Chapter 3

I drift down the hallway holding my baby, numb. Frozen from the inside out.

I should hate Ethan for the betrayal. I should hate Sienna for the knife in my back.

But what kills me most is losing them both at once.

I pull out my phone. Open the photo album.

Picture after picture. Memory after memory, hitting me like a freight train.

Watching the sunrise at four a.m. with Ethan, standing on top of a mountain.

Kissing in the lavender fields.

Scuba diving in the Maldives.

And in every single photo — Sienna's in the background.

What I thought was just the two of us — it was always three.

And I never once noticed.

I delete over ten thousand photos.

I stare at the System panel floating in front of me and let out a bitter laugh.

Honestly — what did Ethan even do wrong? He just doesn't love me. That's all it is.

I hold my baby tighter. My vision blurs again.

I'm so sorry, baby girl. I can't take you with me.

Just let me hold you a little bit longer.

Ethan's designer shoes step into view. I look up.

He's watching me, guilt and heartbreak all over his face.

Next second, I'm in his arms.

That familiar warmth. I break down.

I hate myself, but some stupid, desperate part of me thinks — maybe he still cares. Even just a little.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I lost my temper. Said stuff I didn't mean."

"You gotta believe me — I never wanted to hurt you. I was just scared Sienna would take off with the baby."

"Don't be like this. She hasn't stopped crying since you walked out..."

Sienna. Sienna.

Always Sienna.

That last little flicker of hope — he kills it himself.

Every breath feels like swallowing glass.

After a long silence, I cut him off.

"Promise me one thing. Take care of the baby. No matter what."

Ethan blinks. Relief floods his face. He cups my cheeks, voice suddenly brighter.

"Lily, I promise. I'll take care of you. Take care of the baby. You just gave birth — look after yourself too..."

His phone rings mid-sentence.

He picks up. His entire face changes.

"Don't move — I'm coming!"

He hangs up. The warmth is gone. His eyes are ice.

"Sienna's baby has a congenital heart defect. There's no donor match. She was already losing it — and then you went and deleted every photo on Instagram. She thinks you'll never forgive her. She's on the roof. She's about to jump. Are you happy now?"

"Come with me. Now."

He grabs my arm and hauls me toward the stairwell.

The stitches rip. Pain tears through me so hard I can't breathe.

Warm blood runs down my thighs. The hallway spins.

I bite the inside of my cheek raw — just to stay standing.

Up on the roof, Sienna's standing on the wrong side of the railing.

Wind whips through her hospital gown. She looks like she could vanish any second.

She spots me. Something lights up in her eyes for half a second — then dies.

Her face is wrecked with tears.

"Lily, my baby's dying. And you're never gonna forgive me, are you?"

"I have nothing. I have absolutely nothing left."

She sways at the edge.

Before I can even open my mouth, Ethan's drenched in a cold sweat.

"Sienna, don't. Lily knows she was wrong. She came here to say sorry."

I stare at Ethan in total disbelief. This is beyond insane.

Sienna doesn't buy it. Her eyes are glazed, somewhere far away.

"You'd never forgive me. Not if you knew. Those men that night in the parking garage — I sent them. If you knew that, you'd want me dead."

Something inside me cracks wide open.

I snap. I throw myself at her.

Hands grab me from behind and yank me back. I spin around — Ethan. Eyes cold as stone.

"She was young. She did it out of jealousy. She nearly killed herself over the guilt — more than once. If I hadn't pulled her through all that, you'd never have seen her again."

I can't breathe.

He knew.

He knew this whole goddamn time.

I was drowning, and he just stood there watching.

But Sienna — the one who threw me in — he felt sorry for her.