Chapter 3

Rory's POV

I was about to explain when Keith yanked his hand back. "Mom, you're seeing things!"

"My eyes aren't that far gone. I know what I saw!"

Mom was shaking badly. She looked at Sasha, then at Keith, and something clicked. Then she pointed at both of them and screamed, her voice raw.

"You two! Sasha, Rory's father saved your life. You promised yourself to my son! And Keith! When your parents threw you out, I'm the one who took you in!

"This is what you do while I'm sick? You take advantage of my boy…"

Something bitter surged through me, and I tried to calm her down, my eyes stinging. Keith tried to explain again, but it only pushed her over the edge. Mom's rage boiled over and she collapsed, unconscious.

I was on the verge of falling apart myself, but I stumbled out of the room to get a doctor. Once they wheeled her into the emergency room, Sasha stood there with a strained look on her face.

"Rory, the rings were just an accident. Keith and I were just messing around."

Keith nodded frantically. "Rory, I swear, it was all her idea. If you don't believe me, I'll throw the ring away right now!"

He pulled it off his finger and hurled it out the window.

Sasha stared after it, stunned, like she'd been slapped. Her eyes went red, and she grabbed Keith's wrist. "Keith, you said you'd keep it on!"

Keith looked ready to lose it. "Sasha! Read the room. You think this is the time to make a scene?"

I'd had enough.

I shook my head, watching the two of them put on their little lovers' act with bitter disbelief. The anger hit like a flood. I grabbed the vase off the table and hurled it at them.

"Get out! Both of you, get out!"

Keith flinched and stumbled back. Sasha opened her mouth to say something, but the look on my face stopped her cold. They left without another word.

I slid down the hospital wall and crouched there, hands pressed together, my chest aching until it went numb.

"Dad, if you're watching from up there, please look after Mom. She's been through enough."

Tears hit the floor one after another.

The light above the operating room finally went off, and Mom came out safe. The weight in my chest finally eased.

I stayed up all night at her bedside. Sasha and Keith both tried to visit, but I turned them away every time.

Mom watched me with worried eyes, but I reassured her. "I'm fine, Mom. Just focus on getting better. Once you're through this round of treatment, we'll go abroad for the next one."

She nodded, tears soaking into the pillow, but I could see the hope in her eyes.

Outside the room, Sasha was sitting there looking lost. She scrambled to her feet when she saw me.

"Rory, is Mom okay? I know you blame me. That's fine, blame me all you want. But Keith had nothing to do with it. I made him wear the ring. The proposal was all me."

I cut her off, my voice hoarse. "Sasha, why did you stop loving me?"

Her brow pinched tight. Seeing how calm I was, she let out a dry laugh and told me.

"Rory, do you remember when you started fighting in the ring to pay for Mom's treatment? And what those people did to you?"

My fists tightened. Every word cut deeper.

"I'll never forget the day you came back covered in filth. I felt sorry for you at first, but after that, every time I looked at you, I felt sick. I just couldn't accept what you'd become."

So that was the truth.

A grim smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, and the ache in my chest became suffocating. It was never my fault. The person I loved just didn't have a heart or a conscience.

Sasha offered a few more empty words of comfort and left.

Over the next few days, Mom's treatment went smoothly. Sasha and Keith tried to visit her several times, and I turned them away every single time.

After the latest rejection, Keith showed up with red-rimmed eyes and handed me a card. "Rory, maybe you should just let it go. The three of us grew up together. You know how Sash is. Why not try meeting someone new?

"Remember Greta Neville? Top of her class? She's had a thing for you forever. I gave her your number, so just talk to her. Don't get hung up on one person."

I looked down at the card and pictured Greta and that desperate way she used to stare at me. My stomach turned.

I picked up the glass of water from the table and threw it straight in his face. Keith recoiled, wiping his face. It must be nice, Keith. Sitting up there on your high horse after taking everything from me.

"How about I drag that old woman from your hometown over here, the one who's been single for 50 years? You want to marry her?"

The color drained from Keith's face.

I let out a cold laugh. When we were 16, his parents tried to force him into marrying that same woman, who already had one foot in the grave. I went into that backwater town alone with a knife to get him out and nearly lost my eyesight from the beating I took.

After I pulled him free, he dropped to his knees in front of me, sobbing. "Rory, I owe you my life, every last bit of it."

I left the hospital. The time for my departure was coming up fast, so I went home to pack. The moment I stepped inside, something hit the back of my head and everything went black.

When I came to, my wrists and ankles were bound and a heavy, sweaty body was pressing down on me.

"Rory, I finally found you."

The voice was thick and crawling, and a chill ran down my spine. I knew exactly who it was.

It was Greta.