Chapter 2

I lowered my head and pressed a hand to my chest. Strangely, it didn't hurt anymore.

Maybe there came a point where disappointment simply ran its course, leaving nothing behind. No anger or sadness remained—just the sudden realization that I'd finally had enough.

A crack of thunder shook the sky outside the airport, and moments later, rain came pouring down.

Lydia pulled the car up to the entrance, and Mom and Dad immediately climbed into the back seat. Heath, carrying his coat, took the passenger seat without hesitation.

I was about to open the rear door when he stopped me.

"Wait."

He took the garment bag from me and carefully laid it across the only remaining space in the back seat.

"This suit is custom-made," he explained. "If it gets ruined, what are you going to wear next week?"

I stared at the suit stretched across the seat.

"I can hold it," I replied.

Heath looked me over, then glanced at the suit with a troubled expression. "But you're covered in sweat. What if you get it dirty?"

Lydia went silent for a few seconds before making the decision for me. "Just get a rideshare."

"I won't be able to get one in this kind of weather," I said, staring at her in disbelief.

"Just pay a little more," she said, frowning. "I'm sure someone will take you. Your parents are getting on in years. We can't leave them here standing in the rain. And Heath's shoes are limited edition—they cost over 1,000 dollars. They're ruined if they get soaked."

She glanced at the garment bag. "And that suit needs to be worn next week. We can't just throw it in the trunk and risk wrinkling it."

She said it all so matter-of-factly that, to her, the arrangement seemed completely reasonable.

"Your recovery has been going well, hasn't it? Getting a little soaked once in a while isn't going to hurt you."

I flashed her a bitter smile.

Two months earlier, Lydia had lost control of her car on the highway. I'd thrown myself in front of her to protect her and ended up with a ruptured left kidney. I'd only recently undergone surgery for it.

The doctor had warned me repeatedly to stay warm and avoid any kind of impact for at least three months.

Lydia knew all of that. Yet to her, my healing injury mattered less than a suit or a pair of Heath's shoes.

Mom leaned toward the window and urged, "Lydia, let's go. Heath said he's getting cold. We don't want him catching a cold."

The door shut in front of me, then Lydia rolled down the window.

"Text me when you get home," she ordered.

With that, the car disappeared into the rain.

I stood outside the airport as the estimated wait time on the rideshare app climbed from ten minutes to half an hour. One driver after another canceled on me.

Before long, I was soaked through.

My hair clung miserably to my face, and every gust of cold wind sent another shiver through me.

An hour dragged by before a cab finally pulled up.

The driver turned up the heat and handed me a packet of tissues from the front. "Here, kid. Dry yourself off."

He glanced at me through the mirror. "Why are you standing outside the airport alone in a storm like this? Didn't anyone come to pick you up?"

I lowered my head and said nothing.

The driver looked at me for a moment but didn't press.

"Don't let it get you down," he said instead. "Storms always pass. Once the skies clear, things will get better."

I started checking my emails on my phone. Two weeks earlier, my company had offered me an overseas assignment.

Back then, I'd been reluctant to leave Lydia, and I couldn't bear to walk away from the wedding we'd spent so long planning. So I kept putting off my answer.

Now, I clicked on the offer, accepted it, then sent my reply.

"Yeah," I replied, looking at the one-way ticket I'd rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Once the storm passed, the flights would resume. And I'd be on one of them, flying thousands of miles away to start a new life without Lydia.

The wedding she was supposed to have next week would proceed without the groom she'd been waiting for.