Chapter 4

The drawer was slightly ajar.

My hands shook as I pulled it open.

The full box of protection that had been sitting inside only had two wrappers left.

My ears roared with a deafening ring.

What happened here didn't need any explanation.

Just a few hours ago, while I was waiting in my wedding dress, full of hope...

Sean and Penny had been in this very bed, in our supposed marital home, completely unhinged.

I grabbed the doorframe, feeling all the blood rush out of my face.

A wave of violent nausea tore through my stomach. I sprinted into the bathroom and dry-heaved over the toilet.

Julian rushed in behind me, rubbing my back and handing me a cup of water.

"Are you okay?"

I rinsed my mouth and looked at my ghostly reflection in the mirror.

"I'm fine."

Right then, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

A SnapChat notification.

From Penny.

I opened it.

It was a photo.

In it, Penny was wearing an oversized men's dress shirt—Sean's shirt—snuggling against his bare chest.

The caption read: Chloe, please don't get the wrong idea! Sean was just so exhausted, he asked me to keep him company while he rested. You know he can't get by without me taking care of him.

The manipulation was practically oozing off the screen.

In the past, I might have swallowed my tears, desperately confronted Sean, and ended up being gaslit into apologizing.

Now?

I found it laughable.

My thumb swiped across the screen.

Delete friend.

I had never wanted to add her in the first place.

Sean had whined that she was lonely, had social anxiety, and begged me to be patient with her.

Once added, she clung to me like a parasite, dropping passive-aggressive hints just to prove she held the top spot in Sean's heart.

The second I deleted her, the phone buzzed again.

A text from Sean:

Did you just delete Penny? What the hell is wrong with you?

Another message popped up instantly:

We already texted everyone that the wedding is postponed. Go post an announcement on your Snap story right now.

Penny is feeling sick, she doesn't have the energy to deal with your petty drama.

We're almost home. Make something light for dinner. Penny's stomach is upset, she can't eat anything greasy.

What a pair of delusional clowns.

Suddenly, a slender, masculine hand reached down and plucked the phone from my grip.

Julian glanced at the screen, his face darkening with absolute rage.

Without uttering a single word, his fingers danced across the glass.

Block. Delete.

Clean, ruthless, efficient.

"Don't waste another second looking at trash like this," he said, handing the phone back to me, his voice laced with protective fury. "They don't deserve your attention."

"Yeah."

I took a deep breath, forcing my heart to steady.

"Let's pack."

I opened the closet and hauled down my luggage.

I only took my legal documents and a few designer outfits that were untouched.

Everything Sean had bought for me, and anything Penny had ever laid a hand on, I left behind.

Just as Julian said: it was contaminated.

"Chloe, what about this purse?" Julian pointed to a designer handbag on the shelf.

"Leave it."

Penny had once borrowed it without asking and spilled foundation all over the lining.

"These heels?"

"Trash."

She had worn them out in the rain and ruined the leather soles.

Once my suitcase was zipped, I took one last, cold look at the place I once dreamed would be my home.

Just as we reached the front door, the lock clicked.

Julian and I stopped in our tracks.

Standing outside were Sean and Penny.

Sean was holding a bag of medication from the pharmacy. When he saw the scene in front of him, he froze completely.

His gaze darted between me, Julian, and the luggage in my hand.

"Chloe? What do you think you're doing?"

Penny peeked out from behind him, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Sean, what's going on? Is Chloe moving out?"

I didn't even look at Penny. I wrapped my hand snugly around Julian's arm and met Sean's stunned stare head-on.

"Let me introduce you. This is my new husband, Julian Hayes."