Chapter 2

The moment I got into my car, the strength I'd faked in the apartment vanished. My body started to shake uncontrollably.

A sob tore from my throat, raw and ugly. I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white, as years of suppressed pain came flooding out.

My phone buzzed. It was Caleb. I ignored it. It buzzed again. A text.

"You're unhinged, Azalea. I can't believe I wasted so many years on someone so emotionally unstable. Don't ever contact me again."

The words were designed to hurt, to make me feel small and crazy. And for a moment, they worked. Was I the problem? Was I too emotional?

Then another text came through.

"Kimberly is very worried about you. She thinks you need professional help."

The manipulation was so obvious now that I was out of the fog. Kimberly, the concerned friend. Caleb, the long-suffering boyfriend. It was their narrative, the one they had been building for months.

I threw my phone onto the passenger seat and just cried. Tears streamed down my face, hot and endless. I cried for the woman I used to be, the one who believed in love and partnership. I cried for the years I had lost, trying to be enough for a man who would never see my worth.

After the storm of tears passed, an empty calm settled over me. I felt hollowed out, but also strangely clear-headed.

It wasn't just a breakup. It was a betrayal on every level. He hadn't just cheated; he had systematically dismantled my reality, making me question my own sanity.

My hands stopped shaking. I picked up my phone, my fingers moving with a new purpose. I didn't call my mom or any of our mutual friends.

I called Azura.

"Aza? What's wrong? You sound awful." Her voice was sharp, instantly alert.

"It's over, Zu," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "Caleb and me. It's really over."

"I'm on my way. Where are you?"

I gave her my location, a dark side street a few blocks from the apartment I could no longer call home.

While I waited, my phone buzzed again. A call from Kimberly. I stared at the screen, my lip curling in disgust. I hit decline.

She immediately sent a text. "Azalea, please answer. Caleb is so upset. I'm just trying to mediate. I never wanted to come between you two. I feel so terrible."

The fake apology was more infuriating than Caleb's insults. She wasn't sorry. She was celebrating.

I typed back a single word. "Don't."

Her reply was instant. "Don't what? I just want to help. I know you're hurting. Maybe we can all talk this out in the morning? I can bring coffee."

The audacity of her. The sheer, calculated nerve. She was already playing the part of the new lady of the house.

I blocked her number. Then I blocked Caleb's.

When Azura's car pulled up, I got out of mine and fell into her arms. She held me tight, not saying anything, just letting me lean on her.

"He chose her, Zu," I mumbled into her shoulder. "He told me I was unhinged."

"He's an idiot," she said fiercely. "A blind, arrogant idiot. And she's a snake."

She pulled back and looked at me, her lawyer-eyes assessing the situation. "Did you get your things?"

I shook my head. "I just left. I couldn't stand to be in there another second."

"Okay," she said, her voice all business now. "We'll deal with that later. For now, you're coming with me. You're staying at my place."

As we drove away, I looked back in the direction of the apartment building, a shining tower full of broken promises.

"I'm not just going to let this go, Zu," I said, my voice low and hard. "I want him to hurt. I want them both to hurt the way they hurt me."

Azura glanced at me, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across her face.

"Good," she said. "Because I happen to know the best divorce lawyer in the city. And we're going to make him pay for everything."