Chapter 2

The ER doctor had been quick with the burn cream and bandages.

Ava's hand throbbed, a dull ache now instead of searing pain.

She was back in her small, cold apartment.

The five-year pact. Her parents' last wish.

She had to try, one last time, to find a reason, any reason, to keep going beyond that deadline.

Liam's birthday was tomorrow.

He didn't celebrate it anymore. Not since the accident.

But she remembered.

She remembered his favorite: red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

A recipe she'd perfected in culinary school, one he used to rave about.

Despite her throbbing hand, she gathered the ingredients.

Baking was once her passion, her solace. Now, it was a ghost.

Mixing the batter, the crimson color felt ominous.

Each stir was an effort, pain shooting up her arm.

But she pushed through. A final, desperate attempt at connection.

She left the cake, covered, at the grand entrance of Liam's main house in the early morning, before anyone was awake.

A small, handwritten note: "Happy Birthday, Liam. -A."

She didn't ring the bell. She just left it and hurried away, hiding in the shadows of the overgrown garden that bordered her small cottage.

She waited, heart pounding with a fragile, foolish hope.

Liam emerged hours later, dressed in a sharp suit.

He saw the cake box.

His face, already a mask of cold indifference, hardened further.

He didn't touch it.

Just then, Chloe Vance arrived, bubbly and bright in a yellow sundress.

"Liam, darling! Happy birthday!"

She presented him with a large, decorated jar.

"A memory jar!" she announced. "Filled with little notes of all our happy moments together!"

A twisted echo.

Ava had given him a memory jar once, years ago, filled with their dreams and promises.

Liam's expression softened as he looked at Chloe.

He took the jar, a ghost of a smile touching his lips.

"Thank you, Chloe. It's... thoughtful."

He embraced her, a tender gesture that made Ava's chest ache.

Then, Liam gestured towards the red velvet cake.

He spoke to his groundskeeper, who had just appeared.

"Get rid of that. Some things are best left in the past, rotting."

The groundskeeper nodded, picked up Ava's cake, and tossed it into a nearby trash can.

Right in front of Ava's hiding spot.

Her heart shattered.

Rotting. That's what he thought of her, of their past.

Liam's voice drifted to her.

He was telling Chloe about the accident.

"They took everything from me, Chloe. My parents, my sweet little sister Emily. She was only sixteen. She wanted to be a vet. My dad, he was my hero. My mom... she had the kindest smile."

His voice was raw with a pain that five years hadn't dulled.

"Her parents did that. Drunk driving. They destroyed my world, and she expects me to just... forget?"

Ava sank to the ground, tears finally escaping.

He was talking about *her* parents, *her* family.

Chloe's gift, the memory jar, felt like a cruel parody.

Liam was cherishing new memories with Chloe, deliberately erasing Ava.

He was right. Some things were best left to rot.

Including her hope.