Chapter 2

Audrey

I still had the video of his proposal saved on my phone.

He had promised to marry me before he turned thirty.

I could still remember the sea of candles and the absolute devotion in his eyes. He had held a massive bouquet of red roses, dropping to one knee.

The crowd around us had cheered, but in that moment, our world was completely silent.

Now, the scent of roses was long gone.

Only the low hum of the kitchen fridge remained.

I stared at him, desperately wanting to ask why he was silent.

Could he really not remember? Or was he just too much of a coward to admit it?

"Since you forgot," I said, my voice eerily calm, "let's just end it. Let's break up."

Declan's jaw tightened. He didn't agree.

He scoffed, muttered something about me being "fucking irrational," and grabbed the pink thermos.

Then, he walked out the door without looking back.

I collapsed onto the bed, dizzy and completely drained.

My forehead was burning up. In my feverish haze, I instinctively called out Declan's name in the empty room.

It took a long time to remember he had already left me.

I took some painkillers and slept through the entire day.

When I finally woke up, the sky outside was pitch black.

My phone was flooded with notifications. Some were from work, others were awkward texts from coworkers asking what happened at the wedding.

But the most active thread was a pinned Discord server.

It was a private group Declan had made for his finance buddies. Right now, they were in a live voice channel, streaming a game.

I tapped the screen and joined the server.

No one noticed my icon silently pop up at the bottom.

"Watch your mouth!" Daisy's voice giggled through the speaker.

"Hey, a bet's a bet! What's wrong with calling you his girl?" a guy shot back.

The lobby erupted into cheers and whistling.

"The real boss! Declan's girl! Queen Daisy!"

Daisy playfully cut them off. "Stop it, you guys. Declan is engaged. She'll pack her bags if she hears you!"

She sighed dramatically. "She already threw a massive fit yesterday just because he made me a bowl of soup."

Someone groaned over the mic. "God, she's so high-maintenance."

"His girl? What do you think, Declan?" another mocked. "She acts more like your warden. You have zero freedom."

"Seriously. Seven canceled weddings? That girl is just cursed."

Declan's icon lit up.

But it was Daisy's laughing voice that came through. "Declan says hell yeah!"

Then, Declan's actual voice cut in, soft and entirely indulgent.

"Cut it out, guys... Audrey is just difficult sometimes. It is what it is."

He didn't defend me. He agreed with them.

"Declan, my feet hurt! Come rub them!" Daisy whined playfully.

The chat went wild again.

"Ugh, get a room!"

"Turn your camera on, let us see!"

"Honestly, you two are the real deal. Just dump Audrey and be with Daisy already. Everyone thinks so, right?"

A second later, Declan and Daisy disconnected from the voice channel.

My throat felt like it was full of crushed glass. I unmuted my mic.

"Yeah. I agree."

The voice channel went dead silent.

Within two seconds, every single guy dropped out of the call.

They immediately switched to the general text chat, casually discussing where to grab late-night drinks.

No explanations. No apologies.

It was as if I didn't even exist.

The seven canceled weddings weren't just a thorn in my heart. They had become a running joke for his friends to publicly humiliate me.

And Declan happily let them.

I felt a crushing, suffocating weight on my chest.

My lungs burned. I had to gasp for air over and over just to keep myself from drowning in the panic.

Half an hour later, Declan finally posted in the general text chat.

Declan: Can't make it to drinks tonight, boys. Daisy is making me stay in.

The replies flooded in instantly.

Chase: Whipped! Bro is living the dream.

When she controlled him, it was cute. He was "whipped."

When I asked for the bare minimum, I was difficult.

I didn't feel angry anymore. I was just purely, bone-deep exhausted.

Right then and there, I hit 'Leave Server'.

Two minutes later, a direct message popped up on my screen.

Declan: Why are you being so dramatic? Why did you leave the group?