Chapter 3

After we hung up, Maya hugged me tightly, her eyes full of worry.

I told her I was fine, but hearing her comforting voice made my throat tighten.

Logically, I knew leaving him was the best thing for me. But my heart still ached.

I swore to myself that from this day on, I would never shed another tear for them.

My past seven years of love were just dog food.

After graduation, the moment Carter found out Chloe was starting a couple's vlog, he volunteered to be her partner. First, it was lending his shoulder for her to lean on, then holding hands, and finally taking romantic couple photos.

At first, he would explain and check in with me.

But later, when I was sick and asked him to take me to the ER, he said he was busy helping Chloe.

When I threw him a surprise birthday party with all our friends, he stood us up because Chloe needed him.

Once, his friend called me to pick up a drunk Carter from a bar.

When I arrived, I saw Chloe crying in his arms.

"Summer is going to be mad again," Chloe sobbed. "I only asked you to film a video with me. You shouldn't come anymore, Carter. I'll find someone else."

Carter frantically wiped her tears.

"No way! You worked so hard to get these followers, and they all love us as a couple. Don't worry about her. If she makes trouble, just tell me. We've known each other for twenty years. Who is she to dictate my life?"

Chloe didn't even have to try.

Carter was always eager to bite the hook, terrified that she might look at someone else.

"Besides, if Summer hadn't kept begging me, I would never have married her. She doesn't even compare to a single hair on your head!"

Those were his true thoughts.

Six years of dating, one year of living like a married couple. I was nothing but a clown.

Perhaps I had seen this end coming long ago.

Which was why accepting his betrayal was easier than I expected.

Maya fed me a spoonful of warm soup, trying to cheer me up.

"Once you're discharged, I'm taking you to see the sunrise in Aspen, and then we're going to see the Northern Lights in Norway. It’ll be a million times better than their fake rose garden!"

Listening to her vivid descriptions, I couldn't help but smile.

Just then, a tall, handsome man in a white doctor's coat walked into my hospital room.

My smile froze, and my heart skipped a beat.

It was Julian Sterling—my high school crush.

Back in high school, I had always wanted to look perfect in front of him. But unfortunately, he was the one who saw my ugly, bloody wounds from my father's abuse.

And now, meeting him again, I was in a pathetic state once more.

Julian asked me how I was feeling. I quickly shook my head, my hands gripping the bedsheets tightly.

After he finished the check-up and left, Maya nudged me with a gossipy smirk.

"Well, well. Isn't this the perfect chance for a second-chance romance? I asked around—he’s single, and so are you."

I tapped her forehead. "Stop playing matchmaker. We were only lab partners for half a semester. After he moved to the UK for college, we didn't even keep in touch."

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "When I brought you in yesterday and you were covered in blood, his face went completely pale. He was terrified."

She pointed to the soup on the table. "He bought this for you this morning. And the way he looks at you? Trust me, it’s definitely not just 'high school nostalgia.'"

Because of Maya's words, my heart raced every time Julian walked into my room over the next three days.

But he was strictly professional, making me feel like I was just flattering myself.

On my last day, I ran into him in the stairwell. I got so nervous that my feet tangled, and I missed a step.

Just as I was about to tumble backward, he caught my hand and pulled me firmly into his chest.

The clean scent of his cologne filled my nose, and my ears burned.

He let out a soft, low chuckle.

"Still as clumsy as you were in high school, Summer."

He pulled out his phone and opened his Snapchat QR code.

"Add me. I heard you're working at an ad agency now. I actually need your professional help with a project."

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