CHAPTER 24
I told myself I was just going to clear my head. Maybe walk a little. Maybe get air. But I knew exactly where I was going, and the second I rang his doorbell, I hated myself for it.
I opened the door like he’d been expecting someone. Just not me.
“Chen.”
“Hey,” I said, arms crossed. I hadn’t planned what I was going to say. Only that I needed to see him. Hear something steady. Something that felt like truth.
The place looked the same as always—neat, clean, almost sterile. Like someone lived there but didn’t make memories in it.
I walked past ruby (his dog) into the living room. There was a jacket I didn’t recognize draped over the couch. Small. Soft pink. Definitely not his.
“Someone here?” I asked myself, turning.
And that’s when I heard it—laughter. Muffled. Then a voi
