Chapter 4

I reached for my phone, but Seren lifted it out of reach. "Answer me."

Ronan leaned over to glance at the screen and gave a disbelieving laugh. "Cancel the wedding? Come on, Adrian. You're not serious, are you?"

I kept my eyes on Seren. "Give me my phone."

She didn't move. "You're really going to cancel our wedding over a few stupid things that happened this week?"

A few stupid things. A quiet laugh escaped me.

Seren's expression darkened. "Adrian, don't threaten me like this."

"I'm not threatening you."

"Then what are you doing?" She set my phone down on the coffee table but kept one hand over the screen.

"You know both our families have already been invited. The venue's been booked. We've sent out hundreds of invitations. And now you want to cancel everything? Do you have any idea how humiliating that would be for me?"

My gaze drifted to the cufflink Ronan had fastened to his sleeve. All at once, I was too tired to argue. "It won't be."

Seren frowned.

"I won't let you be humiliated."

I should've understood a long time ago. It wasn't whether I was hurting that mattered to her. It was whether anyone else could see the cracks.

Ronan gave Seren's shoulder a light pat. "Don't be mad. Maybe Adrian just wants you to make a fuss over him."

Seren let out a cold laugh. "Haven't I done enough of that already?"

She looked at me, lowering her voice. "Adrian, you've been like this since we were kids. If you couldn't hear something, I had to repeat it.

"If you were upset, I had to figure out why. The second someone said something you didn't like, you would shut down and expect me to deal with it. I used to think you needed me. Now I'm just tired."

I stood there without moving, my right ear ringing. But I heard every word. Every single one.

Ronan spoke again, his voice gentler this time. "Seren hasn't exactly had it easy either. She's spent all these years looking out for you. It's her wedding too. She should at least get to have some of it the way she wants."

Seren didn't disagree.

My gaze fell on the charcoal-gray headphones lying nearby. When she'd given them to me, she'd said that whenever the world got too loud and she wasn't there, they could shut the noise out for me.

I walked over and picked them up.

Seren frowned. "You're leaving again?"

I didn't answer. I simply held the headphones out to her. She didn't take them. So I set them down on the table in front of her. "You can have them back."

Seren's eyes widened.

Ronan picked up the headphones and turned them over in his hands. "These are pretty beat up anyway, aren't they? The padding's worn through, and even the hinges are loose. No wonder Adrian doesn't want them anymore."

I stared at him. "Put them down."

Something in my voice made Ronan freeze. The headphones slipped from his hand. They hit the floor, one side slamming hard against the leg of the coffee table.

The headband snapped completely at the joint, exposing a tangle of fine copper wires inside.

The living room went silent. The only sound left was the low hum of the air conditioner.

Seren looked down at the shattered headphones. For the first time, her expression changed.

But Ronan spoke before she could. "Sorry. I swear I didn't mean to drop them. Adrian, I was just looking at them."

Seren seemed to snap out of it and instinctively stepped in front of him. "Adrian, they're an old pair of headphones. I'll replace them. I'll get you the newest model."

I looked at her for a long moment. Then I crouched down and began gathering the broken pieces one by one.

Seren reached for my arm. "Leave it. I already said I'll buy you another pair."

I moved away from her hand. "Don't bother."

Beside her, Ronan spoke quietly. "Seren, maybe I should go. I can't shake the feeling Adrian really doesn't want me around."

Seren rubbed her temples. "I'll walk you out."

Then she looked at me. "Stay here and cool off. The wedding is going ahead as planned, so stop making this harder than it needs to be."

She made it all the way to the door before stopping. "Adrian."

I kept picking up the pieces.

"I know you can't manage without me. Call me when you've calmed down and thought this through."

The door closed behind them. The apartment fell completely silent.

I placed each broken piece of the headphones into a trash bag, then picked up my phone from the coffee table.

There was one last message from the wedding planner. "Mr. Corbett, you have ten minutes left."

I pressed the button to record a voice message. My voice was perfectly steady. "Cancel it."