Back at the house Spencer and I once shared, my fingerprint was gone from the system.

A few suitcases sat by the doorstep, their contents thrown together.

This was it. Everything I'd gathered over years of loving him.

I crouched, rummaging through the mess when the door creaked open.

The door creaked open, catching me off guard.

Fiona stood there, smug. "Maya Lane, you still have the nerve to show up here? If I'd been stripped in front of everyone like you were, I'd find some quiet hole to crawl into and die of shame."

I ignored her, focused on finding the one thing I needed.

When I didn't respond, Fiona dangled something in front of me. "Looking for this?"

In her hand was a simple black hair tie, adorned with a small yellow daisy.

To anyone else, it was cheap. But I'd kept it for so long that most of the yellow paint on the daisy had chipped away, leaving it faded and speckled.

It was my most precious belonging.

"Give it back," I said, reaching for it.

She yanked it away.

"This worthless little thing? This is why you stuck around all these years? Maya, you're just like the junk you hold onto—pathetic and cheap."

She tugged sharply at the hair tie, snapping it in two, then tossed the pieces to the ground.

I scrambled for it, but just as my fingers brushed the broken remnants, her heel slammed down on my hand.

She ground her heel into them. I tried to pull my hand back, but she pressed harder.

"That's enough."

Spencer stood in the doorway, wearing a bathrobe, his damp hair dripping water.

"Don't get so worked up right after coming back. It's not worth it," he said softly.

He crouched beside her, gently massaging her ankle as if she'd been the one hurt.

In the process, her weight shifted just enough for me to free my hand.

Ignoring the throbbing pain, I grabbed the broken pieces of the hair tie and tucked them into my pocket. They were useless now, beyond repair.

Then I looked up, meeting Spencer's gaze head-on.

For the first time, I didn't bother to hide the raw intensity in my stare.

The air between us grew heavier, a tension thick with everything unsaid.

Spencer's expression flickered—confusion, hesitation, maybe even something he couldn't name.

But it vanished the moment Fiona's soft voice broke the silence, pulling his attention back to her.

He turned, murmuring reassurances as he ushered her inside.

And then it was just the two of us.

He lit a cigarette, the motion as smooth and practiced as ever. The sharp scent made my throat itch.

He handed me a check.

"Maya, I owe you. This is compensation. Fiona's back now, and I need to treat her well."

A lump rose in my throat. For the first time, Spencer was apologizing.

I stared at him, silent. My hands stayed, not moving to take the check.

"Spencer, what do the years I spent with you mean to you?"

The answer was obvious. Still, I asked. Maybe I just needed to hear it.

For once, he looked... uncertain. That flicker of confusion returned to his eyes, like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

I waited, giving him time. For once, I wasn't in a rush to fill the silence.

But before he could speak, Fiona's voice rang out from inside the house, calling for him again.

He hesitated—only for a second—before tossing the check onto the ground.

Without another word, he walked away.

The way he stubbed out his cigarette was rushed and clumsy, almost childlike, like the first time he'd secretly smoked behind his parents' backs.

Even before stepping back into the house, Spencer checked himself over, patting his clothes and exhaling carefully to make sure the smell of smoke was completely gone.

Fiona hated that smell.

I didn't bother picking up the check.

Instead, I gathered my things, clutching the broken hair tie in my pocket, and left.

'Spencer, I hope you stay firm in your choice. Don't regret it. Never, ever regret it.'

I never thought I'd hear from Spencer again.

When his call came, I was stuck in a hospital bed, watching my blood churn through the loops of a dialysis machine.

I ignored most of his calls—too wiped out to care.

When I finally picked up, his voice hit me, sharp and demanding.

"Maya, just help me one last time. We can't let anyone keep attacking Fiona like this."

Before I could even process, Clara yanked the phone out of my hand.

"Help you? Are you kidding me?" she snapped. "You and Fiona deserve every bit of the backlash you're getting! If your perfect little princess can't handle it, maybe she shouldn't have messed with someone else's fiancé! Don't ever call Maya again, Spencer. Go back to Fiona, your precious little train wreck, and leave her alone!"

When I left the hospital, the doctor's words followed me out: treatment would only get more expensive.

But honestly? What was the point?

I decided I wasn't going back.

***

When we got back to Clara's place, Spencer was waiting at the door.

The wedding footage had gone viral. Fiona's behavior at the ceremony had drawn massive backlash.

Spencer's PR team scrambled to file lawsuits to pull it down, but they were too late—the clips had already spread everywhere. They couldn't stop the storm.

The video of Fiona barging in, humiliating me in front of everyone, and Spencer just standing there, doing nothing, hit a nerve. It wasn't just a scandal; it was outright bullying.

Fiona was falling apart under the pressure. And now, Spencer wanted me to fix it.

If I forgave them publicly, the narrative would change. If I, the bride, let it go, what right did anyone else have to keep judging?

Clara was ready to go off on him again, but I stopped her. I stepped forward, meeting his gaze without a shred of emotion.

"What exactly are you asking me to do, Spencer?" I said. "Should I tell everyone I was the other woman? That I forced you into this marriage? That I came between you and Fiona, and now I'm backing out to make room for your true love? Should I take the blame for all of it?"

