Chapter 61. Betrayal

Joan POV

I thought getting a job would finally make me happy. Instead, I found myself calling in sick, that I got the flu.

Once I left Aaron’s office, I went straight to the convenience store, grabbed a few bottles of beer, and headed home.

I drank until I was numb, cried until my eyes felt dry, took a scalding shower, and curled up in bed. Still, nothing felt better. I kept trying to figure out what was wrong, but the answers wouldn’t come.

Even as evening fell, I didn’t move. My phone buzzed with texts and calls, but I ignored them all. I knew it wasn’t him. It would never be him again.

He had meant it when he said we were done, and my heart—God, my heart—felt like it had shattered into a million pieces.

If I thought I’d been in love before, it was a lie compared to this. Aaron made me fall hard, so fast I couldn’t stop it. And then he crushed me.

It was over now. I knew I had to let myself mourn what could have been, but I felt so