Chapter 4

Willow softened her voice, speaking to Jayden as gently as she would to a frightened child.

"Okay. Just wait for me. I'll be there soon."

Seeing how much patience she had for Jayden, I suddenly found it almost ridiculous.

She could be endlessly patient with him, but when it came to me, I was always an afterthought—left with the cold silence and whatever little attention remained.

I wiped the water from my face, my teeth chattering as I glared at her.

"He invites a married woman out for drinks in the middle of the night? Alone?" I let out a bitter laugh. "Tell me, does Jayden really just want a drink—or does he have something else in mind?"

Jayden had clearly heard me.

"Willow, don't come. Caius seems to have misunderstood our relationship. Forget it. I'll just take a few sleeping pills and try to get through the night. Maybe if I fall asleep, I won't feel so bad…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Willow snapped. "Don't take anything. It's bad for you. I'll be there in five minutes."

She hung up and turned to me. The warmth in her eyes was gone, replaced by an icy glare.

"Caius Morales, is sarcasm all you're capable of?"

Her words hit harder than I expected.

"Did you ever stop to think that Jayden might be going through something? Maybe he just needs a drink to clear his head. Why do you always have to make everything about yourself?"

I stared at her, my chest tightening as if the air had suddenly been knocked out of me.

"Willow Simpson, you're calling me selfish?"

I could feel my heart growing colder despite the icy water soaking through my clothes. I met her gaze, refusing to look away.

"When he's upset, you care this much about him. But what about me? Why am I always expected to just put up with everything?"

She didn't answer. She only looked at me with the weary disappointment you'd give someone who refused to listen. "You're impossible to reason with right now."

She slammed the door behind her and walked away.

The sound echoed through the room.

I didn't know how long I sat there. By the time most of the water on my clothes had dried, I finally forced myself to get up.

After washing up and changing into dry clothes, I crawled into bed.

It was already 12:30 am. By then, she'd spent four hours drinking with him.

Then my phone lit up. It was a message from Jayden.

"Sorry, Caius. I had too much to drink, and Willow was worried about me, so she stayed to look after me. I figured you'd probably start overthinking things again."

I tightened my grip on my phone until my knuckles turned white.

I knew he was trying to provoke me, so I didn't respond.

Then another notification appeared. It was a video this time.

The room was dimly lit, with only a warm bedside lamp.

Willow sat beside him, her usually stern expression softened as she quietly hummed, trying to lull him to sleep. Jayden leaned against her, one hand wrapped around her arm, his head resting comfortably on her shoulder.

Then Jayden opened his eyes, a mischievous glint in them as he leaned closer to Willow.

"Can I get a goodnight kiss?"

Willow froze, looking caught off guard. "Stop it."

But Jayden moved closer. "Just one. Please?" he coaxed. "Don't worry. Caius will never know."

Willow fell silent.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then she slowly closed her eyes.

The video showed them kissing.

Then, without warning, it cut off.

A message appeared on the screen—Message unsent.

But those few seconds had already burned themselves into my mind.

My hands trembled as I stared at the screen. After a long moment, I typed two words into the chat. "You're just a pathetic homewrecker."

Right after I hit send, my phone began vibrating nonstop.