Chapter 2

After that night, Julian and I went nearly two weeks without seeing each other.

Yet my feed was flooded with updates of him and Chloe every single day.

Going to theme parks together, catching midnight movie premieres, traveling to the very spots Julian and I had once promised to visit.

I couldn't eat or sleep. In half a month, I dropped nearly ten pounds.

One afternoon, I ended up at the local clinic on an IV drip due to severe hypoglycemia.

Julian's close friend, Leo, called my cell.

"Where are you, Summer? Did you seriously forget it's Julian's birthday today?"

A lump formed in my throat.

In past years, I was always the most eager one planning his birthday.

Julian would pull me to the center of the crowd, raise his glass, and look at me with the softest, most adoring eyes as he thanked me.

Last year, though, he had his arm wrapped around Chloe the entire night, never sparing me a single glance.

Remembering his cruel words on the beach, a lingering ache twisted through my chest. I reflexively declined:

"I haven't been feeling well the past couple of days. You guys have fun. I'll drop off his gift later."

The phone was suddenly snatched away on the other end, Julian's anxious voice cutting through:

"What's wrong with you? Where does it hurt? Why didn't you tell me?"

My eyes stung fiercely.

Whenever I was sick in the past, he was always the one fretting over me, taking care of every little thing.

The truth was, Julian had treated me so well that even when I was no longer his priority, I couldn't find a single valid reason to hate him.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Happy birthday."

I hung up first.

I had already resolved not to harbor any more expectations.

He was the one who said my mere presence brought him shame.

I refused to degrade myself any further.

Yet to my surprise, twenty minutes later, he barged into my clinic room.

He was drenched in sweat, his eyes bloodshot.

Julian practically threw himself at the edge of my bed, frantically checking over me from head to toe.

Then, his voice cracked with raw panic:

"Summer, you're really something, aren't you?! Starving yourself almost to death just to lose weight?!"

He was so furious that his hands were trembling.

Before I could get a word out, Chloe stepped into the room behind him, offering her sickeningly sweet concern:

"Summer, your health comes first. Did you take people's gossip to heart and think Julian didn't want you just because of your weight? Is that why you went on such an extreme diet? Because of this, Julian had to abandon his entire birthday party. He just left all our friends hanging back there."

Her underlying blame was unmistakable.

Julian heard every word and didn't utter a single syllable to defend me.

I swallowed back the explanation I was about to give. Suppressing the storm inside, I looked at them coldly:

"Does any of this have anything to do with you two? I never asked you to come."

It dawned on me that Julian had a buddy working at this clinic. That had to be how he found me.

Seeing my indifferent reaction, Julian's temper flared even harder, his words turning vile:

"Why did I come? There are dozens of clinics in town—why didn't you ask yourself why you picked this exact one? Summer, throwing a tantrum and playing the victim won't work every time! If Chloe hadn't pushed me to check on you, I wouldn't have bothered!"

The genuine worry in his eyes warped into a vicious attack.

"Don't you dare talk to Chloe like that. Let me make this clear right now: it has nothing to do with whether you're fat or skinny. I just don't like you as a person! In my eyes, you don't even compare to a single strand of Chloe's hair!"

He sneered that no matter how much weight I lost, he would never look at me, telling me to stop fishing for pity.

I hadn't done a single thing, yet they barged in just to tear me apart.

My anger slowly drained away, leaving behind a hollow, numbing cold.

I closed my eyes for a long moment, then raised my arm and pointed straight at the door:

"Are you done? If you're done, please leave."

I was so exhausted. Chasing him for years had drained me, but being misunderstood and forced to explain myself was unbearable.

Julian glared at me in sheer disbelief.

"Are you serious, Summer? If I walk out that door today, I'm never checking on you again!"

He assumed I would panic.

Instead, I met his gaze and whispered:

"That would be a relief."