A shiver ran through me at the memory. I had stayed at her place for a few days without telling him, and my phone had broken, cutting off all communication. Asher went into a frenzy, mobilizing his entire group to search for me as if I had vanished from the face of the earth. He even offered a massive reward, millions, just to find my whereabouts. When he finally showed up at my best friend’s house, he was furious, threatening to have the place torn apart.
At the time, I thought his extreme reaction was because he cared deeply for me. I even felt a secret thrill, convinced it was because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing me. But now, in hindsight, I see how naïve I was.
He had said it himself—he only ever saw me as a sister, nothing more. His actions, which I mistook for affection, were just the concern of a brother for a sibling. To the world, he played the part of the caring, protective brother to someone unrelated by blood. But I knew the truth. His heart had always tilted toward Dorothy.
And when the day of their wedding arrives, I will likely be forgotten, left wandering like a stray dog with no place to call home.
Not wanting to cause any trouble for my best friend, I checked into a random hotel, hoping to disappear for a while. After tossing my things aside, I took a quick photo of the room and sent it to her, just to let her know I was safe. Then, I collapsed onto the bed, my body heavy with exhaustion from everything I had been through.
The weariness hit me like a wave. With my strength already drained, sleep came quickly and without effort, pulling me under.
At some point, my phone began to vibrate—over and over—but I was too deep in sleep to notice. It wasn’t until a loud crash echoed through the room, the sound of the door being forced open, that I jolted awake.
When I was jolted awake, I was still in a daze, my mind struggling to catch up with the chaos around me. I blinked, confused, as I saw Asher standing in the doorway. His face, initially panicked, softened into a strange mix of relief and frustration.
"Ingrid!" he scolded, his voice sharp. "You did this on purpose, didn’t you? It made me think you were so depressed that you wanted to take sleeping pills and—" He stopped, eyes narrowing. "Do you know how scared I was? I thought you were trying to kill yourself!"