Chapter 1

When my childhood best friend got divorced after his wife cheated on him, I wanted to help him get back on his feet.

I gave him money, gave him an apartment, and set him up with a menswear boutique of his own.

He was shy and thin-skinned, so I ran around myself, promoting the place, bringing in customers.

My fiancée, Trudy Henson, frowned, unhappy about it.

"If he doesn't have what it takes, he shouldn't be running a store. You have to clean up after him every single time. What is he, a grown baby?"

That was what set off our fight.

"Hudson Coleman is no different from my own little brother. If you treat him badly, you're disrespecting me!"

Later I went abroad on business for six months, and when I got back there were ninety-nine men's outfits from the boutique piled up in the house.

Trudy showed them off on a video call, fishing for praise.

"See? Look how well I've been taking care of that idiot friend of yours and his business. Aren't I being good?"

I was touched. I thought it was her way of giving in because she loved me.

So I came home from France early, wanting to surprise her.

Instead I walked in on Trudy and my best friend, tangled together in the boutique's break room.

"Trudy, same as always. Remember to grab an outfit for Des later, don't take his money, or I'll feel guilty."

"It's already ninety-nine times. Are you going to give him the whole store? I'm the one who wanted to like you. You don't need to sacrifice your own interests!"

I stood outside the door and felt the blood in me freeze.

So those ninety-nine outfits weren't her taking care of my friend's business.

They were the number of times the two of them had betrayed me.

……

At two in the morning, the ashtray in front of me was full of cigarette butts.

The front door finally opened.

Hudson carried Trudy in on his back, the two of them laughing and talking.

"Hud, put me down. I've gained weight lately, I'm heavy."

"Carrying the woman I love, I don't care how heavy she is."

Then they caught sight of me sitting on the sofa, and both froze at once.

When Hudson saw the ninety-nine shopping bags piled in the living room, his face shifted, and he quickly set Trudy down.

He came over with a forced little laugh.

"Des, you're back? Trudy's shoes didn't fit today, they rubbed her heel raw, so I carried her home…"

I didn't want to hear his clumsy excuses. I moved my hand out of his reach.

"If I hadn't come home, I never would've known the electronic lock code to my apartment with her had been changed to your birthday."

Hudson looked cornered, at a loss for how to explain, and instinctively turned to Trudy.

Trudy held out a glass of warm water to me.

"This place is close to Hudson's store. Sometimes he's counting inventory until it's late, and I didn't want him worn out, and it's not safe for him to go home alone in the middle of the night, so I let him rest here."

Over these last few years, Trudy had learned how to throw an opponent off in business.

Now she was using it on me too.

If I hadn't found the house empty in the dead of night, unable to reach either her or Hudson,

I wouldn't have panicked, thinking something had happened, and I wouldn't have walked in on something that sickening.

I gave a sardonic little laugh.

"That's true. I bought that sofa in the break room too narrow. Must be tiring for the two of you to sleep together on it."

I looked at Hudson and nudged the shopping bags with the toe of my shoe.

"Was my woman a good lay? Are these clothes you gave me your payment for whoring out your friend's girlfriend? Very generous."

Hudson's face went a shade paler. "Des, I'm sorry, I…"

He didn't finish. He covered his mouth and started to cry.

Trudy immediately pulled him behind her and frowned at me.

"Desmond Vance, calm down. I was the one who made the first move. Don't take it out on Hud, he can't handle harsh words."

She handed the car keys to Hudson and wiped his tears for him.

"There, don't cry. Go wait in the car, I'll be down soon."

Her tone was gentle, the way you'd soothe a child.

Hudson looked at me and said quietly, "Then talk it out with Des properly. Don't fight over me."

But what I noticed was the little cartoon keychain on those car keys, a bead-craft figure of a girl.

It matched the one hanging off Hudson's phone perfectly, a pair.

"Didn't you say things like that were childish, that you didn't like them?"

Trudy stood at the window, and only after she saw Hudson safely into the car did she answer me.

"Des, people change. Feelings… change too. I hope you can understand."

I laughed at myself.

People used to ask Trudy whether ten years with me had gotten boring.

Trudy would raise an eyebrow and ask right back,

"Have you ever seen someone get tired of the air they breathe? Des is my air. Without him, I'd suffocate."

And now she stood in front of me, perfectly at ease, asking me to understand her affair.

"My first time with him was March twelfth. The power went out at his place that day. He's afraid of the dark, and he didn't know who to call. You weren't in the country."

"By the time I got there, he was curled up in a corner with tears all over his face, like a frightened little rabbit. It broke my heart."

My breath caught.

That day my stomach flared up out of nowhere. I was shaking all over from the pain, and I wanted to hear Trudy's voice.

But I couldn't get through to her, no matter how many times I called.

Afterward she said a work dinner had run late and she'd fallen asleep. I even told her not to overdo it.

Thinking about it now, it's almost funny.

Trudy took off our matching engagement rings and set them gently on the coffee table.

"Des, Hud is more fragile than you. He needs my protection and care more than you do. I'm going to marry him."

"I'll leave this apartment to you as compensation. From now on we can still be friends and coworkers, same as before."

"It's fine if you hate me. But I hope you can at least be a little more forgiving toward Hud. Don't make him feel guilty."