The Listing

'Playing dead, huh? Want to bet I can make Hayden dump you?'

Kiera Zellman kept bombarding me with texts. Still, I was a little surprised. As Hayden's most trusted homegirl, he actually hadn't told her about this plan.

Hayden and I had been together since freshman year of college—six whole years.

He had always been attentive to me in every possible way. Because I was not comfortable with sleeping together before marriage, he had held himself back for all six years.

That was exactly why I had let my guard down completely when he asked to meet at a hotel.

Not only had Hayden always respected me, but he had also constantly compromised for me in everyday life. He knew I liked ambitious men, so he pushed himself hard, fighting for every possible chance at a promotion.

He had told me countless times that long distance was only temporary, that it was all for the sake of building a better future together. He promised he would become the kind of husband I wanted.

And yet this same man, after a month of arguing between us, had decided to come see me in person—not to fix our relationship, but to set me up instead.

I frowned as memories from the past six years flashed through my mind. No matter how hard I thought about it, I still could not understand why he would do something like this.

But before I could sort it out, Kiera called me.

"Naomi Saville, what is wrong with you? Are you blind, or are you just pretending to be? Hayden has been buddies with us for years. We're family. You're the outsider here. How dare you make him skip Thanksgiving with us just because you're jealous?

"Do you even have a conscience? What, are you an orphan or something? Do you seriously have to spend Thanksgiving with someone else's family? I'm warning you right now. Tell me where you two are meeting.

"I still haven't forgiven you for that fight last time, and now you're trying to lure him over again to be your little lapdog? As long as I'm around, nobody's bullying him!"

Kiera went on a nonstop tirade, but her words reminded me exactly why Hayden and I had fought the last time.

A month earlier had marked our sixth anniversary together. Hayden had rented out a villa for the occasion, but when I arrived, I realized it wasn't just the two of us there—Kiera was there too, along with a whole group of his trashy friends.

Kiera was the textbook definition of a pick-me girl, ordering a bunch of men around while they massaged her legs and catered to her every whim.

By the end of the night, they started playing Truth or Dare and even tried to force me to kiss another man.

When I refused, she sneered. "Hayden, where the hell did you find this delicate princess? She can't even take a joke. How's she supposed to fit into our group acting like this?"

What shocked me most was that Hayden—who had always respected my boundaries—actually let himself get influenced by a few words from her and pressured me to kiss another man too.

That was the last straw.

I walked out on the spot and even canceled our engagement afterward. Yet Hayden still called me later, accusing me of looking down on his family background. He claimed that was the real reason I had called off the engagement.

His background had indeed been one of my concerns, but his filthy social circle had always been the bigger issue.

At first, I had only feared those people would corrupt him. However, after seeing that post online, I finally understood the truth.

They had not led him astray. They were rotten from the start.

I smirked, listening to Kiera practically scream herself hoarse over the phone. Since she was so desperate to know where our date was happening, maybe I should let her go in my place.