I stayed in the hospital for a while.

Zoey and Julian came to see me a lot. They told me how the police case was going. They brought me little presents.

I felt bad accepting them.

The whole “Julian is my boyfriend” thing at the police station had just been for show. A way to cut ties with Cole.

But when I tried to give Julian a thank-you gift, he actually blushed.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I didn’t think much of it.”

After I got discharged, I still kept in touch with both of them.

I went to see Cole. I brought the cash he’d given me for the engagement, plus the gold jewelry.

When I laid it all out in front of him, he just stared blankly.

“Here’s your engagement gift back. Cash and gold.”

Then I put a list in front of him. “This is every penny we spent on each other during our relationship. Look it over. If you agree, I’ll transfer the money.”

“Take it back,” he said, voice muffled.

“Cole.”

“TAKE IT BACK!”

He swept the whole pile off the table. Gold and cash scattered across the floor.

I stared at it all, then looked coldly at him.

His hands braced on the table. His breathing was ragged for a few seconds.

” Tessa… are we really at this point?”

“We can’t be together anymore.” I looked at him. “Even if we got married, we’d never be happy.”

“Yes we would.” His eyes were red. “We can be happy. I love you. You love me. I know you do. Tessa, you still have feelings for me.”

I was quiet.

He wasn’t wrong.

Otherwise I wouldn’t have lasted five years with him.

Back in college, his passive-aggressive games were just quirks. Cute, even.

But after graduation. Engagement. More women started hanging around him. And his games got worse.

I understood why he did it.

But if love hurts this much—is it even love?

I looked at him. “Maybe I never should’ve put up with your bullshit back when we were students. Then we’d still have a chance.”

He looked like someone had drained all the life out of him. “I really do love you…”

I paused.

“I used to love you too.”

He let out a bitter laugh. That was the end of that conversation.