Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Maybe I imagined it, but Elias suddenly sounded a lot lighter.

"What's the date?"

The wedding had nothing to do with him, but I answered calmly anyway. "Next Saturday."

"Okay. Got it."

Just as the call was about to end, Chloe's playful little shriek came over the line. "Elias, where did you put my pajamas?"

Clatter.

The phone slipped out of my hand and hit the floor hard. My head was ringing.

They were… sleeping together?

At the thought, my eyes went red. I hated how weak that was.

A memory I'd tried hard to forget came flooding back.

Back when Elias and I had just gotten together, I'd begged him to take me to meet the people in his lab.

Unlike the rest of the researchers, who'd been tortured half to death by data, Chloe always had a smile on her face, like bright California sunshine.

That night, at the after-party in a bar, everyone got really drunk.

A bunch of them were playing Truth or Dare.

The alcohol had turned Elias's eyes red behind his blue-tinted lenses.

He was drunk. When they pushed him to say who he loved most, he answered without thinking:

"Chloe…"

The whole bar went dead silent.

And I still stuck to him, stubborn as ever, believing time would prove everything.

But after chasing him for eight years, I was really tired.

So I was ready to forget him completely.

I threw out all the LEGO sets he'd given me.

The truth was, I'd never even liked them. I just cared about building something with him.

But Elias was always too busy.

So I secretly hid a few key pieces, hoping he'd stay with me a little longer.

His sharp eyes saw right through me.

"You hid the pieces, didn't you?"

"Vivian, I don't have time for these pointless games. Chloe's waiting for me to test the data."

Chloe had always been a thorn in my heart.

The second I heard her name, I turned bitter and sharp.

"Do you treat Chloe like this too?"

He seemed a little taken aback, then stated it as a fact: "Chloe isn't as boring as you."

That one offhand sentence knocked down every wall I had.

Three days before the wedding.

My dad had left an important file at home and asked me to bring it to campus.

To take a shortcut, I had to cut through the physics department's lab building.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, Chloe stepped in front of me with her arms folded.

She looked me up and down like she was looking down at me from a great height. "Vivian, Elias is running a critical experiment. Could you please stop bothering him?"

A few grad students who'd stopped to watch started whispering.

"Jesus, is that the fiancée who got stood up?"

"Honestly, I always thought Elias and Chloe were the couple."

I was speechless. Hadn't Elias told them we were done?

My phone was buzzing nonstop in my pocket. All calls from my dad.

I didn't have time for these people. "I'm in a hurry," I said, and tried to go around her.

"I said no!"

Chloe suddenly reached out and shoved me, hard.

My foot slipped, and I lost my balance. Oh no—this was the top of the third-floor stairs!

In that instant, a strong arm wrapped around my waist from behind and hauled me back.

Still shaking, I turned my head. When I saw who it was, the panic on my face turned to delight.

"What are you doing here?!"