Chapter 1
“Leah, why are you suddenly not looking for Jayden anymore?” my mother asked, clearly shocked by what I had just said.
After all, after Jayden Corrick disappeared during a camping trip with friends, I spent an entire month searching for him- sleepless, worn thin, my body several pounds lighter, my face hollow with exhaustion.
I glanced at the couple still kissing in the restaurant across the street and gave a bitter smile.
I said, “Let’s just say Jayden is dead.”
Even though she knew I was speaking out of anger, my mother didn’t ask for details. Instead, she instinctively tried to comfort
My father, quick-tempered as always, was delighted when he heard I was no longer holding on to Jayden. “It’s about time you let go! What was ever so great about that guy, anyway? Leah, since you’re finally leaving it to us, I will definitely help you find someone better. No need to stay fixated on someone I never approved of to begin with!”
Before I could say anything else, a sudden gasp rose from the crowd. Fireworks exploded overhead in brilliant colors. It should’ve been a romantic scene. But all I felt was cold.
I looked at the man who had just accused me of being controlling-right after embracing his first love-and suddenly felt my father might’ve been right.
Even though I had never been controlling with Jayden. Not once.
I knew him through an online chatroom when I was in college abroad. We fell in love, made it through the long-distance phase, and after graduating, I was the one who proposed.
Sophie Muller came back two years ago. I had always known she was his high school sweetheart. Over the years, Jayden never avoided the topic when mentioning her.
I thought we had come far enough that none of it mattered anymore.
But just one phone call-one “I’m back” from Sophie-and his heart flew out the door.
All these years, I gave him complete freedom. All the space he could want. And still, he kept lying to me, again and again.
I begged him to keep some distance from Sophie. I asked him not to lie about “hanging out with the guys” when he was actually out with her, not to go clubbing with those old friends of his.
I had given him more than enough freedom. And yet, he was the one who betrayed us first.
In the beginning, he listened to me. But with time, he reverted-nights spent out, lost in neon lights and noise.
What I didn’t expect was that, eventually, he would turn around and call me controlling. And disappear on me right before our wedding.
“If this goes on, I don’t even want to go back and marry Leah,” he had said.
‘But when I proposed, weren’t your eyes filled with tears when you said yes? While I spent a month searching for you—were you really that happy, Jayden?’ I thought bitterly.
“No regrets. Let’s stay one more week. Our parents will cover for us anyway.”
2
Cratert
15 Bonus
‘No wonder your parents wouldn’t let me call the police. No wonder they stayed so calm and insisted you’d show up. From beginning to end, I was the only one panicking.’
“I don’t want to go back and be manipulated by her. I’ll show up when she’s completely lost it.”
‘Jayden, I really did lose it. Do you know how long it’s been since I last had a decent night’s sleep? I even went to a fortune teller, hoping it would bring you back. And sure enough, you reappeared-but with another woman. So this is what it means to be
heartbroken.’
I didn’t want to keep watching them stare into each other’s eyes with such affection. I turned and left without looking back.
Once I got home, I pulled out a burlap sack and my suitcase. I packed up everything of Jayden’s from the past six years and Jumped them all by the door.
