Chapter 4

Audrey

I clicked open the photo album.

I scrolled through his hidden files and archived posts. The further down I went, the worse my hands shook.

Drip... Drip...

Tears blurred my vision, splashing against the keyboard. Or maybe it was just my heart bleeding out.

I was in too much pain to even stand up straight.

I sat there, masochistically forcing myself to look at the screen over and over again.

Declan lied to me. Daisy wasn't allergic to the sun.

He just used her fake illness as a permanent excuse to cancel our weddings, only so he could jet off on tropical vacations with her behind my back.

A raw, guttural sob tore from my throat.

I grabbed his MacBook and hurled it against the wall. I grabbed our framed wedding photo and smashed it against the floor.

I collapsed into the wreckage, crying and laughing like an absolute maniac.

When I finally looked up, Declan was standing in the doorway. I hadn't even heard him come in. He was just staring at me in stunned silence.

"Why?" I choked out. "Why would you do this to me, Declan?!"

He walked over, reaching out to pull me up from the shattered glass and broken frames.

Smack.

I slapped him across the face with every ounce of strength I had left. The sharp crack echoed through the entire apartment.

Declan clenched his jaw. He lifted me away from the mess, setting me down on the living room couch before he finally spoke.

"I want to marry you, Audrey. Just... not right now."

"You backed me into a corner with all the wedding pressure. I didn't have a choice."

I shook my head, tears spilling down my face.

"Do you know how old I am, Declan?" I asked the same question I had asked hours ago.

"Thirty-five," he whispered.

"You knew... You knew I am thirty-five years old." My voice violently trembled. "I've been with you for fifteen years, Declan. How many more fifteen-year stretches do I have left in my life?"

"You just weren't ready, so you thought it was perfectly fine to just string me along and waste my life?"

He pressed his lips into a tight line, completely silent.

I wiped my face frantically, trying to catch my breath.

"How could you be so incredibly selfish, Declan? If you didn't want to get married, you should have just told me! I would never have wasted my entire youth on you."

"I threw everything I had into us. Did you even once, for a single second, actually factor me in?"

"Do you know how many nights I stayed up planning those weddings? Do you know what it feels like to have your hopes completely crushed, seven different times?"

"I loved you for fifteen years, and you played me for an absolute fool. Do you have any idea how much that destroyed me?"

With every word, the agonizing despair in my eyes grew heavier.

It finally scared him.

Declan grabbed me, pulling me tight against his chest, frantically whispering apologies and empty promises.

"Audrey, I'll marry you. I swear I really will."

"Please don't do this. We'll do it this year, okay? I'm not lying anymore. We'll pick a beautiful, sunny day. Whatever you want."

I couldn't hear his voice anymore.

Just like I had never truly seen him for who he was all these years.

My tears had finally run dry.

"I promise. This year," he swore, holding his hand up like he was making a vow.

But all I saw was his bare ring finger. The matching promise band he used to wear was gone.

"Where's your ring?" I asked, my voice completely hollow.

Declan froze, a flash of pure panic crossing his face.

"Uh... I took it off. It's probably in the center console of my car."

"Wait right here. I'll go grab it."

He snatched his keys off the kitchen island and bolted out the front door.

The second the door clicked shut, I stood up.

I grabbed a weekender bag, tossed in my ID and passport, and left my apartment keys sitting alone on the console table.

I turned around and walked out.

I took the left elevator down. The digital display showed the right elevator coming up.

We passed each other in the dark, separated by concrete and steel.

Just like our lives. Maybe we were never meant to cross paths in the first place, and it would have saved me a whole lifetime of pain.

I kept my phone turned off the entire Uber ride.

Walking into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, I went straight to the counter and bought the earliest ticket out.

Hours later, the plane touched down under the bright California sun.

I finally turned my phone back on.

The second I got a signal, my screen completely froze under a landslide of frantic messages from Declan.

Declan: Audrey, where the hell are you?