I tapped the photo open. The background was the amusement park I'd been asking to go to for years.
When Chester and I first got together, he'd actually been decent to me.
He remembered what I liked to eat, planned every date down to the last detail.
Except for taking me to the amusement park.
No matter how many times I brought it up, he refused. Said a place like that was a waste of time.
So Chester Delgado could be silly and indulgent after all.
He just wasn't willing to be that way for me.
His message came through right then.
Use this time to think about what you did. I already apologized to Glenda on your behalf.
The doorbell rang. A courier stood outside with a dessert box Chester had sent over.
Compared to the ten-tier cake he'd ordered to welcome Glenda home,
this little cake was exactly how much space I took up in Chester Delgado's life—
Almost none.
Even the topping was mango. Glenda's favorite.
Chester knew I was allergic to mango. He'd always known. He just didn't care.
His idea of smoothing things over with me came wrapped in the same lazy indifference as everything else.
I threw the cake in the trash.
I'd just finished washing up and was about to sleep when frantic knocking erupted at the door.
Chester.
His face was caked with dust, his clothes streaked with blood.
The moment he saw me, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the elevator.
"Crash on the way taking Glenda home. The hospital's blood bank doesn't have enough—you're the same type as her."
A life was on the line. I didn't argue.
Down in the garage, the front end of his car was crumpled almost beyond recognition, smoke still curling from the hood. I couldn't help frowning.
"Maybe we should call a cab."
"A cab? Glenda's in there dying and you want to wait for a cab!"
The words came out sharp and cold. Even Chester seemed to hear it.
He didn't apologize. He just opened the car door for me.
I sat in the passenger seat without a word.
Neither of us spoke the entire way to the hospital.
It wasn't until Chester got out that I noticed what was on his seat. A pair of lace underwear.
When I didn't move, his voice turned icy. "What is it now?"
"So what if you're mad at me—Glenda was your college roommate. You're really going to sit here and watch her die?"
The urgency in his voice cracked something open. Everything I'd been holding down surged up at once.
I looked him in the eye. "You want my blood? Then tell me what caused the crash."
Chester, who had been so righteous a second ago, couldn't meet my gaze.
"I was going too fast. Lost control for a second and..."
"Or you two were having so much fun in the car you forgot you were still driving."
The words barely left my mouth before his hand cracked across my face.
My left cheek burned white-hot.
Chester looked almost startled by what he'd done.
His hand hung in the air, a flash of panic in his eyes, but it vanished just as fast, swallowed by irritation.
"This isn't the time for this. Glenda is lying in the emergency room!"
"And how is that my problem? Chester, what makes you think I'd willingly bleed for the homewrecker who ruined my marriage?"
My eyes dropped, cold and mocking, to the seat he'd just been sitting in.
The lace underwear sitting there, stained with something I didn't want to name, proving Chester Delgado's betrayal plain as day.
I got out and started to walk away. He seized my arm and dragged me into the hospital by force.
I fought him every step.
"Chester, I am not giving blood!"
I dug my nails into his arm. "Let go of me!"
But the difference in strength between us was too vast. Even as my nails bent back from the force of my grip, I couldn't break free.
