Chapter 3

Early the next morning, suitcase in tow, I made a detour to St. Mary's Sanatorium before heading to the airport.

It was where my grandmother, Eleanor, lived. She suffered from severe Alzheimer's. Ever since my parents died in that car crash, I had kept the truth from her to spare her the shock, telling her they were on a trip around the world. She was the only family I had left in this world. My final vulnerability.

As I approached her room, a voice drifted through the half-open door—a voice that made my stomach churn.

"Your granddaughter doesn't want you anymore, you old bat. Did you know that?"

It was Blair.

I shoved the door wide open. Blair stood in front of my grandmother's wheelchair, gripping a newspaper, a venomous smile plastered across her face.

"Still waiting on your son and his wife to visit every day? Keep dreaming! They died in a car crash ages ago—burned to a crisp! And that precious granddaughter of yours is about to get dumped by Julian. I'm the one he loves. Vivian is just a useless wreck who couldn't even manage her own parents' funeral!"

"No... impossible... my son... Vivian..." My grandmother's cloudy eyes were wide with sheer terror. Her withered hands gripped the armrests of her wheelchair, her frail body shaking violently.

"Blair!" I screamed, my vision going red. I dropped my suitcase and lunged.

I grabbed a fistful of Blair's hair and yanked her backward. Before she could even process what was happening, I raised my hand and slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I possessed.

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room. Blair shrieked as the force threw her to the floor. A drop of blood instantly blossomed at the corner of her mouth.

"You hit me?!" she screamed, clutching her cheek in pure disbelief.

"If anything happens to my grandmother, I won't just hit you." I pointed a shaking finger an inch from her nose. "I will kill you."

Right on cue, the door swung open and Julian strode in.

"Vivian, what the hell are you doing?!" He took in the scene immediately: Blair sprawled on the floor bleeding from the lip, and me, standing guard in front of my grandmother like a feral animal.

"Julian! She's crazy! She just walked in and attacked me!" Blair instantly shifted gears, morphing into a picture of fragile innocence. She scrambled up and threw herself at Julian, tears spilling down her cheeks on command.

Julian's eyes instantly turned to ice. He shielded Blair behind him, closed the distance between us, and shoved me hard, without an ounce of hesitation.

I stumbled backward. My spine slammed painfully against the metal railing of the hospital bed, knocking the breath out of my lungs in a sharp gasp.

"Are you out of your damn mind, Vivian?" Julian glared down at me, his eyes laced with disgust. "Blair comes here out of the goodness of her heart to visit your grandmother, and you physically assault her? Where the hell are your manners?"

"Goodness of her heart?" Swallowing the blinding pain in my back, I pointed at my grandmother, who had slumped into a semi-conscious state from the sheer shock. My voice came out in a ragged scream. "She told my grandmother my parents are dead! She deliberately triggered an Alzheimer's patient! Julian, are you blind?!"

Julian froze for a second. He turned to look at Blair.

Blair shrank back, weeping defensively. "I didn't... It just slipped out. I didn't know she was that sick... Julian, I swear I didn't mean to..."

"You hear that? She didn't mean it." Julian turned back to me, his tone shifting to righteous indignation. "She makes one innocent slip of the tongue, and you assault her like that? Vivian, you've become completely irrational."

The agonizing pain in my back suddenly went numb. I stared at the man I had loved. My eyes burned and swelled, but I couldn't shed a single tear.

It turned out that no matter how pathetic the lie, as long as it came from her lips, he would swallow it whole.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, quickly wheeling my grandmother out toward the emergency wing.

In the hallway, it was just the three of us left.

"Enough. Stop making a fool of yourself." Julian checked his watch, visibly exasperated. "Our flight to Switzerland takes off soon, and I don't have time to stand here and argue with you. Wait until your grandmother stabilizes, think about how completely out of line you were today, and then give Blair a proper apology."

With that, he wrapped an arm around a still-sniffling Blair and turned toward the elevators.

"Julian," I called out.

He paused. He didn't turn around, just let out a cold, mocking scoff. "What? Finally realize you messed up and want to beg me to stay?"

"We're done," I said to his back, pronouncing every word with crystal clarity. "The wedding is off."

Julian's broad shoulders stiffened for a fraction of a second. Then, he let out a laugh dripping with disdain.

"Vivian, playing the same trick twice gets old fast. You think canceling the wedding is going to threaten me? Fine. Let's see exactly where you'll go without me."

The elevator doors slid shut, cutting off his arrogant face.

I turned around, staring at the glowing red light above the emergency room doors, and pulled out my phone.

"Charlie. I need you to list my half of the apartment's equity immediately. Yes, price it twenty percent below market value so it sells today. Also, contact the best private sanatorium in Paris. I'm bringing my grandmother with me. As fast as humanly possible."

Over the next few days, Julian posted intimate selfies with Blair from the snowy peaks of Switzerland on social media. The caption read: "The ultimate cure for a bad mood."

Meanwhile, I boarded a flight to Paris, with my grandmother—safely out of danger—right by my side.

……

One week later.

Julian pushed open the door to the apartment, carrying a box of chocolates he'd picked up for Vivian. Blair trailed behind him, her tone dripping with passive-aggression. "Julian, do you think Vivian is still mad? What if she won't let me in?"

"She wouldn't dare." Julian snorted. "I've iced her out for a week; she's probably hiding under the covers crying right now. That's just how she is. Give her a few days of the silent treatment and she folds. Just hand her the chocolates later and say a few soft words. If she throws another fit after that, then I'm going to be seriously pissed."

In Julian's mind, Vivian was like a tame house cat. No matter how much he neglected or hurt her, the moment he waved his hand and tossed her a few scraps, she would dutifully crawl right back to him.

After all, she didn't even have her parents anymore. Without him, who else could she possibly rely on?

"Vivian! I'm back!" he shouted into the apartment.

Silence. No response.

Julian frowned. He took a few steps into the living room.

And then, he froze.