Chapter 2

I'd postponed the engagement, and Victor misread the situation entirely.

He stood behind me, his voice flat.

"Ava, even if you push this back a whole day, I'm not getting engaged to you."

Tommy howled with laughter.

"You love the Boss that much, huh?"

He walked over to the vanity, picked up one of the favor boxes, and bounced it in his hand.

"Too bad. Looks like these Jordan almonds aren't going anywhere today."

He opened his fingers and let go.

The box hit the floor, and the candies scattered everywhere.

The room erupted again.

"Tommy, you're terrible."

"But Ava made so many, she won't miss one, right?"

Victor frowned slightly.

"That's enough, Tommy."

Tommy shrugged.

"Relax. Ava's not that petty."

Victor said nothing more.

It hadn't always been like this.

Before, when they teased me, Victor would lazily drape his arm around my shoulder and tell them, "Knock it off. If she actually cries, you think any of you can handle that?"

Back then, the way he shielded me made everyone believe I was his exception.

Now he stood on their side, letting them trample my heart into the ground.

In the middle of the laughter, Mia suddenly got up from the couch.

She crouched down, picked up the cracked box, and set it on the edge of the vanity.

Tommy nudged one of the candies on the floor with the toe of his shoe.

"Why are you picking that up? She made a thousand of them."

Mia didn't look up. Her voice was barely audible.

"Ava spent three full days folding those boxes. Her fingers were covered in Band-Aids, and she kept going. Even if the engagement's off, you don't get to do that."

The room went quiet for a beat.

Victor glanced over at her.

Tommy clicked his tongue, turned around, and went to clink glasses with someone else.

Victor walked up to me and brushed his fingers against my earlobe.

"Stop being stubborn. Today's on me. Cancel the banquet. Next time I'll give you a bigger one."

I shifted away from his hand.

His hand hung in the air, suspended for a moment.

He reached out and stroked my hair. The gesture looked tender, but his voice dropped low enough that only I could hear.

"Ava, cancel the engagement. Don't make me angry."

To everyone else, it looked like he was coaxing me.

His friends jumped right in.

"See? The Boss knows how to handle her."

"What's Ava still mad about? She should be thrilled."

"Victor, remember what you told us that night you got drunk? You said she's always like this—she can't stay mad for more than three hours. You don't even have to do anything, and she gets over it on her own."

One of them did an impression of Victor's voice, spot-on.

Tommy roared with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, and remember—she waited for him all day on her birthday, and he wrapped the whole thing up in ten minutes."

"Boss, seriously, we're all jealous."

Their tone was all jokes.

But every word was a needle, driven straight into my ears.

I looked up at Victor.

His face finally darkened.

"What are you all talking about?"

The guy froze.

"Didn't you say that yourself? In the group chat. You forgot? You also said—"

Victor cut him off.

"That was between the guys. Drop it."

I laughed.

I used to think love meant tolerance.

Today I finally understood—in the eyes of someone who doesn't value you, every time you back down is just another thing for him to brag about.

Victor looked at me.

"Ava, don't make this embarrassing for everyone. Let it go."

How absurd.

He created the problem, and I was supposed to bear the consequences.

I glanced down at the time on my phone.

Victor thought I'd finally given in.

"Good. Hurry up and cancel. Everyone's been humoring you all morning."

"I'll take you out to eat after."

I said nothing.

His patience bled out, drop by drop.

"Ava Reed, can you please grow up?"

That's when my phone buzzed with a new message.

"At the parking garage. On my way up."