A week after getting into a cold war with Alexander Griffin, his friends drag me to a private room. They drink and smoke inside, not caring that I have asthma.

My breathing speeds up and it starts to get difficult for me. My hands tremble as I call Alexander and tell him I'm about to die.

However, he's with his childhood sweetheart. He doesn't answer my calls. He finally answers when I'm about to pass out, but all he does is berate me. "You're old enough to know not to be so childish, Isabelle. Why would you think of joking around with your life?

"Sasha's injured, and I'm tending to her wound—it's my duty as a doctor. Don't tell me you're jealous over that! For the last time, there's nothing between Sasha and me. It's up to you whether you believe it!"

Later, I die in that private room. His friends throw my body into the sea to cover up their crimes. One day, Alexander finds my journal. That's when he loses his mind…

I called Alexander Griffin a week after our fight, which resulted in us not speaking to each other. "Come home tonight. We need to talk."

I heard his breath hitch on the other end, followed by an impassive word, "Sure. I'll get off work early tonight."

I nodded and said nothing before hanging up. It was 5:30 pm, and Alexander wouldn't get off work for another hour.

After some thought, I left the suitcase I'd packed by the staircase and headed out on a grocery run. I figured I would cook tonight; it would be my last dinner with Alexander.

I had planned on going home to cool off after my recent fight with Alexander, but he beat me to it. It had been a week since he'd moved out to stay in his office.

Now that I had packed my suitcase, I could make a clean exit.

On my way to the supermarket, I ran into some of Alexander's friends. They dragged me to a bar against my protest and attempted to hold an intervention.

"Come on, Isabelle. We grew up with Sasha. She and Alex are just childhood friends. It's unreasonable for you to keep picking fights with Alex over this," one of his friends said.

"Yeah. If Alex had any feelings for her, they would be dating by now, and he wouldn't have married you in the first place. As a woman, you ought to be more open-minded about these things. You could lose Alex if you keep up this nonsense," another one pointed out warningly.

"We just think it's unfair for Alex to be treated this way. We watched Sasha grow up. It upsets her that you're picking fights with Alex like this, and he doesn't like seeing her upset. The cycle goes on, but to what end?"

I knew Alexander's friends were warning me in the guise of offering me sage advice. They wanted me to back off Sasha Whitmore and Alexander.

They had been smoking since we entered the lounge, and the air was thick with the intoxicating stench of tobacco. I kept to the furthest corner, putting distance between us to avoid breathing in all that second-hand smoke.

I didn't speak after they took turns disparaging me, but they weren't satisfied and insisted that I say something. But the last thing I wanted was to discuss my private matters with them, so I said coldly, "This is between me and Alexander. We'll take care of it, so don't worry about us."

With that, I stood up and made to leave.

However, Caleb Henderson stretched out his leg to keep me from going anywhere. He eyed me as if I were a pest and pointed out gravely, "You should be grateful, Isabelle. With your background, it's a miracle Alexander chose to be with you at all.

"Why do you go around throwing tantrums and seeking attention? Alexander might fall for it, but not us."

Next to the Caleb, Felix Jennings drawled, "Yeah. We tried to tell Alexander that dating you was a bad idea, but he was all game. I can't believe you thought you meant something to him.

"Where are you rushing off to anyway? Let me guess, we're not good enough for you to hang out with?"

I hardly ever hung out with any of Alexander's friends even though we had been dating for years. From what I heard, they frequently took jabs at me, saying I was prissy and that I thought myself better than them.

They didn't like me because I couldn't go all out like Sasha. Alexander had told them the reason. "Her health's pretty delicate. I can't let her join in on your idea of fun."

Needless to say, they didn't buy it and thought Alexander was being protective of me and speaking up for me. However, my health truly was delicate. I was asthmatic; under serious circumstances, I could die.

Alexander's friends were from the underworld. They had grown up together and been friends for over a decade. Cigarettes and drinks were staples during their hangouts.

And for an asthmatic like me, breathing in cigarette smoke was highly dangerous. That was why Alexander never brought me to any of his hangouts.

Presently, I was inhaling more cigarette smoke than I should with each second. My throat was already burning from the smoke. Between saving myself and staying to argue with a bunch of men, the itch in my throat forced me to choose the former.

"If that's what Alexander thinks, I'll end things with him and make room for Sasha," I said.