He hesitated but still answered.

"If you could do that, it'd be for the best."

Clara shoved him, hard, like she couldn't get him away fast enough.

As he turned to leave, he threw one last shot over his shoulder. "Maya, you say you love me, but you can't even accept the person I love? Haven't I done enough for you? Fiona gave me a kidney eight years ago. Five years ago, she was humiliated because of me. And you? What have you ever done for me? You can't even help with this one thing!"

Clara sucked in a sharp breath. "How can someone be this shameless?!"

***

Spencer went all out defending Fiona, making sure everyone saw just how far he'd go for her.

When I finally caved and agreed to help, he turned it into a full-blown spectacle. The press conference was staged like something out of a drama, with cameras flashing so fast it felt like being under a strobe light.

I flinched, raising a hand to block the glare, but Spencer's lawyer shot me a look that made me drop it right back down.

I didn't have a choice.

Clara had just lost her job, out of nowhere.

We'd been harassed by strangers on the street.

Even at home, people I didn't recognize would linger nearby, watching, waiting.

I could let my own life crumble—it wasn't like I had much left to lose. But Clara? I couldn't let her go down with me.

This was Spencer's message: Clara was my weak spot now, and he'd use it.

***

The reporters didn't hold back.

"Miss Lane, the public sympathizes with your situation. Why are you supporting Mr. Saun at this press conference?"

"As a bride whose wedding dress was ripped away while her groom ran to another woman on what should've been the happiest day of her life, do you hate Miss Wore?"

"Users online claim the three of you have been connected since childhood. What caused this dramatic fallout?"

"Please, Miss Lane..."

"Can you comment on..."

"Miss Lane..."

I let their voices blur together until I finally raised a hand, silencing them with a faint smile.

"Let me tell you a story, Maybe it'll give you the answers you're looking for..."

And so, I began the story Spencer had asked me to share:

The Sauns were ridiculously rich, living in this massive estate with a garden straight out of a fairy tale.

My family? The complete opposite. I lost my parents when I was three, so my grandfather raised me.

Funny enough, he worked as the Sauns' gardener.

Mrs. Saun, probably feeling sorry for my grandfather juggling his job and a toddler, gave us a place to stay.

She even let me wander around the estate like I belonged there.

She always wanted a daughter, and honestly? I was a cute kid. My grandfather made sure I was always neat and polite, which won her over fast.

She spoiled me with pretty dresses, hair ties, and headbands, like I was some kind of doll.

The staff served me the same meals as her son, Spencer, and she gave me my own room so I didn't have to cram into the servants' quarters with my grandpa.

She even handled my legal stuff, making sure I had proper papers and enrolling me in the same fancy academy as Spencer when I was old enough.

I got piano and dance lessons, too—she treated me like I was hers.

They turned me into this polished city kid, worlds away from where I started.

And Spencer? He adored me. Once, he even announced he'd marry me someday.

Years later, the Wore family moved into the villa next door, and that's when Fiona came into our lives.

The three of us became inseparable.

Fiona, born into money and privilege, never cared about where I came from. She treated me like a sister.

We grew up in a bubble of luxury.

I'll admit, it went to my head.

Hair ties? Not good enough anymore.

Spencer had to buy me bracelets worth tens of thousands just to keep me happy. Fiona's designer dresses and handbags? They somehow always ended up in my closet.

Then everything fell apart.

A routine checkup revealed Spencer had kidney failure.

I was a match.

But I refused to donate.

Not even when Mrs. Saun, the woman who'd given me everything, begged me on her knees, tears streaming down her face.

I ran.

My grandfather, trying to catch up to me, was hit by a car and didn't survive.

Six months later, I came crawling back to the Saun estate. Broke. Destroyed.

I'd burned through all my money and tried seducing my boss to survive—until his wife found out. Let's just say she didn't take it lightly.

Mrs. Saun was the one who saved me.

By then, Fiona had already donated her kidney to Spencer.

Mrs. Saun's kindness brought me back into their lives, but Spencer? He barely looked at me.

Fiona, though, stayed the same—warm and kind, like none of it had ever happened.

One morning on the way to school, the three of us were kidnapped.

When I saw a chance to escape, I took it—leaving Spencer and Fiona behind.

Fiona stayed back to care for Spencer, who had a fever, and nearly endured something unthinkable at the hands of our captors.

Thankfully, both families arrived in time to save her.

But the Saun family didn't come out unscathed. Their business crumbled, and not long after, Mr. and Mrs. Saun died in a string of freak accidents.

The Wore family, shaken, sent Fiona abroad to keep her safe.

Maybe it was guilt, or maybe something else, but I stayed with Spencer through it all.

For years, I was by his side.

His comeback? It was Fiona's doing. She funneled money to him from overseas, keeping him afloat when no one else would.

When his business finally started thriving again, I saw my moment. I found a way into his bed and ended up pregnant.

The baby didn't make it.

I lost it after a stupid night at a nightclub—some random person bumped into me, and that was it.

Even then, Spencer proposed. He said it was the right thing to do.

But on our wedding day, Fiona came back.

Spencer saw her and snapped back to reality.

And honestly? Can I blame him?

Isn't all of this on me?

Isn't it exactly what I deserve?