Chapter 4

"Sienna, stop right there!"

Behind me, a chair crashed over as Levi came after me.

In the restaurant's long hallway, he grabbed my wrist.

"Have you lost your mind? Everyone's giving you a way out, and you insist on making a scene?"

He was holding back his anger, his chest heaving.

"I told you, all you had to do was drink that glass and I'd forgive you. Tessa would even leave. What more do you want?

"You're thirty, Sienna! Who besides me could put up with your boring, rigid personality?"

Tessa ran out after us, her eyes red, and reached for the hem of Levi's shirt.

"Levi, don't yell at Sienna. It's all my fault. I'll take the necklace off and give it to her right now..."

As she spoke, she went to undo the clasp at her neck, but she fumbled with it for ages and couldn't get it open, tears of frustration spilling over.

Levi pressed her hand down, his voice tender. "Don't. You don't take back a gift once it's given."

He turned to me, his eyes cold.

"Sienna, if you dare walk out that door today, don't ever expect me to come after you again!"

"You're right."

I looked at Levi, my voice barely above a whisper.

"So I'm letting you go."

Bit by bit, I pried his fingers loose, then calmly shook off his hand.

Levi froze.

He probably hadn't expected that reaction. Something like panic flashed through his eyes, there and gone.

Right then, the phone in my pocket rang.

It was the animal hospital.

I answered. Hannah, one of the nurses, spoke softly on the other end, her voice full of apology.

"Ms. Cole, I'm so sorry. We couldn't save Biscuit. He just passed.

"Would you like to come see him one last time?"

The hallway lights were glaring.

I gripped my phone as the tears finally broke loose, big drops rolling down my face without a single sound.

Levi watched me cry and assumed his words had made me give in.

His expression eased, and his voice softened.

"All right, what are you crying for? As long as you stop watching my every move, I'll still marry you."

I ignored him.

I turned and, one heavy step at a time, walked out of the restaurant.

I didn't go back to that home.

I took a cab to the animal hospital alone and found Biscuit lying on a steel table, already stiff.

I held his cold body and sat in the empty treatment room all night.

Early the next morning, I took care of the cremation paperwork by myself.

All that was left of Biscuit fit in a small box of ashes, and I held it tight against my chest.

While Levi was still at work and Tessa was out, I went back to the apartment one last time.

I called a moving company.

Honestly, I didn't have much.

For years, all my energy had gone into Levi. I bought him designer suits and imported stomach medicine, while I barely owned a decent outfit myself.

I packed up the few old clothes and books that were mine.

At the entryway, I took the spare key out of my bag.

There was a framed photo on the shoe cabinet.

It was from seven years ago: Levi holding Biscuit as a month-old puppy, me leaning on his shoulder. The three of us, our little family.

The Levi in that photo smiled so openly, so purely.

I picked up the frame and tossed it into the trash can beside the cabinet, along with the key.

The door slammed shut.

It shut out seven years of my youth, along with all the foolishness and bitterness that came with them.