Chapter 3

Winnie Lane's POV

That night, Mia showed up at our door again with her eyes closed. But her lashes were trembling from excitement.

She was still pretending to sleepwalk, determined to keep the whole charade going. Zane was more than willing to play along.

The moment the door opened, Mia walked inside as if she owned the place.

She found her slippers and made her way toward the guest room, every step and every movement carried out with her eyes carefully shut, as though she'd rehearsed the routine a hundred times.

Still pretending to feel her way around, Mia reached out and brushed against a small ornament hanging on the wall.

It fell.

The ornament hit the floor and shattered into several pieces.

A shard skittered across the floor and nicked Mia's leg.

She screamed, her eyes flying open as she jolted fully awake.

Zane rushed over and crouched beside Mia, carefully checking her leg. "Where are you hurt?"

Tears welled in Mia's eyes as she stared at the thin trail of blood running down her calf. "Zane, it hurts."

I rushed over too, but all I could see were the shattered pieces scattered across the floor. My whole body started shaking. It was a pendant, and it had belonged to my grandmother.

She was still in intensive care, and I'd promised her that next time I visited, I would bring Zane with me. I'd promised I would be wearing the pendant when we came.

But now it lay broken at my feet.

No matter how desperately I tried to fit the pieces back together, they wouldn't stay.

Zane scooped Mia into his arms and started toward the door.

I stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "Zane, she's not leaving this house until she makes this right!"

Mia's leg was still bleeding. At my words, tears spilled down her cheeks. "Winnie, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Then she turned to Zane. "Zane, put me down. I need to apologize to Winnie!"

She even struggled halfheartedly in his arms, but Zane only tightened his hold on her.

He frowned at me, looking more exasperated than concerned. "Winnie, Mia has a sleepwalking disorder. She didn't do it on purpose."

I stared at him.

My eyes were burning red, my hair plastered messily across my face. I must have looked completely wrecked, but I didn't care anymore.

"Zane, does she look like she's sleepwalking to you? How much longer are you going to keep pretending with her?"

The moment I said it, the lie was out in the open.

Both Zane and Mia froze.

Zane faltered, panic flashing across his face as he opened his mouth to explain. But before he could get a single word out, Mia looked up at him and whimpered. "Zane, it hurts…"

Whatever he'd been about to say disappeared. He turned back to me instead and motioned for me to move aside. "Winnie, we'll talk about the sleepwalking and the pendant later. I need to get Mia to the hospital."

I planted myself in front of the door and refused to budge.

Zane's expression hardened. "Winnie, it's just some old pendant. I'll buy you ten more if that's what it takes. But Mia is bleeding. What do you expect me to do? Sit here with you and piece together something that's already broken?"

I stared straight into his eyes. For ten long seconds, neither of us moved. Neither of us was willing to back down.

That "old pendant" was something Zane had once hung with his own hands in the very center of our living room wall.

Back then, he'd told me that one day, he would wear it when he stood before my grandmother.

He would win her blessing, then ask me to marry him.

I'd believed every single word.

I'd even called Grandma afterward, giddy with excitement, telling her it wouldn't be long before I brought Zane to meet her.

And now, to him, that same pendant was nothing more than a broken piece of junk, something that wasn't worth saving.

Just like the three years we'd spent together. Just like us. We were broken now, too.

And some things, once broken, could never be put back the way they were.

Zane finally lost his patience. Keeping one arm around Mia, he shoved me aside with the other and walked out without looking back.

The door slammed shut behind them, leaving me alone with all the hurt and hopelessness he'd chosen to walk away from.

I sank to the floor. I hadn't even finished gathering the broken pieces when my phone rang.

I glanced at the screen. It was Mom calling.

I answered, and her panicked voice came through the speaker, already breaking with tears. "Winnie, it's your grandma. She's taken a turn for the worse. You need to get to the hospital. Now."