Chapter 3
Skylar’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Victoria, who met her gaze with a smirk while pulling out her phone and setting a timer.
A minute later, right on cue, the alarm rang.
Victoria pretended to answer a call, quickly working up tears. She turned to the front seat, her voice trembling.
“Cal, the housekeeper just called – my puppy’s really sick. I’m so worried. Could you take me home now?”
Callias pulled over, frowning at the relentless rain. When he turned back and saw her tear–streaked face, he hesitated before shifting his gaze to Skylar.
“I need to take Victoria to the West Side. It’s out of the way – you should grab an Uber from here.”
Victoria quickly thrust an umbrella at Skylar, not giving her a chance to refuse.
Skylar’s eyes moved between them before she wordlessly opened the car door.
Rain seeped through the broken umbrella, quickly soaking her clothes.
The downpour was too heavy for any rideshare to spot her. She had to run, using her bag as makeshift cover.
After thirty miserable minutes, she finally reached the visa office, drenched and disheveled.
With her paperwork done and still no ride in sight, Skylar had to walk another hour home in the rain.
By the time she made it back, fever burned through her. She collapsed onto her bed, dizzy and aching.
Her dreams were dark and strange, her body damp with cold sweat as she fled from shadowy monsters.
When she finally forced her eyes open, she realized the monster was Callias.
He held her in his arms, spooning medicine between her lips. His voice was gentle, tinged with worry. “There you go, baby. Take your medicine. You’ll feel better soon.”
Skylar couldn’t tell if this was reality or another fever dream.
She swallowed the medicine before drifting off again.
When she next woke, her fever had broken.
She instinctively reached beside her.
Empty.
Only his phone buzzed insistently on the nightstand.
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She picked it up to find his friends tagging him in their group chat.
“Cal, you’re one hell of an actor–dropping a multi–million dollar deal just to rush home when your little stepsister
got sick?”
“Guys, I think he’s actually caught feelings. Running every red light to get back to her? That’s not acting.”
“Agreed. No one gets that worked up unless they’re in deep.”
At the bottom, Callias had replied just once:
“Love her? I’d rather die. I’m just playing my part. The more she believes it, the more it’ll destroy her when she learns the truth. Isn’t that the point?”
Each word made Skylar’s heart freeze.
Five years together, and all she got was “I’d rather die than love her.”
Callias, you heartless bastard.
She felt her strength drain away, her hand dropping limply.
The bedroom door opened.
Callias walked in with hot water, his face changing when he saw the phone. He quickly snatched it away.
His usually lazy drawl carried a hint of tension. “What did you see?”
Skylar lowered her head, hiding her reddened eyes. Her voice was rough: “Was there something I wasn’t supposed
to see?”
She couldn’t understand. If he knew how deeply she’d fallen for him, why didn’t he stop?
Why drag out this charade so long?
Still being careful, still afraid she’d discover the truth.
Wasn’t he tired of pretending all this time?
Enough! He’d won! She was already broken beyond repair!
Oblivious to her thoughts, Callias assumed she was just emotional from being sick. He quickly pulled her into his arms, soothing her. “No, baby, I was just planning a surprise for you. Since you’re upset, I’ll tell you early, okay?”
“I found out Denmark allows marriage between step–siblings. We could move there, make it official. I’m already working on the details.”
They’d had this conversation countless times on endless nights before.
Now, hearing it again, Skylar felt nothing but a dead calm where her heart used to race.
64.5%
M.. Own life
Chapter 3
She knew there was no future for them anymore.
In ten days, Callias’s life would no longer include Skylar.
And hers would no longer include him.
