Chapter 1

Geoffrey traded in the car I'd brought as my dowry for a six-seat luxury SUV, saying it would be roomier for the baby that was coming soon.

On the day we picked it up, he asked me to invite Alexandra along too.

"Lexie knows cars, so let her help us inspect it."

I nodded, but something about it felt strange.

Geoffrey and Alexandra don't get along; every time they meet, their conversations are all barbs and jabs.

Yet now they were standing in front of the car chatting like a close pair, and I couldn't get a word in.

The salesman saw me sitting alone in the lobby and assumed I was a new customer, so he smiled and handed me a bottle of water.

"Miss, is there a model you like?"

"I'd recommend that one—it's really perfect for a young couple like you. See, that young pair came to look at it plenty of times, and in the end they bumped up their budget just to get it."

"The guy joked that the back seat lies flat like a bed, said he wanted to sleep in the car with his girlfriend sometime to really enjoy it..."

The words were like knives in my ear, scraping until it hurt.

So he'd swapped the car to chase thrills sleeping around with Alexandra?

In that moment, I realized the man I'd loved for ten years and my best friend had rotted together.

Section 1

"Miss? Miss?"

When the salesman saw I wasn't responding, he reached out and waved a hand in front of me.

The sting in my eyes snapped me back. I forced myself calm and shook my head at him.

"Thank you, I don't need anything."

With that, I walked out of the dealership without looking back.

I opened Alexandra's Instagram and scrolled a long time before I finally found that photo of the SUV.

I want to lie in the back seat with you forever, never apart.

The picture showed two feet resting against each other. I hadn't paid it any mind back then.

Now, after what the salesman said, I understood what it meant.

It turned out Alexandra and Geoffrey had betrayed me long ago.

It had been posted in February—right when I'd just gotten pregnant.

The August heat was absurd, but at that moment my whole body went cold, as if I'd dropped into an ice cellar.

Through the glass, I watched him and Alexandra dart around the showroom, exactly like a young married couple.

They talked and laughed, and no one even noticed I was gone.

It was Alexandra who found me later.

She came rushing out in a panic, and seeing me drenched in sweat, quickly pulled out a wet wipe to dab it away.

"Leo, why are you out here?"

"It's so hot, and you're pregnant. What if you get heatstroke?"

The worry in Alexandra's eyes was real.

But it was also real that she'd betrayed me.

Right then, how badly I wanted to take her hand and ask her exactly what was going on.

But I knew asking now would get me nowhere.

Geoffrey came out too. First he glanced at Alexandra without thinking.

Then his eyes slid to me, a trace of impatience in them.

Actually, the old Geoffrey wasn't like this.

He'd changed the moment I got pregnant and decided to keep the baby.

I knew he didn't want this child.

But because of my body, I had no choice but to keep it.

"Leonora, what are you doing!"

"Alexandra and I both took time off to pick up the car, and we're short on time as it is. You're dragging things out!"

I stared at him without expression and said nothing.

Alexandra hurried to smooth it over, tugging at Geoffrey. "How could you lose your temper at Leo?"

"She's pregnant now—her moods swing enough as it is. You should be more understanding."

Geoffrey knit his brows and gave a cold snort. "Don't all women give birth? What's there to make such a fuss about?"

"Leaving perfectly good air conditioning to go stew in a sauna out front!"

"Besides, keeping this kid wasn't my idea."

"All right, all right, that's enough."

Alexandra made a show of tugging Geoffrey's arm, then draped an arm around my shoulders. "Aw, my sweet Princess Leo, don't be upset."

"Today's your big day, picking up the car—don't let some little thing spoil the mood."

The peacemaker used to be me.

When I first started seeing Geoffrey, Alexandra didn't like him.

"What's so great about a guy like that? He's just got a little family money and struts around like he's something."

"I heard he dated a whole string of girls back at his old school. Leo, he's not right for you."

Alexandra hadn't wanted me with Geoffrey from the start, so she did everything she could to stir up trouble.

Stirred it up until Geoffrey couldn't stand her either.

"Your taste in friends is really something."

"A crazy woman like Alexandra doesn't deserve to be your friend."

Later, when Geoffrey and I got together, Alexandra was so angry she nearly cut me off entirely.

It was only through my humble coaxing and pleading that the friendship survived.

But the two of them would go at each other the second they met, firing off shots the second they opened their mouths, and every time it ended badly.

I'd soothe one, then soothe the other.

That's how it had been for these ten-odd years.

But now, Alexandra was the peacemaker.

And Geoffrey didn't contradict a single word she said.

I choked down the churning inside me and followed Alexandra back into the showroom.

The whole time, I didn't say another word.

By the time we'd picked up the car it was noon, and Geoffrey suggested we all eat together.

"Sure, let's celebrate you two getting the car!"

"My treat today!"

Geoffrey chuckled and teased, "Can't have a pretty lady footing the bill."

They walked out of the dealership talking and laughing, while I trailed behind, struggling with my five-month belly.

The moment we stepped into the restaurant, Geoffrey instinctively pulled out a chair for Alexandra.

Alexandra suddenly noticed me standing behind them, and her face changed on the spot.

"Leo, don't be angry."

"Geoffrey's only being nice to me for your sake—if I weren't your friend, he wouldn't give me the time of day."

Listening to Alexandra's transparent excuse, I looked at Geoffrey with a cold smile.

"Oh really?"

"Geoffrey, is that it—you love me, so you love my friend too?"

My chilly gaze traveled slowly over him.