---- Chapter 11 Jeremy Glass POV: The highway became a battleground. My hands were slick with sweat on the steering wheel as | tailgated the lead car. | laid on the horn, a long, desperate blare. | grabbed my phone, my thumb jabbing at Haylie' s contact number. It rang once, twice, then disconnected. | tried again Disconnected. A third time. This time, someone answered. "Hello?" It was a man's voice, cold and unfamiliar. "Who is this?" | demanded. "Where is Haylie?" "Ms. Camacho is unavailable," the voice said smoothly. "She asked me to inform you that she left her old phone behind. She won' t be needing it anymore." "What are you talking about? Put her on the phone!" "I'm afraid | can' t do that, Mr. Glass. She' s currently in her wedding car." The words hit me with the force of a physical blow. "Wedding car? What wedding car? The wedding isn' t for two days!" ---- There was a pause on the other end, a sound of genuine surprise. "Sir... the wedding is today. In one hour." Today. The world went silent. The roar of the engine, Joselin' s frantic questions, the blare of horns around me-it all faded away. All | could hear was the frantic, panicked thumping of my own heart. A heart that had just been ripped out of my chest. | hung up. | didn' t know where | was going, | just drove. Faster and faster, until | found myself screeching to a halt in front of my father' s mansion. The place was empty, the wedding gifts gone. A chilling silence hung in the air. "FATHER!" | screamed, kicking the door open. Edmund Glass walked out onto the grand staircase, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He looked at me, his expression unreadable. "She' s getting married," | said, my voice breaking. "Today. Why didn' t you tell me?" He took a slow sip of his drink. "You have a wife, Jeremy. You made your choice. | suggest you learn to live with it." "She is my wife!" | roared, lunging up the stairs and grabbing him by the collar of his expensive silk robe. "Haylie is my wife!" He didn' t even flinch. He just looked at me with a sort of weary pity. "You can't have both, son. You wanted the pretty, ---- obedient one you could control. You got her. Don' t be greedy." His words struck me like lightning. He was right. | had been greedy. | had wanted Haylie' s selfless, unconditional love, and Joselin' s fawning, manipulative affection. | had wanted a saint and a sinner, and in trying to have both, | had lost the only one that mattered. | stumbled backward, my hand falling from his collar. "Why didn't you stop her?" | whispered, the fight draining out of me. "It was her choice," my father said, his voice flat. "She told me to tell you... 'What's the point?' " He swirled the amber liquid in his glass. "She said you wouldn' t have understood anyway." What's the point? The words echoed in my head. What was the point of fighting for a man who had already replaced her? What was the point of trying to reason with a man who was deaf to the truth? What was the point of loving a man who didn't deserve her? | saw it all then. Her calmness hadn't been peace. It had been resignation. She hadn't been giving up. She had been cutting her losses. She had been setting herself free. Joselin came up behind me, placing a gentle hand on my arm. "Jeremy, honey, it' s okay. She' s just trying to make you jealous. She' II come back." ---- | barely heard her. My mind was racing, a kaleidoscope of memories flashing before my eyes. Haylie' s pained face when | defended Joselin. Haylie' s cold disgust when she found the condom wrapper. Haylie' s hollow eyes when she asked if | still loved her. | ran. | ran out of the mansion, out of that house of lies, and back to my car. | drove like a madman, back to the house Haylie and | had once shared. Our home. | burst through the door and ran straight to the guest room- the room she had been exiled to. It was pristine, the bed perfectly made, the surfaces wiped clean. It was as if she had never been there. | tore the room apart, yanking open drawers, pulling clothes from the closet, searching for any sign, any trace of her that she might have left behind. There was nothing. "Jeremy, what are you looking for?" Joselin asked from the doorway. "She didn' t have much to take." Her words stopped me cold. | sank to my knees on the floor, the truth a crushing weight on my chest. She hadn't packed in a hurry. She had been ready to leave all along. My eyes fell on the small wastebasket in the corner. And there, nestled amongst some tissues, was a glint of cheap metal. | reached in, my hand trembling, and pulled it out. It was the fake 'get well' charm. The one | had given her. The ---- one she had worn so faithfully. The lie she had finally seen through. | stared at the worthless trinket in my palm, and my entire world came crashing down.