Grandpa's dying wish is to see me get married, so I quickly call up my girlfriend, Roxanne Moore.

However, she scoffs at me, saying, "Why do you keep trying to force me to marry you? Why are you so disgusting? How many times must I tell you that Sam is getting over a breakup right now? As his best friend, how can I make him feel even worse by suddenly getting married?

"We'll discuss marriage once he has recovered from his broken heart. Anyway, I've got to go. I'm still on my business trip."

The line goes dead, and so does my heart.

I look up at Mom. "I'll marry the person you picked out for me."

Austin's First-Person POV

"I'll come pick you up in a week," Mom said to me.

Once she left, I went out drinking with a buddy of mine, Dean Gould. However, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two familiar figures at the bar.

Samuel Chapman had his arm around Roxanne Moore's waist. His other hand had slipped under her skirt, and I could see the light catching on something slick that coated his fingers.

I saw the looks of blissful ecstasy.

Rage surged within me. I couldn't stop myself from storming over to them.

The moment Roxanne met my blazing gaze, her eyes flashed with sheepish guilt. She quickly pulled Samuel's hand from under her skirt.

But at the very next moment, she began questioning me, "Why are you here? Are you hooking up with some slut off the street?"

I clenched my fists and fired back, "Didn't you say you were still on a business trip? Why are you here at a bar with Samuel?"

Before Roxanne could speak, Samuel piped up, "Austin, you can't blame Roxy. She only lied to you because she was afraid you'd get jealous."

"Shut the hell up!" It was the first time I'd ever shouted that loudly.

"Roxanne, you keep saying he's your best friend, but he's a guy! And you just let him feel you up like this? If someone didn't know better, they'd think you two were a couple, fooling around in a bar right in front of everyone! Did you ever think about how I'd feel?"

After my furious outburst, however, I met Roxanne's gaze, and my heart turned cold.

With a perfectly calm expression, she said coolly, "Are you done? If anything was going to happen between Sam and me, do you think you would've been able to become my boyfriend? If you're going to get jealous over nothing, get the hell out of here. Go home. I've never met a man as petty as you."

I stood there, stunned. For a moment, she felt alarmingly unfamiliar to me.

Roxanne's reaction was far too calm. It was as if she were just a bystander, watching indifferently as I lost my mind.

"Roxy, if it's really such a big deal, I'll just apologize to Austin. You should stop meeting me too. I wouldn't want Austin to misunderstand our relationship," Samuel chimed in again, his eyes red, as if he'd been hurt and wronged.

This was his usual trick.

Whenever Roxanne and I got into a fight because of him, he would act as if I were somehow targeting him on purpose.

"Why should you apologize? It's not your fault. He's the petty one," Roxanne declared. "Let's go, Sam. We'll hang out at an amusement park instead. I'm not going to stay here and let some fool piss me off."

As always, Roxanne took Samuel's side and walked off with him.

But after a few steps, she stopped. For a second, I thought she'd regretted her reaction.

"We're not even married yet, Austin. If you're this mean to my friend again, I'm breaking up with you!"

She threw a cocktail in my face.

I watched as Roxanne left, my nails digging into my palms. I couldn't tell which hurt the most, my hands or my heart.

Dean patted me on the shoulder to comfort me.

My lips curled into a rueful smile, my gaze bitter.

Nine years was a long time, Roxanne. I wasn't going to waste any more of my time.

As soon as I got home, I received a message from Roxanne.

"I'm not coming back to the house tonight. Sam wants to see the light show at midnight on the beach, so I'm watching it with him."

At the same time, Samuel also posted on his social media.

"Who's the poor guy who doesn't have someone to go to the amusement park with? Who's the lonely sucker who doesn't get to watch the light show with a gorgeous chick by his side? Well, it's not me!"

He uploaded a photo of himself and Roxanne on a Ferris wheel, and another of their shadows forming a heart shape.

No matter how I looked at it, it was clear he was mocking me.

After all, I was the one who first suggested going to the amusement park with Roxanne today. I talked about wanting to see the light show at midnight on the beach.

Fueled by the booze, I tore up the love letters Roxanne once wrote to me, along with the photos we'd taken together over the years.

As I looked at the torn fragments now, memories of the past came back to me.

Roxanne and I had known each other since high school. She asked me out during our freshman year of college, and we'd been together ever since.

It'd been a whole nine years since we started dating in college. All of our friends called us the ideal couple.

But, on the very day I proposed to Roxanne, Samuel came back to the country. He claimed he just had his heart broken after a breakup, and Roxanne was the only person in his life who could make him feel loved.

He said he didn't think he could carry on living if she got married.

As a result, Roxanne rejected my proposal, saying that she needed to accompany Samuel while he recovered from his emotional trauma.

I thought it only meant a short postponement of our eventual marriage. I never expected Roxanne to start refusing to come to my house. More and more of her attention went to Samuel.

On my birthday, Samuel could summon her by simply saying that he missed her.

On our anniversary, she held a yacht party for him without saying a word to me.

Roxanne had never cooked a day in her life, but for his sake, she learned how to cook.

The only time Roxanne ever got angry at Samuel was when he put rat poison in my food. I'd ended up hospitalized in the ICU for an entire month.

That day, she promised me she would teach Samuel a lesson and keep her distance from him.

She went back on her word the very next day.

