Chapter 3

The next day, they never showed up. I had to go for my checkup alone.

While I was waiting in line, an old man shouldered his way in front of me. The impact knocked me sideways, and I nearly fell.

I could not help speaking up. "Sir, there's a line."

The old man shoved me hard. "I'm not cutting in! Don't go around accusing people, young lady!"

Before I could react, his elbow slammed into me.

I hit the ground. My surgical wound tightened with pain, and cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

Then I spotted Heath and Brody nearby, walking over with Kyra.

"Heath! Brody!" I was flat on the floor, calling out to them with everything I had.

Heath and Brody ran over and helped me to my feet. A small wave of relief washed through me, but then Kyra gasped.

"Mr. Kelton? Oh my God, are you okay?"

Heath's voice followed immediately. "Macy, apologize to him."

I froze. It felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. "You want me to apologize? Didn't you see him shoving me just now?"

Brody frowned. "He's an old man, and Kyra knows him. Why are you making a big deal out of it? Mace, you were the one being disrespectful. We all saw it."

Kyra walked over to the old man and steadied him. "Mr. Kelton is my neighbor. He's a really nice person. There's no way he'd bully you. Just apologize. Don't make things difficult for Heath and Brody."

I looked at the three of them, so perfectly in sync, and felt like I was staring at strangers. I took a step back, putting distance between us.

"If you're all blind, that's your problem. I will never apologize to someone who hurt me."

I turned and walked toward the exam room, fighting through the pain with every step.

Behind me, I could hear other patients talking.

"Poor girl. She's sick, and she still has to deal with some jerk cutting in line."

"Are those people her friends? How could they take the other guy's side?"

The unfairness of it all swelled in my throat until I could barely breathe. I wiped my tears and did not look back.

…

On the way back from the checkup, my body was suddenly lifted off the ground.

It was Heath. He had picked me up.

He set me down on the hospital bed carefully. "Were you hurt back there? Just stay away from people like that from now on."

The same patronizing tone as always. I stared at him and could not hold it in.

"That's not the point. If that old man wasn't someone Kyra knew, would you still be saying this?"

Heath frowned. "It's just an apology. And he's an old man. Is it really that big of a deal?"

I stared at him. "So because he's someone Kyra knows, I don't matter?"

Heath stood up, his expression cold. We faced each other in silence.

The attending doctor walked into the room, followed by Brody and Kyra.

Brody tried to smooth things over. "Macy, let the doctor take a look first and make sure you're not hurt."

They had just thrown me under the bus, and now they wanted to play concerned. It turned my stomach.

I pointed at the door. "I'm fine. You can all leave."

Brody opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he left with Heath and Kyra.

That evening, I pulled up social media.

The first thing I saw was a photo of Kyra with Heath and Brody. In the photo, Kyra wore a wedding gown while Heath and Brody stood beside her in suits, flanking her like a prince and a knight.

The caption read: [Got my husband and my big brother. Life is perfect!]

Kyra was a minor influencer online. The comments had already blown past 9,999.

I opened them with trembling hands. Every last one was gushing praise and congratulations.

I remembered what Heath had once told me.

"Macy, Brody and I are your prince and your knight. When we get married, the three of us are going to take a photo together. We'll protect you for the rest of our lives."

Now, the photo had been taken, but the girl in the center was not me. It was my best friend, Kyra.

The irony was suffocating.

I stared at the photo until my chest ached so badly I thought something inside me might break. I was shaking with anger. I found one of the top comments and typed a reply underneath it: [But that's my boyfriend and my brother!]