Chapter 2

Mr. Landon sighed and stopped trying to change my mind.

The front door unlocked with a faint click.

Jax stepped into the apartment just in time to catch my last sentence.

"What decision?" he asked.

"Nothing."

He didn't bother following up.

He walked over to the coffee table, holding a small package.

He sliced it open and pulled out a velvet box.

Inside was a Van Cleef & Arpels ruby bracelet set.

He looked up at me. "Is the bracelet pretty?"

That exact bracelet had been sitting in my online wishlist for over a year.

Every time I showed it to him, he brushed it off.

He called designer jewelry a waste of money and a scam.

He told me I was too low-key for tacky, flashy things.

I thought he just didn't care. I never expected him to actually notice.

Before I could feel touched, his next words shattered my delusion.

"You and Chloe are close," he said. "Do you think she'll like it?"

My heart froze. I nodded slowly.

"She'll love it."

Maybe he sensed my mood shift because he actually offered an explanation.

"Tomorrow is her three-year anniversary at the firm," he said. "That's why I bought it.

"She moved all the way here to rely on us," he added. "We shouldn't make her feel left out."

Jax paused. His eyes flicked to my bare wrist.

"If you like it too, I'll get you one for your next birthday."

I was his actual girlfriend. Yet I was expected to wait on a vague promise of scraps.

The old Jax never made empty promises.

He showed his love through action.

If I tagged a restaurant online, he took me there that weekend.

If I mentioned a craving for soup dumplings, he bought them for our next date.

When I gave up a six-figure job offer in the capital to end our long-distance relationship, he didn't make grand speeches either.

He worked brutal overtime to pull in clients.

Then, he dropped a set of house keys into my hands.

"Elena," he said back then. "We finally have our own home."

I pulled my gaze away from the red velvet box. "Don't bother. I don't like red."

Jax's forehead creased. "Suit yourself."

He loosened his tie and headed toward the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower," he called back. "Don't tell Chloe. I want to surprise her tomorrow."

The shower ran, drowning out the quiet room.

His phone on the glass table vibrated.

I looked down. A notification popped up on the screen.

[Did you get home safe?]

The contact name was just a single blue whale emoji.

It was Chloe.

Last year, we had a massive fight over this very thing.

I discovered that he changed my nickname on his phone.

He went from calling me My Gardenia to a formal Elena Vance.

I cried and broke up with him on the spot. I packed my bags and moved out.

Jax panicked. He begged me to stay.

He promised to quit smoking.

He promised to change my name back. He promised to keep his distance from Chloe.

For a while, it felt like our honeymoon phase again.

I woke up to fresh breakfast on the counter.

He waited for me after work every single day.

Only I knew the truth. There was a thin, invisible crack between us.

Then, three months ago, Chloe got alcohol poisoning taking shots for me at a client dinner.

She spent the night in the hospital. Just like that, she forced her way back into our lives.

I kept waiting for them to confess their feelings to me.

Yet they never crossed any physical lines.

They just shared more and more inside jokes. They talked about things I couldn't understand.

Just like tonight at dinner. I bent down to tie my shoe.

It took ten seconds.

Neither of them waited for me.

When I stood back up, they were already gone around the corner.