Chapter 3

Hannah’s friends took turns blaming me while she quietly comforted Josh as he cried.
A chill spread through my entire body. The crushing humiliation nearly overwhelmed me.

Just as I felt I could no longer stand there, Hannah finally let go of him and walked toward me.

She lowered her voice. “Honey, how did you find this place?”

I looked at her and sneered.

“So instead of asking why I came, you only want to know how I found you?”

A flicker of unease crossed her face as she reached for my arm.

“Let’s not make a scene here. We’ll talk outside.”

I pulled away from her.

“How am I making a scene? Hannah, you kept me a secret for seven years, and you hid him from me for three. Right now, I only want you to say one thing in front of everyone. Who am I to you?”

The warmth gradually disappeared from Hannah’s expression.

She used to hate seeing me cry.

Whenever my stomach hurt, she would drive across town in the middle of the night to buy me medicine. When I had cramps, she would gently rub them for me to ease the pain.

However, at this moment, even as my entire body trembled, she looked at me as though I were nothing more than an unreasonable problem.

She gripped my wrist and led me out of the hotel.

When she saw the tears in my eyes, she sighed.

“Eric, since you’ve found out, I’ll just be straight with you. Josh and I have been together for three years. But don’t worry. You’ll always be the one I love most. I’ll marry you, but I’m going to give him a wedding too. Think of it as something I owe him. Josh is still young and naive. He can’t live without me. You understand, don’t you?”

A sense of absurdity swept through me. I stared at the woman before me as though I were seeing her for the first time.

“Why should I?”

Hannah chuckled and stroked my cheek. Her tone was gentle, yet her words were cruel.

“Eric, we’ve been together for seven years. I know you can’t live without me. Besides, we are practically engaged. Come on, don’t make a big deal out of this.”

There it was again.

Whenever I wanted her to acknowledge our relationship, whenever I asked to be part of her life, whenever I felt hurt by her inconsistent and unpredictable behavior, she would frown and say, “Don’t make a big deal out of this.”

As though my pain, my insecurity, and every moment I longed to be chosen without hesitation were nothing more than childish demands.

I closed my eyes. After a long silence, I spoke softly.

“Okay, I won’t.”

I was done.

Hannah smiled in satisfaction and kissed the corner of my mouth.

“I knew it. You’re the best. Go home now. I need to stay with Josh tonight. He has quite a temper, and after everything you said today, I have to make it up to him.”

Suppressing the nausea churning in my stomach, I turned and left.

After walking out of the hotel, I called my best friend, Dirk Huggins.

The pain was unbearable. All I wanted was to break down in front of someone I trusted.

The call connected. I had barely said his name before my voice cracked.

I told him everything in fragments. My voice trembled more with each word.

“Dirk, am I pathetic? I was with Hannah for seven years, and no one even knew I was her boyfriend. Not even the man she was seeing.”

The other end of the line remained silent for so long that I thought the connection had dropped.

Then Dirk sighed.

“I guess we couldn’t keep it from you forever.”

I froze. “What… What does that mean?”

I heard him take a quiet breath.

“Josh and I went to college together. I was the one who introduced him to Hannah.”

At that moment, something inside me came crashing down.

I thought back to three years earlier, when Dirk had suddenly mentioned an old college friend of his who lived overseas. He said he was a good guy and told Hannah she could contact him if she ever needed help during one of her business trips.

At the time, I had laughed and said, “You’d better not introduce her to someone handsome. I might get jealous.”

Dirk had clapped me on the shoulder. “Relax. I’m on your side.”

My voice trembled uncontrollably. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dirk sounded flustered. “Eric, I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I had no idea things would turn out like that. But then Josh genuinely fell for Hannah, and it was obvious that she felt differently about him too.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “And?”

“I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

I closed my eyes as burning tears filled them.

Dirk was my best friend.

Back in boarding school, we had even squeezed onto the same narrow dorm bed.

The first time Hannah and I had a serious fight, he walked around the track with me until dawn.

When Hannah’s business failed, he advised me not to give up on her. He said that love forged through hardship was the kind worth holding on to.

Looking back, it felt like a slap to the face.

Even with the phone pressed to my ear, Dirk’s voice began to sound distant.

“Eric, I’m begging you. Don’t make things difficult. Josh is a good guy. He really is innocent in all this. Everyone has seen what Hannah and Josh have shared over the past three years. They’re perfect for each other. All of Hannah’s friends adore him. Even her mother has met him.”

I drew a sharp breath.

Hannah and I had been together for seven years.

She had never introduced me to her mother.

She always said, “Honey, my mom can be difficult. I don’t want her upsetting you. When the time is right, I promise I’ll take you home to meet her.”

However, she had introduced Josh to her family a long time ago.

All while I had been foolishly waiting for the right time.

I was the part of her life she kept hidden from everyone.

She wrapped me in sweet promises and tucked me away where no one would ever find me.

Josh, on the other hand, never had to fight for anything. He never had to ask or wait.

He had it all.

Her friends’ blessing. Her family’s approval.

Even my best friend was taking his side.

Dirk softened his voice. “Eric, please listen to me. Don’t come between them.”

I ended the call, unable to say another word.