Chapter 2

I walked out with a box.

The living room was still covered in wedding decorations.

Favors sat on the table. Paul's jacket was tossed over the couch.

Like they couldn't wait to take over the place.

Then I saw the empty birdcage by the window.

I froze.

"Where's my bird?"

Mom was clearing the table and didn't even look up.

"Paul said keeping it in a cage was cruel, so he let it go."

The clothes slipped from my hands and fell into the moving box.

"He what?"

Paul sat on the couch, speaking softly.

"I was just trying to help. Being stuck in that cage had to suck. Isn't it better off free?"

I spun toward him, my voice shaking.

"It was a pet parrot. It can't survive out there."

Paul edged closer to Juliet like I'd scared him.

"How was I supposed to know? I was only trying to help."

"Help?" I stared at him. "I had that bird for years."

I turned to my parents.

"You gave me that bird for my birthday, and you seriously let him release it?"

Dad frowned like it was no big deal.

"It's just a bird. It's gone. If you want another one, we'll get you one."

Another one.

I just stood there, speechless.

I dropped my head and kept packing.

When Mom realized I was actually leaving, she panicked.

"Stop this. You don't even have a job anymore. Where are you supposed to go by yourself? Your dad and I did all of this for your future."

I picked up the box and looked at her.

"If this is your idea of what's best for me, you never should've had me."

Then I walked toward the door.

Dad's voice cut through the room.

"Noah Guzman, if you walk out that door, don't ever come back!"

I kept walking.

At the door, Juliet finally spoke.

"It's still pouring. Don't do anything stupid."

I looked back at her.

"Don't talk to me."

Her face went pale.

I hauled the box downstairs, its weight digging into my arms.

Then I checked into a cheap motel.

The motel room was tiny, and the window wouldn't shut right. It rattled every time the wind picked up.

I barely slept.

I'd lost my job. My apartment. My girlfriend was now my friend's wife. My parents had picked their side, and even my friends had been trashing me behind my back.

Still, when morning came, I dragged myself out of bed and started sending out résumés.

I had to survive.

I'd been good at my job. One of the key people on the team.

I figured no matter how bad things got, I could still land something decent.

I was wrong.

The first company seemed interested, then suddenly claimed the position was filled.

At the second company, I'd already arrived when the interviewer took a call and went ice-cold.

The third wouldn't even let me through the door.

After rejection after rejection, I knew something was off.

Then one day, outside a restroom, I heard two people talking inside.

"That's him. Tina said he got fired for wrecking someone's relationship."

"I heard he was hooking up with a married woman. And a deadbeat like that really had the nerve to apply here?"

I froze.

Cold all over.

Tina Parker was a distant cousin of mine, and she worked at my old company.

She'd been at the wedding too.

I grabbed a cab and went straight to the office.

The second I walked in, people started staring.

Some looked down and pretended to work. Others whispered by the break room.

I went straight to Tina's desk.

"You're the one spreading crap about me, aren't you?"

Tina looked up, all innocent.

"What crap?"

"That I'm the side piece. That I stole someone's wife. That I got fired over it."

She leaned back with a smile.

"I didn't make anything up. I just told people what I saw."

I let out a bitter laugh.

"I'm the one who got screwed over."

Nobody believed me.

If anything, the whispers got worse.

Then Paul walked in.

He'd come by to handle some paperwork and walked straight into the mess.

I looked at him. He was my last shot at proving the truth.

"Tell them. Who stole whose girlfriend? You and Juliet were sneaking around behind my back, weren't you?"

Everyone turned to him.

Paul went pale.

"Don't do this. I can't talk about it right now."

That was all it took.

One sentence, and I was guilty.

Everyone looked at me differently.

Tears filled his eyes as he stepped back.

"What's done is done. Juliet's already pregnant, and the baby needs its dad. If you need someone to blame, blame me. Just stop causing a scene, okay?"

I stared at him, my chest so tight I could barely breathe.

In the end, security walked me out while everyone watched.