Chapter 3

Alayna POV:

The familiar scent of damp earth and fresh-cut roses filled the air. My flower shop, a small haven I' d painstakingly built over the past three years, was almost empty. The last of the contracts lay on the counter, waiting for my signature. I picked up the pen, my hand trembling slightly. This was it. The final act.

"Are you really sure about this, Alayna?" Mrs. Henderson, the sweet, elderly woman buying my shop, asked, her voice filled with concern. She glanced around the now-bare shelves, a frown on her face. "It's such a lovely place. You've put so much work into it."

I forced a smile, a practiced art form I' d perfected over the years. "I'm sure, Mrs. Henderson. It's time for a change. A fresh start." I signed my name with a flourish, a strange mix of sadness and exhilarating freedom washing over me. This gallery represented four years of my work-my soul-hung on these pristine white walls. And just like my relationship, it had to go.

"And where are you off to, dear?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Portland," I replied, a small, genuine smile finally touching my lips. "To open a new shop. Start completely fresh."

Portland. A world away from the gleaming, superficial facade of Los Angeles. A world away from Jarrett. It felt right.

I remembered the early days, seven years ago, when Jarrett and I first arrived in LA. We were just kids, fresh out of college in our dreary hometown, a place where dreams went to die. He had stars in his eyes, a burning desire to make it big. I had him. That was enough for me. My own dreams were vague, undefined, always secondary to his. I just wanted to be loved, to belong, to finally have a family that wouldn't abandon me.

My childhood had been a minefield of emotional neglect. My father died when I was five, leaving my mother, a beautiful but volatile woman, adrift. She grieved, yes, but her grief quickly turned into a restless search for her own happiness. She dated, remarried, and eventually, found a new life, a new family, one that didn't include a difficult, heartbroken little girl. I was shuttled between relatives, always feeling like a burden, always trying to be "good enough" so no one would send me away. That fear, that primal terror of abandonment, festered deep inside me.

So, when Jarrett, with his dazzling smile and boundless ambition, swept me off my feet, I clung to him like a lifeline. He was my stability, my future, my everything. I quit my local job, packed my meager belongings, and followed him to the glittering, terrifying city of angels.

Our first apartment in LA was a shoebox, a cramped studio above a noisy diner. The bed was a lumpy futon, the kitchen a minuscule corner with a hot plate. We had no money, no connections, just each other and a shared dream. Every night, the smell of fried food would waft up, mingling with the scent of cheap air freshener and Jarrett's old t-shirts. The walls were paper-thin. I could hear our neighbors arguing, laughing, making love. It felt exposed, raw, but somehow, also intimately ours.

Winter in that apartment was brutal. The old electric heater sputtered and died, leaving us shivering under layers of blankets. I remember one night, snow, a rare occurrence in LA, fell silently outside, turning the city into a hushed, magical landscape. Inside, our faulty heater sparked, then caught fire. A small, terrifying blaze that filled the tiny room with smoke. I screamed, pulling the fire extinguisher from under the sink, my hands shaking as I fought the flames.

Jarrett was on set, of course, filming a tiny indie short that paid peanuts. I called him, my voice choked with tears. He dropped everything. He raced back, his face pale with fear, fear for me. He burst through the door, took one look at the scorched wall, then pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. He wasn' t usually one for grand emotional displays. He was reserved, guarded. But that night, he cried. Real, gut-wrenching sobs.

"I almost lost you," he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I swear, Alayna, I'll make it big. I'll make sure you never have to deal with anything like this again. We'll have a big house, a safe home. I'll take care of you. I promise. I promise I'll love you forever."

That moment, in the smoky, freezing apartment, felt like the purest thing. It was a promise built on fear and love, a foundation I believed in with every fiber of my being.

Seven years later, he had made it. His face was indeed on billboards. We lived in a sprawling, modern house in the Hollywood Hills. But somewhere along the way, that promise had fractured. The bigger his star grew, the smaller I felt. The more successful he became, the more irrelevant I was. Our connection, once so fierce and undeniable, had frayed into a tangled mess of unspoken resentments and unfulfilled expectations.

My anxiety, that deep-seated fear of abandonment, had only intensified with his fame. His job, he'd often say, was to fall in love. To embody characters, to feel their desires, to live their lives. But what happened when those lines blurred? What happened when the pretend affections spilled over into real life?

I remembered sitting on set, watching him film an intensely passionate kiss scene. His lips on hers, his hands tracing her back, their bodies moving together with an undeniable rhythm. The director had cheered, "Perfect! That's real emotion!" My stomach had lurched. Later, I saw them laughing, heads close, Kisha's hand lingering on his arm, a silent acknowledgment of the lingering sparks. It was just acting, he' d insisted. Just professionalism. But my heart knew better.

The worst was on his birthday, just a few months ago. He was filming a particularly raunchy scene. I had walked onto set with a small cake, hoping to surprise him. Instead, I saw him, shirtless, straddling Kisha, their faces inches apart, her laughter echoing through the soundstage. He pulled her closer, a possessive gesture that felt too real, too intimate. My hands trembled, the cake almost slipping. He was still the same man, but something had shifted. The way he looked at her, the way he held her, it was different. It was what I craved.

I forced a smile, a painful rictus on my face, and made my excuses. I left quickly, the taste of betrayal bitter in my mouth. I felt a familiar anger rise, quickly followed by the crushing weight of shame. He's just working, Alayna. You're being dramatic. You're being clingy. You're being that insecure girl again. My own insecurities, weaponized against me by his indifference.

I started checking his phone. Just a quick glance, when he was in the shower, when he was asleep. I hated myself for it, every single time. It confirmed nothing, but it fueled my paranoia. One night, he caught me. He erupted, a storm of accusations and rage.

"Are you insane, Alayna? Are you actually sick? This is my private life! My work! Do you have nothing else to do with your time but snoop through my phone?"

"You told me to quit my job!" I' d screamed back, tears finally flowing. "You said you'd take care of me! You said I wouldn't have to worry about anything!"

He had encouraged me to leave my small job at a local flower shop when we moved to LA, saying he wanted me to "focus on what makes you happy," knowing full well that supporting him was what made me happy. But then, as he rose, his words turned into accusations of me being "idle" and "dependent."

So, I had used my meager savings, the little bit of money I had squirreled away from my previous job, and opened my own flower shop. I poured my heart and soul into it, hoping the vibrant colors and delicate scents would drown out the gnawing anxiety in my gut. It worked, for a while. The busy work, the endless arrangements, the scent of fresh blooms. It was a distraction. A beautiful, temporary distraction from the growing chasm in my relationship, from the way his world was expanding while mine felt like it was shrinking, suffocating under the weight of his fame and my unacknowledged pain.

I looked at the signed contract for the shop, then at my phone. A message from Jarrett. He wanted to "talk." There was nothing left to talk about. The paper-thin walls of my composure had finally crumbled. The silence that followed his departure was not just freedom, it was a blank canvas. And I was ready to paint a new life.