The Wrong One to Love

It was the last stop on my pre-wedding trip with my fiance, Kieran Rose. I'd stopped at a scenic overlook to take a few pictures, but when I returned, Kieran's car was nowhere to be found. I called him right away, but he didn't answer. I wandered around the park three times, trying to find a way out, only to end up even more lost. As I began to panic, I realized that my best friend, Leah Lowe, had posted something on Instagram. "Best guy friend ever! Free ride, free trip, and a personal photographer. He's a 10 out of 10!" She'd uploaded a whole carousel of photos, every single one taken by Kieran. I zoomed in on the background of one of them and realized they were already in the next town over. Kieran and I had been together for seven years, and somehow, every date we'd ever gone on had ended with Leah tagging along. Apparently, even our honeymoon was no exception. Just then, a text from Kieran popped up. "I stopped to grab some water. Where did you wander off to take pictures this time? Hurry up and get back in the car." I stared at the message for a few seconds, then laughed. He still hadn't realized I'd been out of the car for five hours. Chapter 1 The One He Forgot Kieran's car finally pulled up ten minutes before the park closed. He climbed out, scowling. "If you hadn't insisted on stopping to take pictures, we wouldn't have had to drive all the way back here this late. I seriously don't get why you need to take a million pictures everywhere we go." I'd spent five hours stranded there in 10°F weather, and the first thing he did was blame me. He never explained why he hated taking pictures of me so much. Every time I handed him my phone, he acted as if I were asking him to perform brain surgery. Yet, his camera roll was packed with pictures of Leah. My eyes were starting to redden, but before I could say anything, Leah slipped between us with an innocent smile. "Don't be mad at him. Kieran planned this whole route for me, and we only stopped long enough to take a few pictures before coming back for you. See? He's not as careless as you make him out to be." Something inside me went slack, and I didn't even have the strength to clench my fists. I'd spent two years trying to convince Kieran to take this pre-wedding trip with me. His excuse was always the same: planning trips was a pain. He hated researching destinations and planning itineraries, so I'd done everything myself. I researched every stop, made all the bookings, and even put together a twenty-page itinerary so he wouldn't have to lift a finger. But now, I finally understood. Kieran wasn't too lazy to make plans. He just didn't want to make them for me. He reached over and affectionately ruffled Leah's hair, the anger slowly melting from his face. "Okay, no fighting. Put your coat back on before you freeze." That was when I noticed the coat draped over his arm. For one stupid second, I thought he'd brought it for me because he knew I'd been standing outside in the cold for hours. Then, I realized it was Leah's. He'd been carrying her coat while I stood there in damp clothes, shivering as the temperature kept dropping. Leah must have noticed. She reached over and took the coat from Kieran. "Seriously, Kieran? Read the room!" she teased, shooting him a playful look before holding it out to me. "Here. Go change out of those wet clothes before you freeze." I wanted to refuse. The last thing I wanted was her pity, but I was so cold I could barely feel my fingers. So, I took the coat and went to the restroom to change. I had just turned on the faucet when I heard Leah laughing outside the door. "Told you Alivia would cry. You owe me 500 bucks." Kieran let out a helpless chuckle. "You know her temper better than I do. Fine. I'll pay up." Leah sounded smug as she teased him, "You should be embarrassed. She's your fiancee, and you don't even know her this well. I've never seen you this clueless about anyone else." Their voices dropped as they laughed, but not enough. I heard every word. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My face was pale from the cold, and suddenly, the situation seemed pretty ridiculous. I'd spent five hours freezing and starving while they drove around together. To them, it was nothing more than entertainment—something to bet on and laugh about. I dried my hands, closed my eyes for a moment, then opened the door and walked out, pretending I hadn't heard a thing. Chapter 2 I Finally Came to My Senses By the time I left the restroom, Kieran and Leah were nowhere to be seen. A new post from Leah popped up on Instagram. In the photo, Kieran was crouched in front of her, gently massaging her swollen ankle. I stared at the picture for a long moment. He was a total germaphobe. He wouldn't even share a straw with me, yet touching her bare feet didn't bother him at all. After a moment, I liked the post and called my boss. "I've made up my mind, Mr. Davis. I'll take the overseas assignment." A stunned silence followed on the other end. "I thought you turned it down because you didn't want to leave your fiance. What changed?" "I suppose I've finally come to my senses." The moment I accepted the assignment, I knew exactly what it meant—I was giving up on Kieran. … Once it became clear they weren't coming back for me, I left the park and took a taxi to the hotel alone. I had just stepped out of the shower when Kieran stormed into my room. He snapped, "What the hell was that about? First, you don't come with us, then you go and like Leah's post just to make her feel guilty? Did standing out in the cold damage your brain?" I looked at him and saw the concern written all over his face, but I knew it wasn't for me. He was worried about Leah. I'd stayed up night after night planning this trip until my eyes were bloodshot, and this was what I got in return. Sitting there with a towel in my hands, I let out a quiet laugh. "You know, the way you talk, anyone would think Leah was your girlfriend." His face darkened. "Why you!" He took a step toward me, but Leah quickly caught his arm. "Kieran didn't mean it that way," she said, trying to