Dakota Stelter and I tumbled down that steep ravine together. I lay there bleeding and broken, only to watch my boyfriend scoop her into his arms and walk away without a backward glance.

He left me. In that moment, in every way that mattered.

While everyone fussed over Dakota's scratches, no one even checked if I was still breathing. When I was finally rescued and recovering at the hospital, my boyfriend didn't even visit.

I was hurt. So I moved on. Piece by piece, I rebuilt myself without him.

But then he became distraught. Suddenly, he was sobbing, telling me he had always loved me.

Bella Valdez should not have gone down that steep slope.

Dakota Stelter, however, had grabbed her hand as she fell, effectively dragging her into danger. It took a tree to break their roll.

Bella crashed into the trunk hard. Sharp twigs sank deep into her feet. Dakota, meanwhile, had Bella to cushion the impact. So all she got were a few shallow cuts.

By the time Damian Fox arrived, Bella was crying as profusely as she was bleeding. Before she could call out to him, though, she saw Damian carry Dakota in his arms and turn his back against her.

He vanished into the horizon. He hardly acknowledged her existence.

She was later rescued by park rangers after they were notified by her best friend, Claire Jenkins. By that point, she had already blacked out.

-

Bella opened her eyes groggily. She could make out a man's blurry silhouette on the chair next to her sickbed. Sunlight illuminated his profile, cluing her in on his identity.

Her heart skipped a beat in surprise. "Damian?" she asked softly and in anticipation.

He responded with a glance. He frowned worriedly. "Bella, you're up?"

She nodded and pursed her dried lips. "A glass of water, please…?"

He was about to pass her a glass when his attention turned to his phone. He started texting instead, as if it were an urgent message he had to respond to immediately. "Hold up. I need to answer this right now."

Bella gritted through the pain from her foot and considered him. Suddenly, she felt anxious. "Say… What's so important?" she asked tentatively.

He did not look up from the screen. "It's Dakota. She's coming to visit you."

Bella furrowed her brows. "What's she doing here?" she sneered.

Damian frowned and put his phone down. "To apologize to you. She didn't mean to drag you into that accident."

"Oh, she 'didn't mean to?'"

His expression hardened a little. "Yes! It was an accident! Can you not hold a grudge against someone who didn't mean to? Jeez."

Bella took a deep breath. The pain in her chest felt worse than her injury, somehow. She closed her eyes and lay down. "Fine. She can come if she wants."

A while later, someone knocked. A figure made her way inside slowly, her walk aided by a stick.

Dakota's eyes were red with remorse. "Bella? I'm really, really sorry for what happened. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if it weren't for me…"

Bella glared at her. She avoided her gaze.

"I panicked, okay?" She added, her voice thick with tears. "I didn't know what to do! I didn't know I'd hurt you so badly—"

"Get to the point," Bella interjected coldly.

Damian's frown deepened. "For Christ's sake, can't you show some empathy? She's a survivor of the accident, too! And she's apologetic enough as it is!"

"Excuse me?!" Bella scoffed. The pain in her chest intensified with ire. "She's a survivor because she got some scratches? A branch ran deep into my foot!"

"Yeah. You're a survivor, too. So what?"

Bella was at a loss for words. The weight on her chest was crushing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do this!" Dakota mumbled, her face pale. Her hands were shaking.

"Dakota!" Damian leaped to his feet and held her hands. "Are you okay?"

Dakota rested her head on his shoulder as she gasped for breath. "I… I'm feeling a little faint…"

Worry filled his face. He carried her in his arms immediately. "I'm bringing you to a doctor. Stay with me, okay?"

Bella squared her jaw and tried to get down from her bed. Unfortunately, an overwhelming pain shot up from her foot. Cold sweat potted her forehead from the effort. She gritted her teeth and groaned shakily, "Damian, I…"

He had already left.

It was as if he had not heard her. He did not even notice the dripping blood on the floor around her bandaged foot.

The room was quiet again.

Bella lay down again. Her eyes lingered on the door. It felt like someone stabbed her in the chest.

She considered the bloody bandage and smiled mirthlessly. Her eyes were dry.

This was the second time he’d abandoned her for Dakota when she needed him.

Damian used to treat her as the queen of his heart, but things were different now. A coup had come for that throne, and he had willingly supported it.

Poor Claire could never stop crying every time she came to visit. "This was my fault, Bella! I went away to look for help because I thought… I thought Damian was going to save you!

"Then, when I returned with the rangers, I really thought the girl he was helping to get into the ambulance was you… I didn't know it wasn't," she sobbed. "I shouldn't have taken things for granted!"

Bella forced a smile and patted Claire's head. "It's okay. You're not at fault."

A month went by in the hospital. Bella's condition improved, but Damian had never returned to visit her ever again.

The only thing he left was a message: [I have to be away for work over a few days. Will return to see you after that.]

Then, on the same day, Bella found an updated status on Dakota's Instagram. The girl was beaming in her photo while Damian was right next to her, passing her something as though they were living a happy domestic life.

The caption read, [Always appreciate a busy man like you lending me a hand at work!]

"Lend her a hand at work? More like lending her a good time! I bet they had an expensive candlelight dinner too!" Claire sneered.

Bella simply gripped her phone in silence.

"Hey, Bella? Are you okay?" Claire asked. "Look, I just think he's—"

"I'm fine," Bella interjected quickly. She sounded unfazed.

After Claire left, Bella lay down and closed her eyes.

-

Damian had come to receive Bella on the day she was discharged. The man had looked rather gaunt as he carried Bella in his arms tenderly, as if she were a piece of rare, fragile treasure.

Bella went to his home only to find Dakota, of all people, working in the kitchen.

