The Billionaire Who Faked A Split To Keep His Affair Chapter 02

The Billionaire Who Faked A Split To Keep His Affair Chapter 02

The second Tamsin saw me, the jacket slipped from her hand and hit the floor.

Her face went white.

“Marlowe…”

Her lips trembled.

“Don’t misunderstand. We just ran into each other. He drank too much last night, so I took him to a hotel. Nothing happened between us.”

Kellan immediately stepped in front of her.

“Marlowe, you know about my condition. During the day, I’m myself. But after dark, everything gets confused. I don’t remember what I do.”

His voice was painfully sincere.

“Whatever happened last night was the other me. I can’t control him. Tamsin doesn’t owe me anything. I’m the one who keeps dragging her into this.”

His eyes were red.

I’d heard those words so many times.

Kellan had gotten into the accident because he’d gone out to pick up spicy mac and cheese from my favorite late-night place.

So when he supposedly developed an alter who only wanted Tamsin after dark, I’d blamed myself.

Once, I had even tried to prove it wasn’t real.

Tamsin had to work late that night, so I stayed beside Kellan.

He woke sometime after midnight.

The second he saw me, he threw me off the bed.

My head slammed into the floor hard enough to give me a concussion. Blood ran down my neck.

“Get out!”

His eyes were bloodshot as his fingers dug into my wrist.

“Who the hell are you? Where’s Tamsin? I want Tamsin!”

The next morning, the “real” Kellan came back.

When he saw the bruises around my wrist, his eyes filled with guilt.

“I’m sorry, Marlowe. I wasn’t myself. I didn’t recognize you.”

Then he’d looked completely helpless.

“I can’t stop it. Maybe you should just keep me away from you at night. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Every time, it was some version of the same excuse.

And every time, I swallowed the pain and reminded myself that Kellan was sick.

He couldn’t control it.

But now that I thought about it, there had always been something far too clear in his eyes when he shoved me or grabbed me.

Clear enough to dodge the pillow I’d thrown at him.

Clear enough to remember to fold Tamsin’s jacket neatly beside his bed.

I forced back my tears.

Behind him, Tamsin sniffled and wiped at her eyes.

The two of them stood together like victims of some cruel twist of fate.

Something inside me quietly collapsed.

All the love I’d carried for Kellan felt like a balloon with a pinhole in it, slowly deflating.

“It’s fine,” I said hoarsely. “I know you’re sick. I don’t blame either of you.”

Tamsin visibly relaxed.

Then her eyes fell on the half-eaten cheesecake.

She smiled.

“Oh, Marlowe, you’re so sweet to him. You made this yourself, didn’t you? It smells amazing.”

She broke off a piece and popped it into her mouth.

Seconds later, she screamed.

Her hands flew to her throat.

Red hives spread rapidly across her skin, and her cheeks began to swell.

“Walnuts… There are walnuts…”

She struggled for breath, tears streaming down her face.

“Marlowe, you know I’m allergic to walnuts.”

The softness vanished from Kellan’s face.

He spun toward me.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Veins stood out along his neck.

“You’ve been friends with Tamsin for four years. You know she’s allergic to walnuts, and you still put them in the cake? You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t—”

I barely got the words out before he shoved me.

I fell backward and slammed my lower back into the wall.

My palm scraped across the floor, burning.

Kellan didn’t even look at me.

He wrapped an arm around Tamsin.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’m taking you to the ER.”

I lay there as he hurried out with her in his arms.

The door slammed shut.

I tried to get up.

My lower back wouldn’t cooperate.

Pain shot up my spine, sharp and vicious.

And suddenly, I remembered senior year.

Kellan had gotten into a fight in an alley.

When someone swung a beer bottle at him, I’d stepped in front of him.

Shards of glass tore into my lower back.

Seventeen stitches.

He carried me all the way to the hospital, sweating and frantic.

“Marlowe, don’t be scared. I’m done fighting. I swear. I’ll never do it again.”

After that, Kellan changed.