Chapter 2 OLD FRIENDS.
“Let me give you a ride,” the stranger said, stepping beside me, lowering his umbrella until it shielded me from the rain.
“I’ll pass,” I muttered, brushing past him.
But his hand was faster. Without another word, he pressed the umbrella into my grip firmly and then he stepped back, the rain pouring on his shoulders.
“Try not to suffer twice,” he said, voice low. Almost like a warning, not comfort.
Before I could reply, he turned away, slid into his car, and drove off, the taillights fading into the storm.
I stood frozen on the sidewalk, rain still pounding against the umbrella he’d forced into my hand, my heart pounding harder than the thunder overhead.
I had spent the entire night staring at my ceiling.
The storm had passed, but my mind had not. Every flash of lightning, every crack of thunder had replayed Ryan’s voice in my head.
“It’s complicated.”
Complicated.
That was what he called shattering my own life.
I should’ve blocked his number and deleted every trace of him but when my phone buzzed that morning with a call from Mrs. Melissa, Ryan’s mother, a woman I’d come to love deeply, I froze.
“Sweetheart,” Melissa’s warm voice came through the line, unaware of the wreckage left behind. “You didn’t pick up my call last night. Are you still coming for dinner today? Everyone’s so excited to see you!”
My throat went dry.
Right. The family dinner. The first dinner we were supposed to have after our engagement.
The dinner whereby I would be introduced to the rest of the family.
“Ms… mother, I don’t think I can…”
“Ryan said you’re mad at him for something. You should be here, sweetheart. Come to dinner and we will talk things out.”
My heart twisted. I should’ve told her. I should have screamed the truth down the phone. ‘Your son is a liar. A married liar.’
But hearing the older woman’s gentle voice, It broke me.
I couldn’t crush her like that. Not yet.
So I lied.
“Alright, ma’am. I’ll… I’ll be there.”
Now, hours later, I stood outside the Hale gate, staring at the familiar front door. My reflection in the polished glass mocked my tired eyes, and trembling lips.
I wasn’t here for love anymore. I was here for answers.
Tonight, I was going to tell the Hale family everything. I’d tell them all. Even those who were just meeting me tonight for the first time. I would tell them. And then I’d walk away… for good.
With a deep breath, I rang the bell.
Footsteps approached. The door swung open. And there he was.
Ryan Hale.
The smile on his face vanished the instant he saw me.
“Serena…?” His voice came out low, nervous.
“What… what are you doing here?”
I lifted my chin, meeting his eyes. “Your mother invited me.”
Before he could answer, a voice called from deeper inside.
“Oh, is that Serena? Bring her in, Ryan!”
My stomach knotted as I stepped inside carefully, ignoring his pleading eyes.
And then I saw them.
The entire family gathered around the long dining table, smiling, chatting, with wine glasses half-filled.
And across from them, sitting with quiet poise and a polite smile…
Lisa.
Lisa, and the little boy sitting on her lap… the boy who had called Ryan ‘Daddy.’
I froze, the room tilting for a moment. My breath hitched, and every pair of eyes turned toward me.
Mrs. Hale stood, her smile bright. “Oh, you’ve finally met! I was just introducing everyone. Serena, dear, come on here,” she moved from her space, covered the space between her and me, and then linked our arms together.
“You’ve already met Lisa, I suppose? Ryan’s wife.”
I blinked. “His… what?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Mrs. Hale’s brows furrowed, glancing between her son and me. “Ryan said you two were… just old friends.”
My heart dropped and I swear, the room spun. Every face I saw… his parents, his siblings… They all looked away, fidgeting with glasses or napkins.
They knew.
They all knew.
And I was the fool standing in the middle of their perfect family dinner, holding a secret I was never meant to keep.
For a heartbeat, the world went silent.
There was no laughter or clinking of glasses. Just the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
Wife?
Old friends?
My gaze snapped back to Ryan. His face was pale, jaw tight, hands clenched at his sides. He couldn’t even look me in the eye.
“Old friends?” I repeated softly, voice trembling not from weakness, but disbelief. “That is what I am now?”
“Serena…”
“Don’t.” I lifted a hand sharply, cutting him off. “Not here. Not now.”
Mrs. Hale cleared her throat, the tension in the room thick enough to choke on. “You are a good woman, sweetheart. You’re still family.”
Her smile was forced, polite. “However, Lisa has been by his side through… everything.”
‘How about me?!’ I nearly screamed that to everyone’s faces, but instead I blinked, the words hitting like a slap.
They all knew.
I laughed softly, breathless, and broken. “Right. Of course. Why would I expect honesty when it’s so much easier to smile and pretend?”
Mrs. Hale’s expression faltered. “Sweetheart, it wasn’t like that…”
“Oh, please, Mrs Hale!” My eyes shimmered, my voice calm but laced with fire. “You toasted our engagement, remember? Told me I’d be family soon. Guess I should’ve known there was already one.”
Ryan finally spoke, his voice strained. “Serena, please. I didn’t mean…”
I cut him off with a small, bitter smile. “Save it, Ryan. You had four years to mean something.”
There was silence and nobody dared to move, not even the child.
I took a slow breath, straightening my shoulders. Every piece of my heart felt shattered but my pride held me together.
“Well,” I said quietly, “looks like dinner’s already served. No sense in spoiling the celebration.”
I turned toward the door, bag in hand, my voice calm and razor-sharp.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Hale. You’ve raised quite the man.”
And without another word, I walked out.
The door shut softly behind me, leaving a room full of people too ashamed to call me back.
My chest burned, and my hands shook and tears dropped endlessly from my eyes as I walked out of the mansion.
God, I just needed to breathe, and to leave.
A pair of headlights blinked from across the street.
Leaning against a black car, half-hidden in the dark, was a man, tall, still, and watching me like he’d been waiting.
He straightened when I looked his way, his voice low and steady.
“You,” I breathed, almost a whisper.
He was the same man from the previous night.
The stranger who had given me his umbrella.
He tilted his head slightly, eyes sweeping me from head to toe… my clenched fists, the fire still burning in my eyes. Then, finally, he spoke.
“Now, perhaps,” his voice was low, precise, unshaken by the dark.
“You should consider accepting my offer of a ride.”
My eyes narrowed as I looked at him.
That face. Those eyes. I’d seen him before.
Where?
Right!
At the family gathering.
A glance exchanged across a crowded room.
Then, I remembered. A frown pulled on my face and I smacked my lips.
He is one of them.
He is a Hale.
Ryan’s cold uncle.
Damien Thorne Hale.