Once Love, Double Betrayal Chapter 03

Once Love, Double Betrayal Chapter 03

I stared at the naked contempt on Candy’s face, remembering how she’d suddenly lashed out at me—how I’d run like a fool until I almost lost my mind.

I’d been too afraid of losing anyone, too desperate to hold on to my friends. That fear turned me into exactly what Candy saw: the idiot she could summon or dismiss with a flick of her fingers.

Something inside me cracked wide open.

The break kept spreading until I could almost feel myself bleeding out from the inside. Still, I held on to one last hope, waiting for Adrian’s response.

The same Adrian who once spoiled me, who used to bend to my every whim, only said lightly, “Come on. You two are best friends, at least.”

I thought back to the first time we met. He’d told me, “The thing I hate most in this world is homewreckers—doesn’t matter if they’re men or women.”

Then, almost as if confessing a sin, he’d said, “My mom cheated with my dad’s best friend. When Dad found out, he didn’t want me anymore.”

His voice had broken with grief. “Dad didn’t want me. Mom didn’t want me. I was just a ball they kicked back and forth until neither of them could stand the sight of me.”

He’d given me that bitter little smile. “So, Claire, I never had the happy family you did. My life’s broken. It’s incomplete.”

His eyes had shimmered with pain. “Claire… do you understand?”

Back then, I’d felt him breaking apart, and the shards of his heart had sliced straight through mine.

I’d sat quietly beside him and promised, “Adrian, someone will love you.”

“She’ll gather up every shard of your heart, one by one, saying, ‘This piece is mine, and so is this one.’”

“And she’ll stay with you until the pieces fit again—until you’re whole—and live happily ever after by your side.”

Later, Adrian pursued me so openly that the whole pack knew. Everyone took his side, praising him to me as if I needed convincing.

He’d fly halfway across the world just because I craved a dessert from another country.

Back when his pack was still struggling to find its footing, he’d count every penny to plan the cheapest business trips. Yet on my birthday, he’d spend thousands on a delicate little cake.

When he was away on business and heard there was a thunderstorm where I was, he’d drive through the night just to whisper, “Don’t be scared,” then leave again the moment the rain stopped.

All those memories still echoed in my head—sweet moments I once thought I could carry proudly for a lifetime. Now they were silver daggers twisting inside me.

I watched Adrian wrap his arm around Candy as they walked into the hotel, and pain tore through me until tears slipped free without permission.

My hands shook as I grabbed my phone, found Adrian’s number, and hit call just before he stepped through the revolving door.

I stayed in the car.

He stopped outside.

Through the windshield, I saw Candy’s expression curdle when my name flashed on his screen. Adrian just smiled and soothed her. “I’ve got to take this.”

She reached to end the call, but he lifted the phone out of her reach.

“I told you,” he said coolly, “I will never reject a call from Claire.”

His tone hardened. “Candy, we agreed on the rules.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as Candy stomped her foot, furious and helpless, while Adrian stepped aside to answer me.

“Hey.” His voice was soft, exactly like always. “Miss me, baby?”

Tears welled up, and I barely managed to choke back the sob rising in my throat.

He promised, “I’ll be back tomorrow. I picked up something for you.”

He was only a few yards away, absently twirling a lock of Candy’s hair as he said, “You’re gonna love it.”

I couldn’t understand—still couldn’t—how one heart could split so cleanly in two.

I couldn’t understand how the man who swore he hated cheaters, who loathed betrayal down to his bones, could turn himself into the very thing he despised.

Just as I couldn’t understand whether Adrian had ever really loved me at all.