My eyes scanned the entire place, wondering where we should go first. Then, a dress just a little bit ahead of us stole my breath. Sleek. Elegant. Birthday perfection
“Claire, over there,” I pointed excitedly, and we both giggled and approached the store.
The said store had everything I needed. It was as if the racks had been curated for me. I didn’t even feel the urge to check elsewhere unless I just wanted to spoil myself with options.
It took more than an hour to try out different dresses for the engagement party. But I found the one. A perfect fit.
I added jewelry to match, couldn’t resist a few extra pleces, and picked out a stunning dress for Claire, too, as an appreciation and a way to pull her out of whatever heavy cloud was following her around.
“Come on. What is wrong with you? Can you just cheer up for a second?” I said to her, trying out the pair of shoes I’d like to get.
Claire let out a sigh that came from somewhere deep. Her shoulders sagged. “It’s not that easy, Kasmine. Especially knowing he’s getting engaged to someone else tomorrow.”
She looked away. “I actually thought I had a chance.”
I blinked. For a second, I almost laughed. “You thought you had a chance?” I let out a soft, disbelieving chuckle. “I mean… no offense, Claire, but my brother never gave you his attention. Not even once.”
“You’re wrong, Kasmine. He actually did. He led me on. And I don’t think what he did after that is fair,” she said. I stared at her.
And for a second, I swear I thought I hadn’t heard her right,
Kester? My Kester?
Led Claire on?
Claire stood still after those words. She looked like she was done hiding whatever had been eating her up all morning… I stared at her, heart beginning to thump weirdly. “What do you mean he led you on?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. “Like are you saying he flirted? What-what are you even talking about?”
She laughed under her breath, but it wasn’t funny. Not even a little. Her arms folded across her chest like she needed to physically hold herself together.
“You remember that date I told you about?” she said, not looking at me. “The one where I said the guy was cold… barely looked at me and never called back?”
I nodded slowly, unsure where this was going, but my pulse had started to race anyway. I remembered that date clearly. Claire had refused to tell me who the guy was. And she had come back from it looking crushed, and I’d told her the guy sounded like an asshole not worth remembering.
“Well,” she said, turning to look at me now. “That guy was Kester.”
My ears rang
“What?”
She nodded once, lips pressed together. “Yeah. Your brother. He asked me out. We went for drinks and dinner at that exquisite restaurant off Silvergate Avenue. I didn’t even know how to act. I thought maybe-maybe he had finally seen me and chose me.”
I could feel my legs weakening underneath me. Like someone had kicked a wall inside my chest, and I didn’t even have time to catch my breath.
“He never told me,” I whispered, mostly to myself.
Claire kept going. “He ghosted me after that night. I cried like a fool for days. But then…” She paused and pulled out her phone, flicking it open. “He started texting, me agalh. Out of the blue. A few days later. And then he called. Asked if I was okay. Said he was sorry he’d been weird. That he was going through stuff. He sounded sincere, Kasmine. And I bought it. Hook, line, and sinker.
She looked up at me, her eyes glassy. “We talked most nights. I started thinking maybe he just needed time. Maybe he was warming up. But then just like that, he went back to being the same cold-hearted asshole. No texts. No calls. Like those nights meant nothing to him. Lille I meant nothing “
I didn’t know what to say. My throat felt like sandpaper.
Kester.
My own Kester.
And he never said anything about it to me. Not even a slip.
I couldn’t look Claire in the eye anymore. I stared down at the shoes I’d been trying on, but they suddenly felt stupid and heavy.
A swirl of feelings churned in my chest. Shock. Betrayal. Hurt. And yeah-jealousy.
Because what the actual fuck?
Before I could even piece my thoughts together or say something halfway rational to Claire, I caught a glimpse of someone through the glass storefront window.
My eyes narrowed instinctively.
The woman. Her gait. Her tight brown curls pinned at the nape of her neck. That brown hospital cardigan she had draped over her arm.
Wait. I’d seen her before..
Leropita Hospital.
The receptionist, Melissa.
Before I knew what the hell I was doing, my legs were moving faster than I could think. I muttered something like “I’ll be right back” to Claire, but my mind was already several steps ahead, pushing through the store door and into the mall walkway.
I’d have to get the truth out of this woman today, one way or another.
KESTER
It felt like death was licking at my heels.
The sky outside had been brooding all day clouds thick and grey. Fitting perfectly with my mood. Almost like the universe knew it, too, that this wasn’t a celebration. This was like me attending my own funeral.
My room was quiet and tense. The kind of silence you feel in your gut.
Norlan was seated at the edge of the couch, his palms pressed together and his eyes distant. He looked like he’d just walked out of a car crash. And truth? I didn’t look or feel any better.
I stood in front of the mirror, fixing my tie with fingers that wouldn’t fucking stop shaking. Each tug felt like it was tightening a noose around my own neck.
Fuck… I’d never been this nervous in my life. Not even when I was wrongly diagnosed and taken to the psychiatric ward years ago. Not when I gave my first speech in front of the board. Not even when I kissed Kasmine for the first time.
This was different.
This wasn’t nerves. This was my body revolting. My heart knew this wasn’t right. Every cell in my blood was screaming her name.
Kasmine.
The anger and sadness radiating off of me could burn downan entire city. But of course, this was also a step closer to being with the woman I love.
I gritted my teeth and forced my fingers to move. “You aren’t the one getting engaged to the wrong woman, Norlan Quit being sadder than me,” I muttered.
Norlan was barely keeping himself together. He looked like a man who had lost his purpose in life. And I knew why.
He wishes to be the one in my place at this moment. Dude is head over heels for my ‘fianc?.”
“What are you talking about, dickhead? Come on. We have just about an hour before the event starts,” He stood up, straightened his jacket, and forced a grin that didn’t touch his eyes. “You look perfect tonight.”
I stared at him through the mirror. Neither of us looked perfect. We just looked like two men pretending they weren’t breaking inside. wany sides.
I turned slowly. My fingers dropped from the tie, hanging up by my “Did you get it?” I asked quietly.
Norlan didn’t answer immediately. He glanced toward the door like he was making sure we were still alone. Then le reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a sleek, matte-black flash drive.
He held it up between two fingers. “Encrypted. Triple-layered. You’d need a god to crack it… or me.”
I walked up to m, took it without a word, but didn’t look at it yet. I stared at him instead… The man who used to hack into our school’s database just to change his grades and prank professors. I used to think it was all fun back then. But I never knew he’d take it so seriously that he’d take it to be a career.
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