Chapter 3

I ended the call and turned around to find May standing right behind me.

She stepped forward and, without hesitation, yanked the crystal cross necklace my father had left me.

She said indifferently, “It’s Damian’s birthday, and he wants your cross as a gift. Just let him have it. You’re not the only person who can wear it. Anyway, who were you talking to?

“I’m surprised there’s someone besides me who still wants anything to do with you.”

May leaned closer to look at my phone. I instinctively slipped it into my pocket.

Just then, the screen of my current phone on the desk lit up with a reminder.

Today marked three years since my father’s death.

I stepped forward and tried to take the necklace back. My voice trembled as I said, “That necklace is the only thing my dad left me!”

We struggled over it for a moment. Then, May’s grip slipped. The crystal cross hit the floor and shattered into pieces.

Before I could even process what had happened, May slapped me. She glared at me in anger and shouted, “Harry, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? Damian’s younger than you! Can’t you just let him have this one thing?”

Without a word, I crouched down and reached for the shattered pieces of the crystal cross.

Before my fingers could touch them, Damian brought his shoe down on the fragments. He ground them into the floor repeatedly until the cross was crushed beyond recognition.

I shot to my feet. My eyes were bloodshot. I lunged toward Damian, but before I could reach him, May stepped in front of him without hesitation.

She shielded him.

Then, she said, “Harry, haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

There it was again.

Everything I had tried to suppress came rushing back at once. This time, I could not contain it.

I kept my eyes on May, unable to hide the disappointment and hurt in my eyes. “Isn’t he just your assistant? Why are you protecting him like he’s the one you’re married to?

“Between him and me, which one of us actually belongs here?”

Perhaps because it was the first time I had ever challenged May so directly, she just stood there in silence for a full second.

I heard my own voice tremble as I continued, “May, do you really think I don’t know anything? Is lying to me some kind of game to you?”

“You…”

Before I could say anything more, May’s phone suddenly rang.

It was the hospital.

Her father’s condition had suddenly become critical. The doctors were fighting to stabilize him.

There was no time for anything else. We rushed to the hospital.

By the time we reached the hospital, her father was out of immediate danger, although the doctors warned that he might be left with lasting cognitive problems, including dementia.

Standing by his bed, my eyes were moist with tears as I took Albert Rydell’s hand. Before I could say anything, Albert smiled and said, “Damian, it’s you! It’s been so long since you visited. Want to know a secret?

“I keep that photo of you and May right here by my bed. I look at it every day! When are you bringing your little girl back from overseas? I miss her so much!”

Each revelation hit harder than the last. I stood there frozen while Albert carried on talking.

I looked sharply at May beside me. She did not seem rattled in the slightest. She just stepped forward and gently calmed her father down.

Then, she took my hand and led me out of the room.

I lowered my eyes to where her fingers were wrapped tightly around my left hand. In seven years together, this was the first time May had ever touched me like this.

Out in the hospital hallway, May leaned against the wall and said, “I can explain.”

May continued calmly, “My family never approved of me marrying you. They told me that if I went through with it, they’d cut me off completely. I had no choice but to find someone they’d accept to keep them happy.

“That way, I could give my family what they wanted without giving you up. It worked out for everyone.

“Nothing has to change between us. We can keep living exactly the way we always have. Besides, you’re the one I legally married, aren’t you? Why should anything else matter?”

When I remained silent, May let out a weary sigh. Impatience crept into her voice as she said, “Harry, you know better than anyone that you can’t live without me. So… stop making this into something it doesn’t need to be.”