Chapter 3

Inside the private party room, Ty’s friends were joking around.

“Ty, how did you get Yvonne wrapped around your finger like that? You tell her not to speak, and she obeys. You tell her to bring the dress, and she brings it without question.”

Someone immediately chimed in.

“Yvonne lost her parents years ago. She’ll have no one else if she leaves Ty.”

They did not know that I had an aunt overseas who ran a business. Her name was Claire Lloyd.

Years ago, my grandfather had tried to force her into marriage. The night before the wedding, Mom helped her run away. She stayed away for twenty years.

When we found each other by chance two years ago, Claire burst into tears at the sight of my face, which bore such a strong resemblance to Mom’s.

She had asked me several times to move abroad and live with her.

I had always refused because of Ty. I had never told him about her, either.

Ty had an arm around Luna and made no attempt to correct them.

Instead, he laughed in agreement.

“That’s just how Yvonne is. When she loves someone, she’s completely devoted and does whatever they say.

“She’s lucky she ended up with me. Anyone else would’ve walked all over her.”

I bit down hard on my lower lip and pushed open the door.

Ignoring the stares that followed me across the room, I set the dress down.

As I bent over, Luna suddenly grabbed the locket around my neck.

She yanked it so hard that the cord snapped, leaving a bloody mark across my neck.

Blood continued to bead along the broken skin.

Ty stared blankly for several seconds, then stood up to check on me.

Luna affectionately pulled him back down.

Her expression was perfectly innocent as she signed. “That locket looks just like my dog’s.”

A chill spread through my body.

The lockets came as a pair.

My grandmother had given them to me shortly before she died.

She told me that when I found the person I wanted to spend my life with, we should each wear one.

My father was abusive, my mother was mentally unstable, and my grandfather was cold and uncaring.

Grandma was the only person in my family who had ever shown me any warmth.

I had given the other locket to Ty as a high school graduation gift.

We had promised that neither of us would ever take them off.

At this moment, there was nothing around Ty’s neck.

He had given my grandmother’s locket to Luna’s dog.

My anger burned away every last tear.

I drew back my arm and swung it at Ty’s face with all my strength.

He caught my wrist before the slap could land.

I lost all composure.

“Ty, how could you do something like this? That locket was the last thing my grandmother left me, and you put it on her dog!”

His gaze shifted away from mine.

“It was just some cheap old locket. How was I supposed to remember where it came from?”

He let go of my wrist.

“Fine, go ahead and hit me.”

Luna suddenly rose and stepped between us.

Her eyes were red from crying.

Her hands moved frantically as she signed.

“Don’t blame him. This is all my fault. If you want to hit someone, hit me. I’m sorry.”

Urgent, wordless sounds escaped her throat.

I held out my hand to her. I was keeping my expression as calm as possible.

“Give me back the locket, change out of the dress, and go home. This has nothing to do with you.”

Luna stared at me for several seconds. Instead of responding, she burst into tears and buried herself in Ty’s arms. She was shaking her head over and over.

I froze, my outstretched hand hanging awkwardly between us.

Before I could react to that, Ty pulled her tightly into his arms and took the locket from her hand.

The last trace of guilt in his eyes vanished.

“Yvonne, this has gone far enough! She already said it was an accident. What more do you want?

“Do I have to beg for your forgiveness before you’ll leave Luna alone? It’s just a cheap locket. I could buy you a hundred more if you wanted!

“What will it take to satisfy you?”

Once again, Ty had misunderstood me and blamed me, all because of someone else.

He had long since forgotten the promise he had once made.

I no longer wanted to explain myself.

He would not listen or believe me, anyway.

I enunciated every word clearly and calmly. “I don’t want anything from you. I just want my grandmother’s locket back.”

He stared at me.

“Fine. But first, you need to swallow your pride and apologize to Luna.”

“I did nothing wrong.”

He snorted and pointed to the bottle of vodka on the table.

“You don’t want to apologize? Fine. Drink that entire bottle.”

Someone could no longer stand by and watch and tried to intervene.

“Ty, if Yvonne drinks that whole bottle, she’ll end up in the hospital!”

“Ty, I just got out of the hospital after suffering a perforated stomach ulcer.”

He seized my chin so hard that my jaw creaked under his grip.

“Yvonne, I know your body better than anyone. Your stomach condition is nowhere near that serious. How long are you going to keep pretending?

“All you ever do is lie. No wonder your dad beat you. Even your mom chose death over staying with you!”

My mind went completely blank for a long moment.

The person who had once saved me was now tearing open the very wounds he had helped me heal.

All that pain came flooding back, rawer than ever.

Ty was waiting for me to back down.

He expected me to give in to him, just as I had so many times before.

I picked up the bottle.

“Fine. I’ll drink it. When I finish it, give me back the locket. After that, you and I are done.”