smooth things over. "Come on, we're supposed to be having fun. There's no point fighting over this." Then, she gave his arm a playful tug, deliberately changing the subject. "Besides, you promised you'd help me improve my gaming rank tonight. Are you backing out now?" Just like that, Kieran's anger disappeared. He flicked her forehead. "You're terrible at the game. You'd better not tank my ranking again tonight." They laughed and teased each other all the way into the room next door. If anyone had seen them together, they probably would have assumed Leah was his fiancee, not me. A few minutes later, my boss texted to say HR could have all the paperwork for my overseas transfer ready by tomorrow. I thanked him, pulled the covers over my head, and fell asleep. ... The next morning, Leah took the passenger seat on the drive home. She and Kieran bickered and joked the whole way, just as they always did. Neither of them offered any explanation for why they had spent the whole night in the same hotel room. Meanwhile, as his real fiancee, I sat alone in the back seat, unable to get a word in edgewise. I'd lost count of how many times I'd become the third wheel in my own relationship. I never imagined the pre-wedding trip I'd spent more than six months planning would end like this. When we got home, Kieran came in a little while after me with breakfast from my favorite spot. He set a bowl of strawberry oatmeal on the table, thinking he'd remembered my usual order. He hadn't. Strawberry was Leah's favorite, and mine was cinnamon apple. Kieran didn't notice. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Still jealous?" I said nothing. "We stayed up too late last night, so we just crashed in the same room. We didn't think anything of it." He laughed. "Besides, Leah is as flat as a board. You couldn't pay me to sleep with her." I paused, then smiled. "You would know. Have you felt her up?" His arms stiffened around me. I pulled away, and Kieran's expression immediately darkened. "Are you done?" He snapped. "I bought you breakfast and apologized. What else do you want from me?" The room fell silent, so quiet that I could hear his heavy breathing. Then, his voice turned cold. "Your mom drove herself crazy accusing your dad of cheating. Are you really going to end up just like her?" I froze. He knew better than anyone what had happened to my mother, but he kept going. "Leah comes from a better family than yours. She was raised better than you. The least you could do is learn to act like her instead of thinking about disgusting crap like this." I stared at him, barely recognizing the man in front of me. My mother had spent years suspecting my father of an affair. The suspicion consumed her until she was eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Later, she slit her wrists. By the time I found her, she was lying in a pool of blood, barely conscious. Her last words to me had been, "Don't be stupid like me, Alivia. Never destroy yourself over a man." I'd promised her I would, and I meant it. "If Leah's so great, why don't you just be with her?" I looked Kieran straight in the eyes and laughed. "We're done." Chapter 3 The Surprise Kieran froze, disbelief flashing across his face. A second later, he let out a cold laugh. "Wow. Since when did you start playing these stupid mind games?" He looked at me like I was being ridiculous. "Alivia, you're not eighteen anymore. We're practically married. Aren't you a little old to be threatening me with a breakup every time you get upset?" He hesitated, then added, "Leah's sensitive. You can say this stuff to me, and I'll pretend I never heard it. But don't drag her into it." For a moment, I wanted to ask why Leah's feelings always seemed to matter more than mine when I was the one he was supposed to marry. However, there was no point anymore, so I kept quiet. Kieran seemed to take my silence as surrender. His voice softened. "I've got something to take care of at work tonight. Get some sleep." He didn't come home that night. A few hours later, Leah posted an Instagram Story visible only to me. In the video, she wore a tiny slip dress and posed for the camera in ways that were far from innocent. Then, he stepped into the frame. "Like this..." His hands hovered near her body as he adjusted her pose, his fingers brushing dangerously close to her skin. "Yeah. Right there." Kieran, the man who supposedly hated taking pictures, kept pressing the shutter, his gaze lingering on Leah the entire time. The message couldn't have been clearer. She wanted me to see them like this. My stomach churned. I set my phone down and took a few slow breaths to calm myself. However, it didn't work. The longer I sat there thinking about what I'd just seen, the angrier I became. Finally, I picked up my phone and called Kieran. He declined the call almost immediately. Seconds later, a text came through. "Leah and I are working on a surprise for you." A surprise? I stared at the message, then glanced back at the video of them practically wrapped around each other. A bitter laugh escaped me. How many times had he lied to me over the years just to be alone with her? This time, I didn't bother replying. There was nothing left to say. I set my phone aside, pulled out my suitcase, and started packing. By tomorrow, I'd be gone. ... The next morning, I logged in to our joint savings account to transfer Kieran's share of the wedding fund back to him before I left. But the moment I saw the balance, I was stunned. There were only three figures left. I refreshed the page, thinking it was a mistake. We'd spent years building that account to nearly a million, yet now almost every cent was gone. With my heart pounding, I called the bank and went through the transaction history. It didn't take long to find the answer. Kieran had used the money to buy an apartment. For a long moment, I could only stare at the screen. Years ago, I felt like I had no one left in the world after my mother died. Kieran had emptied his savings and given me everything he had. He said, "Trust me, Alivia. As long as you're with me, you'll never have to go through