Chapter 3

At 9:00 pm, Evelyn texted me.

"Working late. Don't wait up."

I pulled up the location-tracking app on my phone. Evelyn had made me install it so she could keep tabs on me, but she seemed to forget that it worked both ways.

The app showed her at a food stall on the west side of town.

The place was notorious for its terrible hygiene. The floors were slick with grease, and rats scurried under the tables. Whenever we drove by a place like that, Evelyn would roll up the windows, put on a mask, and have the car cleaned as soon as we got home.

So this was her idea of working late.

I threw on a black hoodie and took a cab over.

The food stall was packed. The air was thick with the stench of cheap barbecue, stale grease, and sweat.

I spotted Evelyn right away.

She was sitting on a red plastic stool, still in her grease-stained blouse from earlier with her sleeves rolled up. Adrian sat across from her, one foot propped on his chair, laughing as they played a drinking game.

"Bottoms up! Ha, I win!"

He took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke right into Evelyn's face. She didn't even flinch.

Instead, she leaned in and kissed him. Their kiss must have tasted like cigarette smoke, beer, and garlic.

I stood a few yards away, paralyzed. My stomach churned.

Was this the same woman who couldn't stand a single speck of dust? The woman who was obsessed with cleanliness?

It turned out filth was never the problem.

I was.

Something snapped inside me. I stormed over, grabbed a beer bottle, and smashed it against the table.

The glass shattered, and foam sprayed everywhere.

Then I flipped the entire table. Skewers, beer, and hot soup spilled onto Adrian. He screamed as the soup soaked him from head to toe.

"Evelyn! Ryan's gone crazy! He's trying to kill me!" Adrian yelled.

Evelyn shot to her feet and shoved me hard. "Ryan Brooks! What the hell is wrong with you?"

The force knocked me off balance, sending me crashing onto the grimy pavement and into a pile of broken glass. Sharp shards sliced into my palm, and blood seeped into the muddy water beneath me.

I barely registered the pain.

I held up my bleeding hand and glared at Evelyn.

"So this is what you call being clean?" I spat. "You wouldn't even touch a fork I'd used. Even my breath disgusted you. Yet you'll kiss him and breathe in his secondhand smoke? Doesn't that disgust you?"

She looked down at me without a trace of guilt. "Just look at yourself, Ryan. You're covered in filth. You make me sick!"

Then she turned to Adrian and checked him over.

"Are you okay, Adrian? Does it hurt anywhere?"

Adrian clung to her, pretending to tremble. Then, over her shoulder, he looked straight at me and smirked.

"Evelyn… Ryan scared me. My head hurts…"

The color drained from Evelyn's face. She helped him up and led him away.

Before she left, she shot me one last look of disgust.

"Don't follow us. You'll dirty my car."

By now, a crowd had formed around us. Several people already had their phones out, recording everything.

I sat there in the muddy puddle, blood dripping from my hand.