chapter 2

Before Leander could finish, Juniper cut him off urgently, "I'm sorry. Just pretend I never called."

Beep-beep-beep...

The call ended, but Leander kept holding the phone to his ear, looking dazed.

I could feel my chest tightening.

"Olivia..." He turned to me with a wavering expression.

A wave of sadness hit me. "But Leander," I said, clinging to a sliver of hope, "it's our wedding night."

"Of course I know." Uncertainty flickered in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. His decision was made. "Juniper has a severe case of the flu. She lives alone. If it gets worse, the consequences could be serious.

"I can't just leave her there by herself."

He went on, trying to convince me to be the bigger person.

After all, it was a matter of life and death.

I listened in silence, my heart going still and cold inside.

Leander took my quiet as agreement. He grabbed his jacket and tossed out, "I'll explain when I get back," before rushing out.

Watching him leave, I couldn't hold back my tears.

How pathetic.

There I was, alone in my bridal suite on my wedding night.

I drifted in and out of a restless sleep until the sound of the front door opening from the living room told me the endless night was finally over.

I threw on a robe and walked downstairs. Leander was back, holding a bag of breakfast.

"Look, I got all your favorites," he said, guiding me to the table and handing me a glass of milk. He was being perfectly sweet and thoughtful, like that could just erase what had happened last night.

"Did Juniper's fever break?" I wasn't having any of that sweetness. I came right out and asked what was really bothering me.

Leander paused. "Yeah, it broke at 3 AM."

Her fever broke at 3. But he didn't come home until 7.

I let out a quiet laugh.

He seemed to realize how it sounded and rushed to explain. "I was going to come right home after her fever broke, but she was crying. My heart just couldn't take it..."

See? Some explanations only made it worse.

His voice trailed off. He just stared at me with those earnest eyes—eyes full of pity for Juniper.

He'd always had such expressive eyes.

I fell for him the moment I saw him.

It all started with those tender, soulful eyes. But I never knew that a man so capable of deep love could spread it around so widely.

If only I hadn't logged into his phone last night. If only the ache in my chest hadn't kept me awake, driving me to open that hidden, locked note in his Notes app by chance. Maybe then I could have gone on lying to myself.

But I saw everything.

Memories didn't lie, and the emotions poured into words even more so. I opened Leander's past and glimpsed the love he once had for Juniper.

"I love Juniper. She's so refreshing, truly one of a kind. Everyone else gets close to me only because I'm the heir to the Vance Family, but she's the only one who truly cares whether I'm happy.

"Mom doesn't like her. Thinks she's calculating. But only I know how good Juniper really is. I can't stand up to Mom, though. She's using her own life to force my hand. I've failed Juniper.

"Juniper's gone. She took the five million dollars Mom offered her. Mom said that's all I'm worth in Juniper's eyes. But honestly? I'm glad she took it. At least that money will make her life easier."