"Don’t be mad. Just dump him already. I’ll find you someone a hundred times better."
Having Jasmine beside her was already a comfort.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but Hailey simply waved a hand, her voice a little too carefree. "It’s fine. I’m heading back to Belmond anyway. You know my brother, Maddox? He’s so handsome. So, so handsome, way better than him."
Jasmine scoffed, shaking her head.
But when Hailey muttered that she wanted to break up, Jasmine stilled, disbelief flashing across her face.
She had chased Enzo for three years. Back then, she only had eyes for him; her whole world revolved around him. Letting go now… how could that not hurt?
By the time they stumbled out of the bar, the city was already cloaked in midnight haze.
Jasmine got called away, leaving Hailey alone. She took a few unsteady steps, about to hail a taxi, when she suddenly froze.
A familiar figure stood at the street corner.
Allison.
A group of thugs surrounded her, their sneers cutting through the night. She was crying, her red-rimmed eyes gleaming under the dim streetlight.
The moment she spotted Hailey, she looked as if she had grabbed onto her last shred of hope.
"Help me! Please, save me!"
The thugs only laughed, reaching for her clothes.
Just as Hailey turned her head, a voice sliced through the night, cold, furious, laced with unrelenting rage.
"Get lost! All of you, get the hell out of here!"
With a single, brutal kick, the man sent several thugs sprawling to the ground. Then, his entire demeanor shifted. He turned to Allison, his touch achingly gentle as he whispered, "Don’t be scared. I’m here."
Something twisted deep in Hailey’s chest. A weight settled there, heavy and suffocating.
Without another glance, she climbed into a taxi.
Yet, just before the door shut, she caught his gaze, sharp, filled with blame and resentment.
She forced herself to ignore it. It had nothing to do with her.
Just then, a chat window, silent for half a year, suddenly flickered to life.
"I won’t be coming home tonight. She’s not feeling well. Don’t scare her."
"Tomorrow, bring me a birthday cake."
That night, the house was unbearably quiet. So quiet that even the walls seemed to echo with loneliness.
Hailey started packing.
One by one, she burned the love letters she had written, each carrying his name. Meaningless. Every single one of them.
The red scarf she had once knitted for him was thrown into the flames, unraveling into nothingness.
The origami stars she had folded, each one hiding whispers of love, reduced to nothing but ashes.
The diary where she had carefully recorded every moment of his proposal, crumbling, turning to dust.
It was as if she were erasing three years of devotion, one burned memory at a time.
By morning, Hailey had made a cake and prepared to take it to the hospital.
In less than a week, she would be gone. A simple cake, just a final act before she left for good.
But when she arrived at the hospital, an unexpected sound froze her steps.
Soft, intimate. The unmistakable sound of a kiss.
For a brief moment, she hesitated at the door before knocking.
As soon as she stepped inside, she watched as Enzo took the cake from her hands, only to feed it straight to the Alaskan Malamute beside him. A slow, indulgent smile tugged at his lips.
"Didn’t you love eating cake the most? Go on, enjoy."
Hailey barely reacted. She only lifted her head, only to be met with a sharp accusation.
"Was it you? Did you bribe those thugs to hurt Allison on purpose?"
The words were so absurd, so ridiculous, that for a moment, she could only stare.
Did he really think she was that cruel? That she would sink so low just to harm another woman?
Did evidence mean nothing to him at all?
She sat down in silence.
And in that instant, Allison clung to Enzo, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as she pouted up at him. "Enzo, it hurts."