I reckoned Alexander must have said something to his friends. Why else would they gang up on me and drag me here just to talk down to me?

He certainly didn't have to go through the trouble of getting his friends to pass the message; I was going to break up with him tonight anyway.

The trio exchanged a thoughtful glance, though I saw the wicked glee flashing in their eyes. They didn't stop lighting new cigarettes. I was starting to choke from the smoke, and sheer panic had me bolting to my feet.

"Sorry, but I need to go. This place makes me sick," I bit out.

Felix blocked my way and shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning against the door. "We make you sick, huh?"

I held my breath and tried to explain to him, "No… I can't stand the smoke. It'll trigger my condition. My leaving has nothing to do with you."

I thought they might let me go if I made it clear that I had an underlying illness, but to my surprise, they merely guffawed. "Oh, come on, it'd be a waste for you to leave without having a drink with us first. You're already here anyway."

"You don't have to act all prim and prissy in front of us. Alex was being protective of you and didn't want you hanging out with us. He didn't want us to corrupt your pristine values.

"That said, you can't be a spoilsport and refuse our company! Drink up!"

They were so persistent that I willed myself to ignore the itching and burning in my throat.

Clapping a hand over my nose and mouth, I hurried to the table, picked up a glass of beer, and downed it in one go. I then turned and made a beeline for the door.

Caleb lounged on the couch and called out to me, "Hey, where do you think you're going? We're not done drinking. You need to have a drink with each of us, princess."

"That's right. This is what hanging out is all about. You can't drink and leave without tossing some jokes around. We're not all that bad, right?"

Breathing became difficult as if a leaden weight pressed down on my chest. At some point, I couldn't even make out what they were saying.

I had left home so hurriedly today that I'd forgotten my inhaler. Furious that Caleb and his buddies were laughing at me and holding me hostage, I called Alexander for help.

Alexander was a doctor working in the ER. He was normally too tied up to answer his phone, but he had promised me that he would never reject my calls.

Out of consideration for his busy schedule, I never called him. I would usually text him to give him a heads-up, and I'd only call if he was free to answer. This time, I called him without texting him first.

The beeping on the other line went on for so long that the call ended on its own. Undeterred, I called him again and again.

I had lost count of the calls I'd made when Felix suddenly cried, "Caleb! Someone crashed into Sasha's car from behind. She's now in the hospital. Call her and ask if she's okay!"

I froze. Sasha got into a car accident?

However, Caleb dismissed Felix's concern with a nonchalant flick of his hand. He pulled up his Instagram and showed it to Felix. "Alexander's taken care of it. She's fine save for a few scratches here and there."

I couldn't help glancing at the picture on Caleb's phone.

Sasha had taken a picture of Alexander's masked side profile while he applied antiseptic to her wounds. He looked at ease, his gaze gentle as if nothing was awry.

She even captioned the post with, "I'm fine, thanks for your concern, everyone. I'm blessed to have you take care of me whenever I'm hurt."

No wonder none of my calls were getting through; Alexander was taking care of Sasha. I should have known.

Felix noticed I was still calling Alexander and mocked, "He's busy at the moment. Read the room and give them some space, why don't you?"

At that moment, my lungs caved in to the suffocating smoke. I opened my mouth and panted hard, helpless as I tried and failed to draw in more air. I felt like a fish out of water.

I lost grip of my phone just as the call went through. As if seizing my chance at salvation, I knelt on the ground and pressed a hand to my chest. A layer of cold sweat had broken out over my skin as I tried to get my words out.

But that was when Sasha's high-pitched voice came from the other line. "That hurts, Alex! Can't you be more gentle with me?"

I heard Alexander chide indulgently, "So you do feel pain like everyone else. Better drive carefully the next time if you don't want to get into another accident."

He had only just said this when I managed, with superhuman effort, to speak. "A-Alexander… Save me… I'm dying… I can't hold on… any longer."

Alexander fell silent on the other line. I heard the sound of a surgeon's tool clanging against the metal dish, followed by his impatient reprimand, "Isabelle, you're an adult, for heaven's sake. Could you be any more childish? Death isn't something to joke about!

"Sasha's injured, and I'm tending to her wounds right now. I'm a doctor by profession, and this is part of my job. Are you seriously getting jealous over this?

"Let me make this clear one last time—nothing is going on between me and Sasha. You can either take my word for it or continue doubting me. It's up to you!"