Chapter 2

2

I panicked completely. My eyes stung, nearly spilling tears. I made an excuse to go to the restroom and stood to leave.

The moment I closed the door, my tears broke free.

The bar's noise was loud enough to drown out my stifled sobs.

My phone pinged with a message from Julian. "I'm waiting outside."

Only ten minutes had passed since I arrived, full of joy.

Now I felt dragged into icy seawater, my body cold, my hands trembling uncontrollably.

In such a short time, I couldn't process it all.

How could I accept that the person I thought loved me back had never been serious about me?

Being with me was just pity.

His heart had always belonged to someone else.

My heart ached with countless tiny stabs.

I lingered for a long time, then grabbed a tissue, wiped my tears, and walked out.

Julian leaned against a wall nearby, waiting for me.

I looked at him, and my tears nearly spilled again.

We hadn't seen each other in a month.

He had been abroad on business, returning only today.

We had planned to meet tomorrow.

I couldn't wait, so I came here to see him sooner.

He approached slowly, staring at my red eyes for a long moment before speaking. "I'm sorry."

Those words were strange.

They were what a girl wanted to hear when her boyfriend made a small mistake, a soft phrase that could resolve a fight.

But when it came to a fundamental betrayal, they were the weakest, most powerless words.

They skipped explanation, declaring the relationship a dead end.

"Julian, don't you have anything to say about what you said earlier?"

His gaze flickered, avoiding a direct answer. "Why are you so sensitive? It was just talk among friends. Why take it seriously? I think I've been a decent boyfriend."

Was I too sensitive?

Maybe sensitive people always bore twice the pain.

Tears slid down my face again, unbidden.

He reached to wipe them away, but I turned my head to dodge.

I took a deep breath and continued. "If you like Belen, why did you bother with me?"

At her name, his face darkened, and he snapped coldly. "Didn't you already know I liked her? Why act surprised now?"

The room was warm with heating, but my breathing grew erratic, almost suffocating.

My chest tightened with pain, my head dizzy from the heat.

This was the first time we mentioned her name in conversation. He shed his usual gentle warmth, becoming a stranger who made me feel breathless.

Belen was clearly his untouchable wound.

I wanted to curse him, but my throat was too tight to make a sound.

My phone rang, an untimely intrusion, showing an international number with no name.

A woman's intuition told me it was Belen.

His eyes lit up instantly.

He stepped past me to answer the call, moving quickly, as if afraid to keep her waiting even a second.

Amid the bar's chaotic music, I heard his gentle, fading voice. "Belen..."

My intuition was right.

But it never warned me that Julian didn't love me.

I returned to the private room in a daze. Maverick and the others were talking about Julian.

"He never gets flustered no matter how much we tease him. Why such a big reaction today? Is it really about Belen?"

Maverick took a sip of his drink and said slowly. "What else? For years, he'd call Belen's name when drunk. When she first went abroad, he secretly flew to see her. Something happened, and he came back broken. I asked, but he wouldn't say. Later, he started dating this girlfriend, and I thought he was smitten, moving past his heartbreak. But did you see his face when he heard Belen was coming back? I called his name several times before he even heard me."

I had never seen Julian drunk. I never heard him call another's name. I didn't know he had gone abroad to find her.

They kept talking, mentioning the love letter he never sent for her coming-of-age party, the records he bought of her debut album.

I hadn't known so much.

I listened blankly as they praised his restrained devotion, his admirable love.

I forced my expression to stay steady, but my nails dug into my palms.

Jaxton Wall, the notorious playboy of the group, clicked his tongue. "His girlfriend's the pitiful one, though. Wasted two years."

I pretended to rub my eyes, wiping away the tears that escaped.

Maverick turned to me after talking with them.

He dropped his carefree demeanor and said seriously. "Sonya, that's why you shouldn't trust men."

Julian seemed so perfect, even Maverick nearly believed him.

He lured me into his beautiful illusion, only to shatter it with a casual "I'm sorry."

I nodded, my voice barely audible. "Yeah, I won't trust again."