If not, you can go."

Humiliation flickered across her face, and she looked at me like she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Her whole body was shaking, whether from anger or from something else I couldn't tell. Then her gaze landed on the plaster figurines on my nightstand.

We'd made that pair together at a street market when I was eighteen.

I could toss a six-figure model car without a second thought and shrug off a seven-figure watch.

But that pair of twenty-dollar plaster dolls stayed right where I could reach them, keeping me company every night as I fell asleep.

Strangely, Vera's composure returned all at once. Her lips curled up like she'd already won.

"Grayson, say whatever you want. It doesn't matter anymore. I just came to tell you that tomorrow is Sebastian's birthday. His friends are coming to celebrate, so you'd better not go causing trouble."

I gave a half-hearted nod, just wanting her out of my room.

That was when a wary voice called out, "Vera, are you busy?"

Sebastian watched us nervously, like he was terrified I might steal Vera away.

Vera's expression turned awkward, and she walked over and took his hand.

"It's fine. Let's head back."

But as she turned to go, Sebastian caught sight of the pair of dolls on the nightstand, and jealousy flashed through his eyes.

I'd posted a picture of them on social media a few years back, and Sebastian had even gone out of his way to like it.

He stopped in his tracks and spoke up, feigning hesitation. "Can I have one? As a birthday present for tomorrow."

Vera's face twisted with discomfort, and just as she opened her mouth to say something, I grabbed the girl doll myself and shoved it straight into his arms.

Sebastian's face lit up with delight. Vera's expression darkened for no clear reason.