Chapter 4I Am Not Your Keyword

Someone in the know muttered immediately, "You've had one too many drinks. This is Harrison's fiancée."

The guy's expression flickered with instant embarrassment as he apologized. "My bad. Stupid mistake."

I gave a faint smile. "It's fine."

Aurora let out a laugh right on cue. It was short, sharp, and dripping with contempt, as if mocking me for living in denial.

I turned to her and asked softly, "Care to share what's so funny?"

Aurora hadn't expected me to call her out so directly. Her fake smile almost slipped. "I wasn't laughing. Cindy, aren't you being a little overly sensitive?"

"Is that so?" I scoffed. "When you sent my fiancé a picture of yourself in a skimpy bikini yesterday, was I just being overly sensitive then, too?"

In an instant, the entire room dropped dead silent.

Aurora's face went ashen. She slumped onto the table as tears welled up, looking every bit the pathetic victim.

Harrison's expression turned thunderous. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me out into the hallway. "Have you made enough of a scene?"

My left leg bumped hard against the corner of the wall, sending a sharp, sickening jolt of pain through my fracture.

When the pain finally subsided, I almost wanted to laugh. He had just been caught red-handed cheating, and he had the nerve to turn around and interrogate me?

"What are you getting so defensive about?" I asked calmly.

"I'm not defensive!" Harrison snapped, his face dark. "It was just a swimsuit photo. Don't be so backwards."

"So, I can send a bikini photo to my ex, and then turn around and tell you the same thing?" I countered.

Harrison pressed his fingers against his temples, exasperated. Inside the private room, Aurora's theatrical sobbing grew louder by the second.

He gave up trying to argue with me. "Just go home. We'll talk about this later."

There was nothing left to talk about. The moment a conflict broke out between me and an outsider, I was the first person he kicked out.

His former classmates threw pitying glances my way, while Aurora stood behind them, arms crossed, giving me a smug little wave.

I turned and walked away.

By the time I made it back to our apartment, my parents were already waiting for me. They helped load my luggage into the trunk.

My mother looked at me with calm, steady eyes. Just before we drove off, she asked, "Are you sure about this?"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

They immediately called up all our relatives to let them know the wedding was off.

Aurora updated her Instagram feed yet again, captioned: [Such a perfect reunion! Guys, we have to do this again next year!]

In the group photo, she was glued to Harrison, playfully linking her arm through his. What she didn't realize was that I had already forfeited this petty game.

At eight o'clock that night, Harrison finally made it back to the apartment. But when he opened the front door, the person who always waited for him was nowhere to be found.

His heart sank into his stomach, a sudden, suffocating wave of dread rushing straight to his head.