anything alone again." I'd believed him. More than that, those words had made me love him even more. From then on, we saved for our future together. Every little bit went into that account until a few thousand became tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands. It had taken us years to save what was in there. That money wasn't just our wedding fund. It was supposed to be our home, our future, our life together. Yet, Kieran had taken almost all of it without even telling me. I pulled up the apartment details, and the moment I saw the address, my heart sank. I knew that address. It was the same place Leah had been tagging in her Instagram posts. Suddenly, everything started falling into place. I rushed downstairs, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the apartment, my hands trembling the entire way. … By the time I reached the apartment, I went straight to the unit and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Kieran opened the door with a smile. "Just leave the food at—" He stopped when he saw me, his smile fading. I met his eyes, surprised by how calm my voice sounded. "So, Kieran..." I said. "Is this the surprise you were talking about?" Chapter 4 He Never Looked Back For a while, neither of us spoke. Panic flickered across Kieran's face before he finally broke the silence. "Alivia, this isn't what you think. Leah was having trouble getting to and from work, so I bought her this place. Besides, whenever we're in the area, we can stay here too." He said it like it was perfectly reasonable, as if there was nothing wrong with spending our money on an apartment for another woman without even telling me. Except half the money he'd used was mine—money I'd worked so hard to save. My whole body started trembling. I shoved past him and walked inside, only to stop cold when I saw the place. There were two of everything: two mugs by the sink, two pairs of slippers by the door, two toothbrushes in the bathroom. Worse, none of it looked new. Everything had clearly been used. This wasn't just some apartment Kieran had bought for Leah. It felt like a home they shared. Suddenly, all those late nights at the office made sense. So, this was where he'd really been working overtime, so to speak. Just then, I heard footsteps upstairs. I looked up and froze. Leah was coming down the stairs in my custom-made wedding dress. The second she saw me, a smug smile flickered across her face before she quickly hid it. My blood ran cold. That dress wasn't just something I'd chosen for my wedding day. After my mother died, I'd had the lace and beadwork from her wedding gown carefully sewn into mine. It was one of the few pieces of her I still had. Whenever I wore it, I could almost picture my mother beside me, watching as I walked down the aisle. "Take it off!" My scream echoed through the apartment, and Leah's eyes immediately filled with tears. Kieran grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "What the hell is wrong with you? Leah was trying on the dress so she could get the alterations right. We were going to surprise you. Why are you screaming at her?" I looked at the dress again. It had been altered so much that I could barely recognize it. My hands began to shake. "You know how much that dress means to me!" For a moment, Kieran froze. Leah started down the stairs, seemingly trying to calm things down. Before she could reach us, her foot caught on the hem. She stumbled forward and crashed into a candle stand. The fabric caught fire almost instantly. Within seconds, flames raced across the dress. She panicked, and in the confusion, a burning piece of fabric tore loose and landed against me. Pain seared through my skin, and I screamed. Kieran had spent years promising that he would always protect me. Yet when I needed him most, he ran straight past me. "Leah!" He rushed to her without even looking back. "Did you get burned anywhere? Are you hurt?" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I'm okay. I don't know why Alivia tripped me. If she hadn't, I wouldn't have fallen." She looked down at what remained of the burning dress. "And now her wedding dress is ruined..." "Forget the dress!" Kieran snapped before shooting me a venomous glare. Without another word, he scooped Leah into his arms and ran for the door as the fire kept spreading. "Kieran!" Leah shouted over the noise. "Alivia's still inside!" "Forget about her for now! You're hurt!" His voice grew fainter as he carried her farther away. "She can get herself out!" The smoke thickened around me, and every breath scraped painfully at my lungs. I coughed until my chest burned, but nothing hurt as much as watching Kieran disappear through that door without looking back. Something warm slid down my cheek. The man who had once pulled me through the darkest time of my life had just thrown me right back into it. I forced myself toward the door, coughing through the smoke until I finally stumbled outside. By the time I reached the street, my lungs burned, and my whole body trembled. My phone buzzed in my hand. A notification lit up the screen, reminding me that my flight would be taking off soon. Moments later, another message appeared. This one was from our wedding coordinator, asking for final confirmation. I stared at the message for a few seconds before confirming. They could have the wedding I'd spent months planning. I was done with all of it now, and they were welcome to have it. Consider it my gift to them. ... Kieran rushed Leah to the hospital and stayed by her side while the doctors treated her injuries. He didn't relax until they assured him she was fine. Only then did he look around and realize something was missing. Alivia Watson wasn't there. He frowned and glanced toward the entrance. He'd assumed she would follow them to the hospital like she always did, but there was still no sign of her. An uneasy feeling settled in his chest. The longer he waited, the more certain he became that something was wrong. Without wasting another second, Kieran rushed back to the apartment, but the moment he arrived, he stopped dead at what he saw.