KAY POV

The room was quiet, but my mind refused to follow.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my phone glowing in my hand as emails blurred together on the screen. Work. Contracts. Deadlines. I scrolled without reading a single word.

My thoughts were still stuck at the dinner table.

Jake’s stiff posture.

Emily’s tight, forced smiles.

The way Vanessa’s voice had trembled every time she spoke.

Something had been off.

Jake had always been confident—too confident. Tonight, he’d been careful. Measured. Like every word had been rehearsed before it left his mouth. And Emily… she’d watched Vanessa the way someone watched a loose thread, waiting to see if it would finally unravel.

Then there were the names.

Every time Vanessa said the wrong one, the air shifted. I felt it every time. I’d just chosen not to question it.

Because questioning meant admitting the truth.

And the truth was already heavy enough.

I’d lied to her.

Not for money.

Not for power.

But for my best friend—so he could be with her best friend.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

I swallowed hard and locked my phone, letting it fall beside me on the bed. My chest felt tight, guilt pressing down like a weight I couldn’t shake.

Vanessa lay beside me, turned toward the window, her eyes open.

She wasn’t asleep.

She was thinking.

And for the first time since bringing her here, a quiet unease settled deep in my gut.

I had the strange, unsettling feeling that while I was drowning in guilt…

Vanessa was the one truly suffering.

Still, my loyalty to Jake felt heavier than my conscience.

Her phone chimed softly.

“Jake,” she said in a small voice, “can you give me my phone?”

I gulped, forcing my expression to stay calm. Innocent.

“Of course, sweetheart,” I said quickly—maybe too quickly.

I didn’t look at her screen. I didn’t want to. I handed her the phone and turned back to my thoughts as she unlocked it and scrolled through her messages.

I still didn’t understand why Jake hadn’t just ended the engagement and gotten together with Emily.

Wouldn’t that have been easier?

Vanessa would’ve been hurt—yes—but at least none of us would be drowning in lies like this.

Jake was hiding something. I could feel it.

Suddenly, I stood up.

“Sweetheart,” I said softly, walking toward the door, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk with Kay.”

I heard her murmur a weak, “Okay.”

I wasn’t actually going to talk to Jake.

I just needed air. Space. A cigarette. Five minutes where I didn’t have to pretend I was okay.

I walked down the hallway to the balcony, sat in one of the chairs, and lit a cigarette. The first drag burned, but by the time I finished it, my shoulders felt lighter. Calmer. Like the pressure had eased—just a little.

Then my heart stopped.

Vanessa’s phone was on the bed.

The window was wide open.

Panic surged through me before I could stop it.

Then I heard her voice.

“Oh, you’re done talking to Kay?”

I turned sharply.

Vanessa stood in the bathroom doorway, wrapped in shorts and an oversized shirt, her hair damp. She looked fragile. Normal. Alive.

“Why do you look so pale?” she asked innocently.

Relief crashed over me so hard my knees almost gave out.

“I—I thought you’d jumped out the window or something,” I admitted, sitting heavily on the bed and rubbing my face. “God… you’re going to be the death of me.”

She blinked. “Oh. I’m sorry, Jake. I just took a shower. I sleep better after.”

I nodded, but my heart was still racing.

“Jake,” she said suddenly. “I have a question.”

I looked up immediately, tension snapping back into place.

“Where’s my medicine? I was looking for it, but I couldn’t find it.”

She sat beside me, drying her hair with a towel.

“Oh—shit,” I muttered. “I think I put it in the nightstand… or maybe the kitchen.”

She waved it off gently. “It’s okay. I think I found it.”

She held up two pill packs—Tylenol and Amantadine.

“Yes,” I said quickly. “Those are it.”

She took a glass of water from the nightstand and swallowed the pills without hesitation—first the pain relief, then the memory medication.

“You should go to sleep, Jake,” she said softly as she lay back down and closed her eyes. “You must be exhausted.”

I was.

Just not from work.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I’ll take a quick shower and then sleep.”

I stood up, hoping the hot water would wash away at least some of the guilt pressing so hard against my chest.

What I didn’t know—what none of us knew—

was that while I believed I was protecting her…

Vanessa had already started counting lies.

And she never forgot numbers.