Chapter 2

Donovan insisted they go out for a celebratory breakfast. He ran back upstairs after realizing he' d forgotten his wallet.

Hailey went down to the parking garage.

She pulled open the passenger door of his Tesla.

Karmen was sitting there, applying lipstick in the vanity mirror.

"Hey, Hailey! I didn't get breakfast either. Hope you guys don't mind if I tag along!" Karmen said, her voice sickly sweet. "Oh, and do you like my new smart hub? It's amazing."

She pointed to the sleek, designer device plugged into the car's console.

"Ugh, you don' t actually like that clunky basic model, do you?" she asked, her eyes wide with fake innocence.

"Get out," Hailey said, her voice cold. "The passenger seat is my seat. You can sit in the back."

She didn't want a scene. She just wanted this to be over.

"No, I think I'll stay here," Karmen said, looking Hailey up and down. "I was up all night... networking. I'm exhausted!"

"I'm telling you one more time. Get out," Hailey' s voice was low, a dangerous edge to it.

"Make me," Karmen smirked, fiddling with the designer hub. "I think I've earned this spot."

Rage, hot and sharp, flared through Hailey. She grabbed Karmen' s arm to pull her from the car.

"Ow! Hailey, you're hurting me!" Karmen suddenly shrieked, looking over Hailey' s shoulder. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll move!"

Then Karmen threw herself sideways, tumbling out of the car and onto the concrete floor. The designer hub she was holding clattered beside her.

"Hailey, what the hell is wrong with you? She's your friend!" Donovan yelled. He shoved Hailey aside and scooped Karmen into his arms.

Karmen had a tiny scrape on her hand. She buried her face in Donovan' s chest and started sobbing.

"Donovan, it's my fault," she whimpered. "I shouldn't have tried to come with you. I just wanted to celebrate with my boss..."

Donovan glared at Hailey. "She just wanted to have breakfast with us. You've got some serious issues, attacking your own friend."

He turned his back on Hailey.

"You're clearly not hungry if you have this much energy to assault people. Stay home and cool off."

He gently placed Karmen in the passenger seat, then got into the driver's side without a second glance at Hailey. He slammed the car into drive and sped away.

The back tire caught her leg as he peeled out of the space.

A sickening crack echoed in the garage. She collapsed, the sound of her own bone fracturing mixing with the squeal of the tires.

He did it on purpose.

As the Tesla disappeared, a searing pain shot up her leg. This was the man she had loved for five years. He would leave her broken on a garage floor over a lie.

She pulled out her phone and called an Uber to take her to the emergency room.

The X-ray confirmed it: a hairline fracture in her fibula. She needed a cast and crutches.

A laugh, humorless and dry, escaped her lips. This was good. Now there would be no second thoughts. No moment of weakness.

"Hailey? Are you okay?"

Jameson Carney rushed into the ER, his forehead damp with sweat. He saw her cast, and his eyes grew dark with a mix of anger and worry.

"Hailey, I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

He gently lifted her into his arms and carried her to his car. He carefully placed her in the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. His face was close, his concern real and palpable. It was a kind of intimacy she and Donovan had never shared.

"Where to?" he asked softly.

"Take me back to the apartment," she said, staring out the window. "I have a few things I need to get."

A life with Jameson might not be so bad. He never blamed her. He never raised his voice.