Chapter 3

When he’d shouted that we should break up, we had both gone still.

I’d recovered first and lashed out. “I’d love nothing more!”

“My next boyfriend will be a hundred—a thousand times better than you, Julian.”

In three years, he’d forgotten every bit of love I’d given him.

Yet he remembered one angry sentence perfectly.

When I didn’t answer, Julian seemed to reach the end of his patience. He dragged me straight into an airport VIP lounge.

He pinned me against the door and locked it behind us.

I pushed and struggled, but he didn’t budge.

Three years ago, he’d been like an affectionate puppy. Now the dark mood rolling off him made it hard to breathe.

“Let me go!”

“So you can run back to Evan? Can’t stand being apart from him for even a minute?”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Evan’s voice came through the door. “Julian, why did you drag Hannah off? She’s going to be your sister-in-law.”

“Stop fucking calling her that! You’re not my brother, and she’s not my sister-in-law!”

It was the first time I’d ever heard Julian swear. For a second, I was so startled that I stopped struggling.

Like a predator spotting an opening, he seized the moment.

His gaze locked on my lips. He leaned down and tried to kiss me.

There was none of the tenderness or teasing I remembered from three years ago. This was fierce, almost savage.

I instinctively turned my head, and his lips landed behind my ear.

“Really determined to save yourself for Evan, aren’t you?”

Before I could respond, he bit me behind the ear. Pain made me suck in a sharp breath.

“Ah…”

That spot had always been sensitive. It used to be Julian’s favorite place to kiss.

Now all he gave me was pain.

Just like our young, ridiculous romance.

He’d promised me forever. Then he’d been the one to end it.

He’d left without a word and vanished from my life.

That day, we’d had the worst fight of our entire relationship. We’d said we were done, and I’d declared that my next boyfriend would be better.

But in the end, I’d been too in love to let go. I’d talked myself out of my anger.

Julian was still young. Maybe the argument had gotten out of hand, and he hadn’t really meant it.

I didn’t want to throw away our relationship over one fight.

I was older. Surely I could be a little more understanding about his immaturity.

After two days of cooling off, I called him.

An automated female voice coldly informed me that the number was no longer in service.

A bad feeling settled in my stomach. I sent him a message.

All I got back was a red error symbol.

For a week, I tried everything I could think of to find him. Eventually, through a string of people, I learned that Julian had gone overseas.

Not on an exchange program. Not on vacation. He was planning to live there.

Only then did I understand what Lily had meant. Once Julian was tired of playing, he could walk away untouched.

I would be the one left in pieces.

My first love ended with me looking like a complete fool.

Feeling the sting of his bite behind my ear, I asked coldly,

“Are you enjoying this?”

Hadn’t he hurt me enough three years ago? Did he need to torment me again for fun?

Julian caught my chin and forced me to look at him.

“Do you like Evan that much?”

I gave a cold laugh and deliberately twisted the knife.

“At least he wouldn’t disappear without saying goodbye.”