Chapter 3

Biscuit was wheeled into the ICU.

The vet told me he was in critical condition. His organs were failing, and all they could do was try their best.

I went to the front desk and paid a $4,000 deposit, then sat on a plastic chair in the hallway, dripping wet, like something dragged out of a lake.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Levi's buddy, Jason Crowe.

He'd sent the location of an upscale restaurant.

"Sienna, it was your thirtieth birthday yesterday. Levi booked out the whole place to surprise you and make it up to you.

"He talks tough, but he's a softie. Get over here. Everyone's waiting for you."

I stared at the words on the screen. It was absurd.

Wasn't he soaking in a hot spring up in the mountains? How was he suddenly back in the city, booking out a restaurant?

Tessa had probably had her fill of the hot spring, and only then did he graciously remember that yesterday was the thirtieth birthday of the girlfriend he'd been with for seven years.

I looked at the closed doors of the emergency room.

Then I stood, walked out of the hospital, and hailed a cab.

The moment I pushed open the door to the private room, the noise inside stopped dead.

Every pair of eyes landed on me.

My clothes were caked with mud and the dog's blood, and my wet hair was plastered to my face. I was a total mess.

And at the head of the table, in the seat of honor that should have been mine, sat Tessa.

She was wearing an elegant little cocktail dress, with a dazzling diamond necklace around her neck.

She looked more like the birthday girl than I did.

Levi sat beside her. When he saw the state I was in, his brows knotted instantly.

"Sienna, what the hell is this? Everyone came to celebrate your birthday, and you show up dressed like this to ruin it?"

Jason jumped in to smooth things over, though his tone made it clear he was enjoying the show.

"Sienna, Levi only took Tessa to the hot spring to make you mad. Don't be so petty.

"Hurry up and have a drink with Tessa, and we'll put this whole thing behind us. Come sit."

They were all waiting.

Levi leaned back in his chair, looking down his nose at me, waiting for me to do what I'd done for the past seven years: swallow my hurt and back down to keep up appearances.

Tessa stood, sweetly picked up a glass of hard liquor, and walked over to me.

"Sienna, please don't be mad at Levi anymore. It's all my fault. I'm the one who begged him to take me.

"This one's for you. I'll down mine, and you can drink as much as you like."

She held the glass out toward me.

Levi shot to his feet and snatched it out of her hand.

"What are you doing? You've got a bad stomach. You can't drink. Don't you know that?"

His voice was full of concern.

Then he turned and set the glass of strong liquor down hard on the table in front of me.

"Sienna, Tessa's already offered you a way out. Drink it. Drink it, and I'll forgive you."

I stared hard at him.

The room was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop.

He'd forgotten.

I was allergic to alcohol.

In the first year of the startup, I'd taken three shots for him to help him land a crucial investment.

That night, I went into acute shock and spent the whole night in the ER while they fought to stabilize me.

He'd knelt by my hospital bed, gripping my hand, and sworn through his tears, "Sienna, if I ever let you touch another drop of alcohol as long as I live, I'm the lowest kind of scum."

The whole table was waiting to watch me humiliate myself. No one remembered that I couldn't drink.

I stared back at him for a long time.

Then I forced out a mocking smile.

I reached out and picked up the glass.

A flicker of smug satisfaction crossed Levi's eyes.

The next second, with a flick of my wrist, I poured the entire glass straight onto the side plate in front of him.

The liquor splashed everywhere, all over him.

"Sienna!" Levi leaped to his feet, livid.

"There's nothing to put behind us."

I looked at him, my voice calm.

"We're done."

With that, I turned and walked out of the private room.