It shocked her. Bella's fingers curled imperceptibly despite her calm facade.

Bella's house was opposite Damian's—she had bought it because she enjoyed being in Damian's company and wanted to do so as much as she could. Now, though, she just felt like an outsider among the crowd that had gathered at his house.

"Look, Bella. Everyone's here to celebrate your recovery," Damian said gently. He was about to explain more when a sickly, sweet voice rang out, "Hey, Damian? Where do you store your spices?"

He immediately started toward the kitchen. "Hold on. I'm coming! You won't be able to find it on your own even if I tell you, trust me!" he chuckled.

"Ugh, rude!" Dakota replied, her tone too cutesy to be anything but flirtatious.

"Oops! Just telling you the truth."

"Oh, if I managed to locate it myself, you're eating your words!"

Damian's friends immediately seized on the drama. "Oh my God, can you guys stop doing these pretend fights in front of us already? Get a room, you guys!" they chuckled. "Come on, do y'all need us to help? We're happy to!"

Some of them entered the kitchen. Bella could hear their laughter all the way from the kitchen.

She watched the rest of his friends play video games listlessly. So many people had shown up to "celebrate" her recovery, and yet not a single one of them talked to her or asked about her.

A white ball of fur emerged from next to her foot. A ragdoll cat was rubbing itself against her leg.

Claire had given the cat to Bella. When she excitedly declared that she would "henceforth be its mom," Damian laughed and ruffled her hair. "You're not even taking care of yourself right, my lady. Are you sure you can take care of this little angel on the side?"

"Well, if I couldn't do it well… I could at least get you to help!" Bella had chirped.

She watched the cat rub circles around her legs and sighed.

Bella picked the cat up in her arms and stared blankly into space until Dakota emerged from the kitchen.

"Bella? It's time to eat. Wash your hands, will ya?" she said while taking the cat away from Bella's arms.

The cat relented and accepted its new host. It even rubbed against Dakota's chest docilely, purring.

Bella's heart sank. The cat was not known for being friendly to strangers. She had to spend a lot of time convincing it to befriend her.

Now, though? The cat acted like it had known Dakota for way too long.

Bella watched her feed the cat with inexplicable dexterity, her gaze hardening.

"Did you know how aloof this lil' cutie was? I wouldn't have been able to play with it if it weren't for Damian teaching me the ropes!" Dakota said, her tone almost too smug. "And now we are buddies."

Bella clenched her fists. "That's my cat," she stated icily.

Dakota carried it in her arms and smiled innocently. "Oh, I didn't know! He didn't tell me. He just told me to take care of it from time to time."

She looked down and combed its fur with her fingers. "It really likes me, you know? It never throws a fuss when I'm around. That's why Damian gave me a spare key to his house! It makes feeding it easier, too."

Bella froze. The weight on her chest grew heavier as she asked, "A spare key? When did he pass you that?"

Dakota chuckled softly. "I've had it for a while. Didn't he tell you?"

She paused, then added with just enough sweet innocence, "You don't mind, do you? I'm only using it to cook for him. You know him—that man forgets his meal when he's busy! But really, I'm just a glorified helper."

Bella smirked. "Oh, a glorified helper?"

Damian came out of the kitchen just in time. He frowned. "What are you two talking about?"

Dakota put the cat down and blinked at him innocently. "Hey. I was… I don't know what I said, but Bella seemed upset. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the spare key."

Damian shot a quiet glare at Bella. "What now?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I've just decided I'll skip this meal."

"Hey, how about we stop this tantrum right now and just behave like adults? Everyone's waiting for you in the dining room already. Show some restraint," he grumbled quietly. He was clearly suppressing his ire.

"You're the last person to talk about restraint, Damian," Bella rebutted. "Was this party even for my sake?"

"Yes! Obviously!"

"Then who are those people? None of them are my friends! They are all members of Dakota's clique!"

Before Damian could answer her, Dakota interjected, "Hey now, it's not like that. Damian worked really hard to get this party in order, okay? Everyone was really excited to throw you this surprise!"

Damian's frown deepened with impatience. "What the hell are you on about again, Bella? Her friends are here to celebrate your recovery, period. Why are you kicking up a fuss now?"

Bella blinked. Her eyes were red, but she kept her tone cold. "Excuse me? Maybe you should ask yourself what the real purpose of this party is."

With that, she turned on her heels and left through the front door.

Damian's face turned stormy. Dakota stood next to him and remarked feebly, "I think I did something wrong, Damian. She's really upset…"

"It's not because of you," he snapped coldly and stormed out the door.

-

Bella had just made herself comfortable on her couch when someone rang her doorbell. She opened.

It was Damian. His glare belied the rage he was trying to hold back. "What the hell do you want, Bella?" He growled, his voice strained from his self-control. "Do you know how exhausted I am from work and everything else? Can you just be an adult and stop these overdramatic tantrums for my sake?!"

Bella leaned against the doorframe and met his eyes. "Me? Overdramatic?"

"Yes!" He snarled. He sounded tired. "You have no idea how much I have to put up with lately. But I still took some time out to plan this celebration for you! Would it hurt you to be just a little more grateful?!"

She was stunned. Then, quietly, she chuckled bitterly. "Say, do you remember how it was like when we first started being together?"

He furrowed his brows silently.

"I asked if you'd ever be annoyed by my mood swings. You said you would never." She looked at him calmly. "But it's only been a few years, and already I'm tiring you out."

Damian opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Bella smiled tiredly and closed the door slowly. "Go home, Damian. I don't wanna fight."

Silence returned. Damian remained outside the door with his frown, but he did not knock.

Bella had her back against the door as tears rolled down like gliding knives against her cheeks.

Nothing was eternal. Even the things she thought would never change.