Chapter 3: Seven Years Reduced to a Secret

Jared's friends took turns blaming me while he quietly comforted Yvette, who was crying.

A chill ran through me. The overwhelming humiliation became almost too much to bear.

Just when I was about to break down, Jared finally let go of Yvette and walked toward me.

He lowered his voice. "Tasha, how did you find this place?"

I looked at him and forced a bitter smile. "So you're not asking why I came, but how I found this place?"

His expression flickered, then he reached out to grab my hand. "Don't make a scene here. Let's talk outside."

I pulled my hand away.

"I'm making a scene?" I asked. "Jared, you've hidden me for seven years and her for three. Today, I just want to hear you say one thing in front of everyone. Who am I to you?"

Jared's expression slowly hardened. He hated seeing me cry more than anything. When I had a stomachache, he would drive across the city in the middle of the night to buy me medicine. Whenever I was on my period, he'd get the heating pad ready and anything else I might need.

But now, as I was shaking all over, he looked at me like I was nothing more than a clueless nuisance. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the hotel.

Seeing my red-rimmed eyes, he sighed. "Tasha, since you've already found out, I won't hide it from you anymore. Yvette and I have been together for three years.

"But don't worry. I still love you the most. I'll marry you, but I'll have a wedding with her too. Just think of it as compensation to her. Yvette is just a simple woman. She can't live without me. You understand, right?"

A wave of disbelief washed over me. I looked at the man standing before me as if I were seeing him for the first time. "Why?"

Jared laughed softly and touched my face. His voice was gentle, but his words were cruel. "Tasha, we've been together for seven years. I know you can't live without me. Besides, we're practically engaged. Be good. Stop being difficult."

It was the same nonsense again.

Whenever I told him I wanted to make our relationship public, asked to meet the people in his life, or admitted how much his mixed signals hurt me, he'd frown and say, "Don't start." It was as if my pain, my insecurities, and every moment when I wanted him to choose me were all nothing more than me being difficult.

I closed my eyes for a moment. After a long silence, I said softly, "Fine. I won't make a scene."

I chose to walk away from this.

Jared smiled in satisfaction and kissed my forehead.

"I knew you'd behave. Go home first," he said. "I have to stay with Yvette tonight. She's got a bit of a temper. After what you said today, I need to go calm her down."

I fought back the urge to throw up and turned to leave.

After leaving the hotel, I called my best friend, Zoe Levine, right away. It hurt too much. I just wanted to find someone close and cry.

The moment she answered and I called her name, my tears fell. I told her everything bit by bit, my voice growing shakier as I spoke. "Zoe, aren't I ridiculous? I've dated Jared for seven years, and no one even knows I'm his girlfriend. Even that woman doesn't know."

There was a long silence on the other end. So long that I thought the connection had dropped. Then Zoe sighed and said, "So you still found out in the end."

I froze. "What do you mean?"

I heard her take a quiet breath.

She said, "Yvette was my college classmate. She met Jared through me."

In that moment, something inside me shattered.

I remembered three years ago, when Zoe suddenly mentioned a college classmate who was overseas and had a great personality. She said Jared could contact Yvette if he ever needed help while traveling for work.

Back then, I even laughed and said, "Don't introduce him to pretty women. I'll get jealous."

Zoe had patted my shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I'll always be on your side."

My voice trembled uncontrollably. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Zoe sounded anxious. "Tasha, I wasn't trying to hide it from you. At first, I didn't know things would turn out this way between them. Later, Yvette really fell for Jared, and he started treating her differently too."

I gave a small, empty laugh. "So?"

She said, "So I didn't know how to tell you."

I closed my eyes, my tears stinging as they fell.

Zoe was my best friend. In high school, we had even shared a dorm bed. The first time I fought with Jared, she walked with me around the school field until dawn. The year Jared's business failed, she told me not to give up on him. She said a relationship that could survive hardship was the most precious kind.

But now, it felt like I had been slapped across the face.

The phone was pressed to my ear, but Zoe's voice sounded increasingly distant.

"Tasha, I'm begging you. Please don't make a scene," she pleaded. "Yvette is a great person. She's very innocent. Everyone has seen what she and Jared have built these past three years.

"They make a great couple. Even Jared's friends all like her. His mother has met her too."

I stopped breathing for a moment.

I had been with Jared for seven years, and he had never taken me to meet his mother. He always told me, "Babe, my mom has a bad temper. I don't want to see you hurt. When the time is right, I'll take you home to meet her."

But he had already introduced Yvette to his family, while I was still foolishly waiting for "the right time".

It was as if I were a secret he couldn't let anyone know about. He had blinded me with sweet promises and kept me hidden away where no one knew I existed.

But Yvette didn't have to fight him, ask, or wait. She had everything. She had his friends' blessings and his family's approval. And now she even had Zoe, my best friend, speaking up for her.

Zoe spoke in a quieter voice. "Tasha, please listen to me. Don't ruin this for them."

I simply ended the call, unable to say another word.