Chapter 2

I picked up my phone and opened my chat with Keith.

I'd had it pinned at the top for two years. Beside his profile picture was the contact name I'd saved for him:

[My Keith]

I stared at it for a few seconds, then changed it back to just Keith.

I opened our message history.

There were too many messages to count.

Keith: [It's getting colder. Put on a jacket so you don't catch a cold.]

Keith: [Babe, your stomach's acting up again. Skip the iced drinks.]

Keith: [Babe, I'll pick you up after my meeting. Want me to come with you while you get your nails done?]

I deleted them all.

Then I opened my photo gallery and stopped at a picture from last year, when I'd come down with a high fever.

It had been three in the morning. I'd barely been conscious when Keith carried me to the hospital.

When I woke up, he was asleep with his head resting on the edge of my hospital bed.

In the photo, he was still asleep, one hand holding my wrist.

I'd posted it online with the caption:

[Someone promised he'd stay by my side forever.]

Keith: [Count on it.]

I kept scrolling.

Our first trip together.

Our first kiss.

The day we brought Biscuit home.

I deleted the photos one by one.

Somewhere along the way, tears started slipping down my face.

If all of it had been fake, maybe it wouldn't have hurt this much.

But I knew those moments had been real. Keith really had been good to me. And somehow, that only made it hurt more.

As I kept scrolling, I started noticing things I'd never paid attention to before.

For a while, Keith had constantly been browsing job boards.

"Since when is your company hiring for brand marketing?"

"Just helping a friend look for a job."

Not long after that, Anna landed a job at a thriving company.

From then on, Keith started making regular business trips there.

I'd even teased him about it.

"Since when does Sterling Group work with companies like that?"

Now it all made sense. Anna worked there.

After that, she moved up quickly and landed several coveted projects everyone else had been scrambling for.

Then there was Anna herself. She was always asking about Keith and me.

Once, she'd even asked, "Would it bother you if there was someone he could never get over?"

I'd laughed at the time.

"If he ever has an emotional affair, I'm done. I'd walk away and never look back."

My phone slipped from my hand onto the bed.

The words suddenly felt painfully ironic.

Never look back.

And yet today, I'd looked back.

That was how I'd found out everyone had been lying to me.

Julian too.

For the past two years, he and Keith had kept having these random "guys' nights."

"Natalie, I'm stealing Keith tonight. Guys' night. You're not invited."

I'd never checked up on them.

I'd always just waved them off.

"Please do. I'm enjoying a night to myself!"

But how many of those supposedly guys-only nights had Anna actually gone to?

I couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

The cabin felt stuffy, and I couldn't sleep. I threw on a jacket and stepped outside for some air.

But the moment I reached the rear deck, I heard Anna's voice.

"Be honest. Have you really moved on?"

The ocean breeze swept across the deck. I stood frozen in the shadows.

"No."

One word. It felt like I'd been stabbed.

"Neither have I."

They stood there staring out at the ocean.

A long moment passed before Keith spoke again.

"Anna, you're going to be fine. Before I marry Natalie, I'll make sure you're settled.

"I'll introduce you to someone well-off from our circle. Someone who can give you a good life."

My fingers tightened around the railing.

Anna lowered her voice.

"You never should've introduced me to Natalie. If we'd never become friends, none of this would've happened."

Keith answered, "If you'd never met her, how else would you have gotten into this circle?

"Natalie saw you as a friend, so she took you to parties and introduced you to people she knew. I just never thought she'd turn around today."

He paused.

"But don't worry. Even without Natalie, you still have me. I'll keep taking you to galas and cocktail parties.

"Once you've found your footing, I won't have to worry about you anymore."

I stood there, unable even to cry. All I could do was let out a bitter laugh.

Anna becoming my friend hadn't been a coincidence.

I'd taken her to parties.

Introduced her to people.

Brought her into my social circle.

Keith had been using me all along to get her into our circle, one connection at a time.

I couldn't listen anymore.

I went back to my cabin and called my best friend, Vivian Blake.

She was vacationing on Mariner's Key nearby. Just yesterday, she'd asked if I wanted to join her.

I'd turned her down.

Me: [No, I'm staying on the yacht with Keith and the others.]

The call connected.

"Natalie, do you have any idea what time it is? Why are you calling me this late?"

"Vivian, can you come get me?"

She went quiet for a few seconds.

"Aren't you with Keith?"

"I'm breaking up with him. I don't want to stay here with them anymore."

Another pause.

Then she said, "Send me your location. I'll come to get you tomorrow. Wait for me."