Chapter 3

Derek walked in first, with Valerie trailing closely behind him.

Derek stopped right across from the couch, keeping his distance.

Valerie lingered by the entryway, head bowed, not daring to take another step.

"Chloe, we need to talk."

Derek’s tone was remarkably calm now, like a manager addressing a routine meeting.

I said nothing, waiting for him to speak.

"Valerie and I... we are together."

He finally stopped pretending she was just a casual acquaintance.

"It’s been three years."

"We didn't want to keep lying to you, but we just didn't know how to tell you."

"We both feel terrible about hurting you."

Valerie walked over then, standing beside Derek.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry," she whimpered, her voice cracking with tears. "Derek and I... we truly love each other."

"We never wanted to hurt you, but we couldn't let each other go."

"That’s why we kept it a secret."

"What do you want?" I asked flatly.

Derek and Valerie exchanged a glance.

Derek cleared his throat. "We were thinking... as long as you're okay with it, the three of us can still be in each other's lives, just like before."

"Valerie and I are in love."

"Moving forward, she and I will be together, and you can stay our close friend."

When those words left his mouth, my mind went entirely blank for two seconds.

Then, I laughed out loud.

"Close friends."

I repeated the words, savoring the sheer absurdity.

Derek’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

I stood up and walked over to the coffee table.

"If you loved her so much, why the hell did you propose to me last month?"

The moment the question dropped, the air in the room vanished.

Valerie whipped her head around to glare at Derek.

Her face wasn't angry—it was pure, unfiltered shock.

"You proposed to her?" she demanded.

Derek’s expression cracked.

"It’s not what you think," he rushed to reassure Valerie. "I only did it to keep Chloe pacified! Otherwise, she would have started suspecting things!"

"To keep me pacified?" I chimed in, smiling coldly. "You proposed to me just to keep me quiet so you could keep screwing her behind my back?"

Derek shut his mouth, trapped.

Valerie's eyes welled with tears. "You proposed to her? Then what am I to you?"

In that instant, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over me.

I looked at the two people standing before me. One was the man I had dated for six years; the other was the friend I had trusted for twenty.

And here they were, bickering over a hollow proposal.

While I stood on the sidelines like an unwanted ghost.

"Enough," I said.

Both of them looked at me simultaneously.

"I agree."

Derek’s eyes instantly lit up with relief.

"You two can be together. I won't stand in your way."

"On one condition."

"Pay me seventy thousand dollars. After that, you two can do whatever the hell you want, and I'll disappear from your lives forever."

Over the last six years, I had covered more than half our rent. For three years, he swiped my credit cards, not to mention all the gifts, groceries, and cash transfers I had sent him.

It easily added up to seventy thousand dollars.

"Seventy thousand?" Derek frowned, his voice rising. "Are you insane?"

"Don't want to pay?"

I picked up my phone from the coffee table.

"Fine by me. I’ll blast the photos I took today all over Instagram, TikTok, and your company's Slack channels."