Chapter 3

Luca didn't bother to reply. He tossed the phone aside without hanging up.

Through the line, the sound of singing filled the speakers. They were clearly at a karaoke bar. Daphne and Luca were singing a duet of "True Friend", right at the chorus.

"A true friend. You're here 'till the end."

No matter how loudly I screamed Daphne's name into the phone, she couldn't hear me.

When they belted out, "You're a true friend", at the top of their lungs, I hung up.

I should have known better than to hold onto any hope with Daphne. Loyalty to her friends was everything to her, even if it meant sacrificing her husband and son.

But were they really just friends?

I broke down completely, sobbing as I called Dad.

He told me he would immediately contact some friends in Hardwick to wire me money. He even promised that he would have all my new identification documents processed within a single day.

Only then did I feel safe enough to get into the ambulance.

The surgery required general anesthesia, yet I could still feel an agonizing ache in my chest.

Daphne used to love Elliot so much. Outside of work, she used to dedicate every spare second to him.

She also knew perfectly well that Elliot and I had been in critical condition lately. We could need an ambulance at any given moment. Yet the second Luca needed something, she forgot everything else.

I had always thought that once Elliot and I got better, we could take a trip, leave this place, and go somewhere Luca could never find us.

I thought that with enough time, Daphne would realize how warm our home was and how deeply I loved her. I thought she would eventually care more about Elliot and me than she did about Luca.

Looking back, it was nothing but a delusion.

…

When I finally woke up, Daphne was sitting by my hospital bed.

Luca, however, was lying at the foot of it. No wonder my lower back felt freezing. His ice-cold feet were pressed right against me.

The doctor had explicitly said I needed to stay warm to recover, so I shoved Luca's feet away.

Luca snapped his eyes open, glared at me, and kicked me hard through the blanket with his other foot. Then, he intentionally let himself slide off the bed and crash onto the floor.

Panicked, Daphne rushed forward to catch him.

Luca feigned drowsiness, grumbling, "Who kicked me? Gosh, what a jerk."

Daphne helped him up and glared at me. "Vance, you have never respected my friends, have you? The moment Luca heard you and Elliot were in trouble, he hurried over to be here for you, even though he's feeling terrible himself. I saw him shivering and tucked him into your bed to warm up a bit."

Upon hearing that, I was so furious I nearly coughed up blood again.

When the doctor gave the post-op instructions about keeping me strictly warm, Daphne had been standing right there. She knew I was the patient, yet she couldn't bear to see a perfectly healthy Luca catch a slight chill.

"Get out, Daphne!" I screamed, rage consuming me. "I want a divorce! Do you even know that Elliot didn't make it?"

Luca immediately stepped in front of Daphne to shield her. He pointed an accusing finger at me and yelled, "Vance, I'm letting it slide that you kicked me out of bed. But if you talk to Daphne like that again, don't blame me for being ruthless!

"Take a look at yourself. You're just a broke worker from out of town. Daphne married you and takes care of you, and what do you do? Elliot was her son too. She's the one who gave birth to him! You think she isn't hurting? She's been standing here half the night, and this is how you treat her?"

Luca's eyes darted around for a second before shifting back to Daphne. "Besides, who was that woman who paid for your surgery? Have you been seeing someone else behind Daphne's back this whole time? Did you think a sick kid was just a liability, so you let Elliot die on purpose?"