Chapter 2

I walked into the dorm to find Danny Moore glued to his phone, a smug, giddy smile plastered across his face as he typed away.

A dull ache settled in my chest.

I knew instantly who he was messaging.

"Oh, hey. You're back," Danny said when he noticed me. "I thought you were staying at your place tonight?"

I gave a casual nod.

My family lived right here in town, so my roommates always assumed I went home whenever I didn't return to the dorm.

In reality, I spent most of those nights holed up in Vera's off-campus apartment.

Danny was practically glowing as he tossed an arm over my shoulder. "I had no idea that was your sister who picked you up from the party earlier! I totally thought she was your girlfriend."

I froze mid-unpacking.

Sister?

Something twisted hard in my gut.

So that was how Vera had spun it.

How classy. Sleeping with her own "brother".

Our families had been friends for generations, and Vera and I grew up together.

We'd been secretly dating since high school, keeping our relationship hidden from both our families for five long years.

She had once promised she'd marry me after graduation.

I never imagined she would turn around and tire of me so quickly.

This wasn't even the first time she had fooled around with other men.

I had caught her sending flirty texts in the past, and I was so consumed by jealousy that I'd even threatened to break up with her.

But every single time, she would smooth things over, reassuring me that those men were just playthings to her, and that I was her one and only.

Whenever I begged her to make us public, she always refused. Her excuse was always the same—since our families were so close, coming clean would mean being pushed straight into an engagement and forced into marriage the second we were old enough.

I couldn't bear the thought of throwing five years away, so I backed down time and time again.

But this time, I was done waiting for her.

"Yves, what's wrong?" Danny eyed me with a hint of suspicion.

I snapped back to reality. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired."

Suspecting nothing, he excitedly shoved his phone screen in my face. "She invited me to go racing with her tomorrow! How did she know I was into cars? Hey, which outfit do you think looks cooler? You gotta know your sister's taste, right?"

Vera once told me that racing was the only thing she loved almost as much as breathing.

In five years together, she had never taken me along once.

Yet now, to win Danny over, she was handing him the most exclusive spot by her side without a second thought.

Everything I thought was sacred had meant nothing to her at all.

I looked into Danny's eager eyes and felt an odd sense of weightlessness wash over me.

The weight that had been chaining me down was finally lifted.

"Wear this," I said, pulling a leather biker jacket from his closet. "She goes for the wild type."