Chapter 1
942 Words
Sarah and I grew up together at St. Jude's.
From the time we were little, we made a promise to each other: whenever either of us thought about marriage, we'd bring the man home so the other could give her personal seal of approval.
After college, I dated three men. Every single time, the day after I introduced them to Sarah, they broke up with me out of nowhere.
Sarah always comforted me afterward, saying I just hadn't met the right one yet. She told me she couldn't wait for the day she'd get to watch me walk down the aisle.
I believed her.
Then came Liam, my boyfriend of six months.
After the three of us had dinner together, I accidentally discovered that Sarah had added Liam on a burner account.
Behind my back, she'd been sending him photos of herself in lingerie, along with messages:
Sarah: Doesn't it get boring being with someone as dull as Maya?
Sarah: Break up with her. Come be with me instead. What do you think?
Then, on the tablet still signed into Liam's account, I saw his reply:
Liam: Is this how you seduced Maya's three exes too?
Sarah laughed and sent a voice message:
Sarah: You're a sharp one. Honestly, I was surprised myself. All I had to do was crook my finger, and those three dropped Maya without a second thought.
Sarah: So, what about you? Care to become my next target?
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
In the bathroom, my hands trembled around the tablet.
On the screen, Liam Ashford and Sarah Bennett were still chatting away.
Liam: And what exactly do I get out of becoming your target? Liam: What happened to Maya Brooks's three exes after they got with you? Don't tell me you tossed them aside the moment the novelty wore off.
Liam: Because if that's the case, I'm not about to sign up so easily just to be your plaything.
Liam clearly wasn't uninterested in what Sarah was offering.
A dull, crushing weight pressed down on my chest, so heavy I could barely breathe.
Just earlier that day, before I'd brought Liam to meet Sarah, he'd sworn to me with the utmost sincerity, "I'm nothing like those exes of yours. It doesn't matter how much your best friend tries to test me, or how gorgeous she turns out to be. I'd never meet her and then dump you the next day. So relax, baby. You can trust me."
His promises were still ringing in my ears.
Yet as I stared at their conversation on the screen, I had to bite down hard on my tongue to keep from screaming.
After being blindsided by three breakups in a row, I'd grown careful about who I let into my life. Until today, I'd genuinely believed Liam was the one I'd been waiting for.
He'd been so good to me, so different from anyone before. On every date, he'd think to bring a warm coat for me, and the moment I complained about the cold he'd wrap it around my shoulders. Once, when my feet ached from my heels during a day out, he swapped shoes with me without hesitation, carrying my stilettos and walking home barefoot while he held my hand the whole way. Even when we fought, sometimes on the verge of breaking up, he'd rein in his temper and swallow his pride before bed, insisting he couldn't let me fall asleep angry.
Because of him, I'd almost forgotten the wounds my past had left behind.
My fingers shaking, I kept reading. Sarah had replied to Liam.
Sarah: You really are different from those other men.
Sarah: I figured, given the way you kept staring at me all evening, indulging my every whim, even willing to give up the token Maya gave you, that you'd jump at my offer without a second thought. So why the pushback?
My stomach dropped.
Since I'd studied design in college, the keepsake I'd given Liam was an engraved watch I'd made myself. Liam wasn't short on money, and he owned plenty of luxury watches. But ever since we'd become official six months ago, he'd worn nothing but that one piece.
I remember teasing him back then, "You're the head of a huge company. Aren't you worried your employees will laugh at you for wearing some no-name watch every day?"
He'd held me close, pride written all over his face. "It's a gift my girlfriend made with her own hands. Anyone else would envy me. Why would they laugh?"
A month ago, a watchmaker had spotted the design and offered to buy it off him for a million dollars. Liam had refused without a moment's hesitation, insisting it was the most precious thing in his life, something no amount of money could ever buy.
And yet, that same watch had vanished from his wrist by the end of tonight's dinner with Sarah. When I'd asked about it, Liam told me he'd gotten it dirty in the restaurant restroom and needed to send it out to be cleaned.
I'd believed him.
The truth, it turned out, was that Sarah had simply said she wanted it.
Tears spilled onto the screen as their flirting carried on.
Liam: If I said yes this fast, I'd only be setting myself up. You'd dump Maya and then kick me to the curb right after.
Liam: I'll be honest with you. I dated Maya as a friend all these years just so I could get close to you. Now that I've finally caught your interest, I'm not about to let the thrill wear off so quickly.
- Writer
