Chapter 2

I'd barely set the laundry basket down when the doorbell rang.

I went to answer it, but Callum got there first.

The person standing outside had a flush across her face — she'd clearly had a lot to drink.

She saw Callum and smiled. "I knew you'd still be up."

Callum instinctively glanced back at me, then dropped his voice. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer. She swayed her way inside.

Not until she spotted me standing in the living room did she stop, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. "Oh — you're home too, Jo."

Sebastian caught her from behind and shot me an apologetic look. "Jo, she's had too much. We were walking her home and she insisted on stopping by here."

Dominic stood in the doorway, his expression a little stiff. He glanced at me once, then his gaze moved to Callum, his voice turning sharp:

"Callum, your wife is standing right there. Don't you have any sense of decency?"

Callum stiffened, then frowned. "You get her this drunk and dump her at my door, and I'm the one who needs to watch my behavior?"

"I got her drunk? You're the one who posted that you were 'back on the market' on your social media!" Dominic gave a cold laugh and stepped aside. "Fine — you're above it all. She's here. She's your problem."

The two of them stood on opposite sides of the entryway.

The air between them had frozen solid.

Sebastian was caught in the middle, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Alright, alright, let's not fight — Vivienne just wanted to drop by on the way—"

I stood in the center of the living room and watched the whole performance from start to finish.

They were far too coordinated for enemies.

If I hadn't heard the sound of their glasses clinking with my own ears, I might have believed their supposed hatred for each other.

For so long, I'd thought what I had with Sebastian and Dominic was the kind of bond nothing could crack.

At my most loyal, I'd even married both of them.

My parents had died young. Grandpa was busy.

It was the two of them who had filled every corner of my childhood and teenage years.

Every hard moment — Sebastian was always there.

Dominic once stepped between me and a trafficker's knife.

To me, they were closer than family.

But when had our iron triangle become this?

Probably when we started senior year. When Vivienne appeared.

A new circle formed outside mine.

Slowly, I became the leftover piece — only thought of when someone needed a favor.

I pulled my gaze away from them.

Some cracks didn't start today.

I'd just chosen, today, to finally see them.

"You've all come at just the right time," I said. "There's something I'd like you to witness in person."