The Day I Needed Him Most, He Chose HerChapter 1
The day I discovered that he'd saved Juliana Fox's contact name as "Baby" in his phone, he told me it was just an inside joke between coworkers.
I believed him the first time.
The second time was at our engagement party. Juliana called, slurring that she'd had too much to drink, and he abandoned a room full of guests to go pick her up.
My mother's hands shook with rage. He still had the nerve to tell me, "Don't be childish."
The third time. The fourth.
It wasn't until I slammed the divorce papers down in his face that he looked at me, eyes red, and asked, "Why?"
Why?
Because the day I had my miscarriage, he was out celebrating Juliana's birthday.
Betrayal after betrayal, until there was nothing left inside me to break.
——
I first noticed something was off with Clay Dickerson last autumn.
He was in the shower. His phone lay on the bed, and the screen lit up.
I hadn't meant to look, but a text notification popped up. The contact name read "Juliana."
"Thanks for helping me pick out that gift today. Your girlfriend won't be mad, will she?"
I froze.
Girlfriend?
We'd been together five years. Engaged for three months. She didn't know he was engaged?
I scrolled up. The entire chat history had been wiped clean.
But that single message was enough to keep me up all night.
Clay came out of the bathroom, towel around his shoulders. He saw me staring at his phone, and something flickered across his face. "What are you looking at?"
"Who's Juliana?"
His hand paused mid-stroke, toweling his hair. Then he laughed. "A coworker. New girl in the marketing department. What, jealous?"
He walked over and wrapped his arms around me. He smelled like body wash, clean and warm.
That scent. It suddenly felt unfamiliar.
"She said you helped her pick out a gift."
"Yeah, her boyfriend's birthday is coming up. She asked me to tag along, help her decide. She just moved to Graystone City, doesn't know anyone yet, so I've been looking out for her." He pinched my cheek. "What's going on in that head of yours? Me and her? Seriously?"
I looked into his earnest eyes and swallowed the words then why did you delete the chat history?
Five years. He'd started pursuing me junior year of college. Chased me for a full year before I said yes.