Chapter 1

I heard the front door unlock at 1:00 am.Chase Harrington walked in carrying a box of cupcakes from a bakery on the south side of the city. When he saw me still sitting on the couch, he commented with a smile, "Why is the birthday girl still awake?"He handed me the box of cupcakes before bending down to touch the corner of my eye."No way. You've been crying?""No.""Why deny it?"He crouched down and looked up at me. "I shouldn't have come back so late on your birthday. Next year, I'll handcuff myself to you the whole day, okay? I won't leave no matter who calls me. How about that?"Chase had made similar promises countless times before. His words never did sound all that sincere, but each time, they still worked on me for some reason.Six years ago, on our first date, he had waited in line for two hours to buy the tickets. It was raining when the movie ended, so he held his jacket over my head and let himself get soaked the entire way home.He'd said to me, "From now on, I

Chapter 2

At 6:40 pm, I texted Chase, asking, "Where are you?"Ten minutes later, he responded. "I'll be right there."The wedding reception started at 7:00 pm. The chair beside me remained empty.When my friend, Olivia Parker, came over to toast the guests, she looked around before asking, "Where's Chase? I thought you said we'd finally get to meet him?""Something came up," I replied."Work?"I chuckled. "Something like that."At 7:30 pm, a server stopped at the table and cleared away the unused place setting. I was just about to call Chase when I got a video call from him instead.The camera jerked around a little.He was standing on a chair, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he had a screw clenched between his teeth.Winnie's new apartment was filled with cardboard boxes."I can't get away," Chase said after spitting the screw onto his palm. "I'm only halfway through installing the curtain rod."I asked, "You said you'd only be checking on the lease for her."Winnie immed

Chapter 3

The next morning, Mom texted me a little after 5:00 pm."Your dad went to the farmer's market and came back with the freshest halibut fillets."She also sent me a photo of Dad wearing an apron. He was polishing the wine glasses.I thought there was no way anything would go wrong this time.At 4:00 pm, Winnie called. "My mother's birthday celebration started early. All of our relatives are here."Chase was driving. "And?"Winnie's voice turned coquettish. "I told Mom you'd be here."Chase frowned slightly. "Who told you to say that?""It's not like I'm not paying you." She paused for a moment before continuing in a cajoling tone. "How does 800 bucks sound? If that's not enough, how about a thousand? You just need to show up for a few minutes."Chase glanced at me before saying, "I'm not going."The call ended.I almost laughed. For the first time, the tension I'd been holding in me finally loosened for good.Half an hour later, Winnie sent a photo to Chase. Her mother was si

Chapter 4

The first day after I left, Chase simply thought I was just throwing a tantrum."Did you go back to your parents' place? Fine. Take a few days to cool off."Later that night, he texted again, "Come back when you've cleared your head. Don't drag it out too long. We've been together for six years. Don't try to scare me with a breakup."The following evening, he attended a dinner gathering with a few of our mutual friends. He was 40 minutes late. In the past, I would have saved him a seat and told the server to set the table for him as well, saying, "There's one more person coming."This time, when he arrived at the private dining room, the table was full. No one had saved him a seat.Kevin Lane, one of our friends, was startled to see him. "I didn't expect you to show up."Chase frowned. "Am I not allowed to be here?""No, that's not what I meant. Isla said she wasn't coming, so I thought neither one of you would be joining us.""She told you she's not coming?" Chase asked."Yea

Chapter 5

Three days later, I received a transfer of 500 dollars. The remark read, "Renting myself to you for a day."I returned the money.A minute later, a thousand dollars appeared in my bank account. "I doubled it. Is that enough yet?"That was returned as well.Even when the third transfer was made for five thousand dollars, I returned it anyway.Then a call came in. I took it.Chase chuckled before saying in his usual drawl, "Hey, boss. You used to like earning money by renting me out. Haven't I been a valuable employee to you?""You used to be valuable," I replied.After a long silence, he asked, "What about now?"Now you're worth nothing to me."He seemed to scoff at that. "Fine. I'll throw in some freebies.""No thanks.""You can have all the money in my bank account.""Not interested."At last, Chase dropped his wisecracking tone."Isla.""Yes?""Stop acting like this.""Like what?""Scold me. I want you to lash out at me—you can even hit me if you want. Just don't a

Chapter 6

My birthday came around again. This time, Chase sent me a screenshot of a reservation he made at the same restaurant I'd waited at last year. He sat at the same table by the window.At 7:00 pm, he sent me a short message. "I'll be sitting here. You don't need to come."I didn't answer.I had a steak dinner with my parents at home. Mom made a cake herself, and the frosting was a mess."It doesn't cost much to buy a cake, you know," Dad grumbled.Still, he took over a dozen photos of the cake.I didn't hear from Chase again until 11:40 pm. He sent me a photo of the table. There was a cup of coffee that had gone cold and a slice of cake that was falling apart.Within seconds, he deleted the photo.As I stood outside the bathroom, I abruptly recalled what I was doing at 11:40 pm last year. I'd been sitting at that very table, constantly checking the time.Chase had told me he'd come over by midnight. At the time, I truly thought that as long as it wasn't midnight yet, it was still