With an apologetic smile, she explained, "Sam was just kidding around. He didn't think it would be that serious. He cried his heart out last night and almost slit his wrists to take his own life. Since he's already apologized, let's just forget about it, okay?"

I should've known to cut my losses back then, but at the time, I remained hopeful. I genuinely believed that Roxanne would follow through on her promise to distance herself from him.

But now, after just six short months, Samuel had already taken everything that once belonged to me.

I burned the torn photos and letters. All the feelings I had for her disappeared along with them.

After contacting a real estate agent about selling the house, I spent the night alone on the couch.

When I woke up, I had a blanket over me. The living room wasn't as messy as it had been last night.

Roxanne came out of the kitchen with breakfast in her hands. "I made your favorite—blueberry pancakes."

I didn't eat them.

Roxanne continued, "Sam is sick. He suffers from depression, so that's why I had to take his side yesterday. Since you're not sick, you should be more patient and accepting toward him."

She made it sound like she'd just said the most reasonable thing in the world—like it was my duty to put up with such treatment.

"You forgot that I'm allergic to blueberries," I finally said.

Roxanne stiffened. Only then did she remember that blueberry pancakes were Samuel's favorite. She'd made it out of habit.

As it was, scenarios such as this had occurred many times before. She'd forgotten all about my preferences long ago, but she knew Samuel's favorites like the back of her hand.

"Sam isn't even allergic to it. Why are you so fussy and problematic?" Roxanne snapped impatiently. "Do whatever you want then. I don't care if you eat it or not."

She never would've acted this way in the past.

But now, all of her care and tenderness were reserved for Samuel and him alone. All I got was her anger and temper.

Why?

Because I wasn't suffering from mental health issues. I could take it.

"Just come right out and say it," I said before pausing to take a deep breath. "What does Samuel want this time?"

It'd become a pattern by now. Whenever Roxanne showed me the slightest hint of warmth or care, it always had something to do with Samuel.

"It's nothing, really," Roxanne said as she schooled her tone back into a patient one. "Sam wants to have a baby with me. His psychiatrist said it would help with his recovery."

I froze. Could any words sound more absurd than that?

Roxanne was telling her own boyfriend she wanted to have another man's baby!

I never imagined she would go to such lengths for Samuel. She would rather have a child with him than marry me.

After laughing in self-deprecation, I nodded. "Let's break up. That way, nothing will get in the way of you having his baby."

Roxanne's eyes flashed with disbelief. She shot to her feet, screaming, "Austin Shaw! This is not a discussion. I'm telling you my decision! Don't even think about threatening me with a breakup. I'm having Sam's baby no matter what!"

Her tone made it sound like I was the most heinous and deplorable man to ever exist.

At that moment, I just felt exhausted.

At my silence, Roxanne chose to push me even further, declaring, "Sam will be moving in with us. Remember to move your things out of the master bedroom. But don't worry. Once I've delivered the baby, I'll marry you."

Not only was she going to have someone else's child, but she wanted to make a baby right here, in my house?

It was nothing short of humiliation.

But right now, I wasn't in the mood to argue with her. I didn't have the strength to either.

Just then, Roxanne got a call from Samuel.

"I miss you so much, Roxy," Samuel whined, his tone coy and cutesy.

Roxanne used to say she found that kind of mannerism disgusting, but now, she responded to him with a sweet smile, her tone affectionate. "Patience, Sam. I'll come over to see you right away."

Once she finished speaking, she rushed out the door without even sparing a glance at me.

Not long after, Roxanne changed her WhatsApp profile picture from a photo of us to one of her and Samuel on the Ferris wheel, their hands forming a heart sign together.

Samuel did the same.

They both updated their WhatsApp status to say, "I heard that the wish you make at the highest point of the Ferris wheel will always come true."

By comparison, I looked like the clown who was trying to get between them.

As the humiliation surged within me, I moved to pack my things, only to get a call from Maureen Hill, Roxanne's mother.

"Austin, you need to come to the office right away. There's a business deal that only you can handle."

I told her I'd be there.

Firstly, Maureen had been pretty nice to me all this time, so I wanted to say a proper goodbye to her. And secondly, I had to take back the family heirloom Grandma had left to me.

Once I arrived at the company, Maureen immediately gave me a cup of coffee, saying, "Have some coffee to warm yourself up."

A warmth stirred in my chest.

She continued, "By the way, Roxy tells me that you two are planning to have a baby? You should arrange a meeting with your parents, so that both families can get to know each other better. You and Roxy should set a date for the wedding ceremony."

I blanked for a moment before realizing that Roxanne had hidden the truth from Maureen. I was just about to tell her when she added, "But even after you two get married, don't forget about Sam, okay? You need to look out for him. He and Roxy are childhood friends. He's like a son to me."

Instantly, the words caught in my throat. I simply busied myself with work before heading to Roxanne's office.

Grandma had previously given me an emerald bracelet. It was a family heirloom meant to be passed down to the daughters-in-law of the family.

Since Roxanne and I weren't going to end up together, it was time for me to take back the bracelet. But when I opened the safe, it wasn't there.

Amid my confusion, the office door opened.

Samuel came in while twirling an emerald bracelet around his fingers—the very same one Grandma left to me.

I couldn't believe that Roxanne would give away a family heirloom from my grandma to someone else.

Suppressing my rage, I growled, "That bracelet is mine. Give it back."