Chapter 2

The pain shot straight up to the top of my skull. I couldn't even tell anymore if it was my heart or my stomach hurting worse.

A coworker walked over and kicked my foot. "Still playing dead? Ms. Chase already left."

I slid sideways onto the floor, breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain. That was when someone finally noticed something was wrong and called an ambulance.

Sirens wailed in my ears.

-

The headhunter from our biggest competitor texted me a start date. I gripped my phone and left the company group chat.

I spent three days in the hospital and filed the standard sick leave paperwork with HR.

Vivian texted to reassure me. [Tyler's still stuck on a few things at work. Once I help him sort it out, I'll come see you.]

I waited alone in that hospital room for three days straight, eating cold takeout.

Vivian never showed.

Not until the day I got discharged.

I rode a bus home for three hours in pouring rain. The second Vivian saw me, she jumped up from the couch out of habit.

"Why didn't you call me to come pick you up? Why are you suddenly discharged?"

I just shook my head. "I figured you were busy."

I walked closer and noticed a boxed meal sitting on the dining table. Every single dish was something I loved.

Something in my dead, quiet heart stirred faintly back to life.

"What's this?"

Vivian answered smoothly, like she'd already rehearsed it. "Tyler made it. He knows I can't cook, and he was worried I wouldn't have time to eat with everything going on this week."

"Does he come to our place often?"

"Not really. Just the past three days."

I chuckled. Three days I was in the hospital, and Tyler had been staying at my house for all three of them.

I couldn't tell anymore if Vivian genuinely didn't understand the line between men and women, or if she just didn't think it applied to me.

My eyes landed on our matching mugs. The cartoon face on mine had been scribbled over completely with marker.

"Who did this?"

The words had barely left my mouth when Tyler walked out of the master bedroom wearing my shirt.

"That was me." He put on a look of mock surprise. "I thought it was a gift from Vivian's ex, so I scribbled on it a little to stick up for her.

"Anyway, Derek, why are you here? Vivian's a woman, and it looks bad having a grown man like you show up unannounced. Maybe you should head out. If it's work stuff, we can talk during business hours."

He took over the conversation as though he was already the man of the house.

"Why am I here?" I laughed coldly and stared straight at Vivian.

She forced herself to sound calm. "It's nothing. Derek's just here to pick up some files. He'll be leaving soon. Tyler worked late last night, so I let him crash here. He just grabbed something out of the closet to wear."

The explanation didn't clarify a single thing about her and Tyler. All it did was quietly erase me as her boyfriend, all over again.

Tyler picked up the mug. "Vivian, keeping an ex's stuff around is kind of gross, don't you think? Want me to toss it on my way out?"

Vivian heard the plea buried in his question and didn't say no. She leaned in and whispered close to my ear.

"I just don't want people knowing about us. Tyler's only looking out for me too. Don't read into it."

My hands curled into fists, my whole body shaking. I spent all this time believing that if I just drank a little more and tried a little harder, I'd finally get to stand beside Vivian out in the open once the company found its footing.

Instead, all I'd done was invite a wolf straight into the house.

I laughed coldly. "You're right. No point keeping an ex's things around. Go ahead and toss it."

That answer clearly annoyed Vivian. She frowned, but she didn't say anything in the end.

Before I left, Tyler insisted on walking down with me. As always, Vivian didn't try to stop me from leaving.

"Go on, Derek. Men and women need boundaries. You should learn to keep your distance."

I let out a short, humorless laugh and followed him downstairs without a word.

Right before we parted ways, Tyler raised an eyebrow at me. "You're Vivian's ex, right?"

"Not her ex. Her current boyfriend."

Tyler blinked, clearly not taking me seriously. "Still dreaming? You're just a stepping stone that has to stay hidden, and you still don't get it? I'm the only one who'll be Vivian's boyfriend. You can get lost now."

Then, right in front of me, he smashed the matching mug on the ground.

Vivian saw the whole thing from the balcony upstairs. And still, she didn't say a single word to correct him. All she offered was a few placating words. "Tyler just started, and he still has a bit of a temper. Don't hold it against him."

I turned and walked away without looking at her.

Back when we first started our long-distance relationship, I used to get upset over other men around Vivian too. I hoped she'd keep her distance from them, and that she'd finally make our relationship public.

But every single time, all I got in return was the silent treatment.

"It's such a small thing. Why does it matter so much to you?"

After that, to avoid any appearance of favoritism toward me, she left me off the year-end bonus list and the company events. She even avoided seeing me in person whenever she visited the branch office for work.

I used to think she was just naturally cold and that she put the company above everything else.

Now, I finally understood. Some people get treated like the exception no matter what they do, simply by existing. And some people can give everything they have and still never earn a shred of real affection in return.

"Sure." I said. "I won't hold it against anyone anymore."

Something uneasy stirred in Vivian when she heard my answer, but she didn't think too hard about it.

"You're almost ready to sign with those East Coast clients you've been negotiating with, right? Let Tyler handle those accounts. Otherwise, he'll never make it through his probation period."

I didn't argue.

After all, I'd soon be taking my old clients with me when I left for good.