Page 121 of From Me to You

Mikey scratched his head. “E, what are you doing? You are destroying him.”

I shrugged.Yes, I know Mikey—I was destroying him, but you don’t know how much that was destroying me.

Katy looked at me with a sad look on her face. I still hadn’t spoken to her. And she stopped trying after she saw how much I was ruining her best friend. She hated me now. So did Lan, who only glared at me these days. Matt didn’t speak to me as well, but he tried. His once-warm eyes only looked at me with confusion laced with a hint of disdain. I thanked God that Lily wasn’t here to witness all this mess.

I was ruining everyone. The people who once called me their family hated me. Because I was breaking their best friend into a million little pieces.

It broke me just the same, if not more. I sighed.

Mikey placed a hand on my shoulder. He was the only one who still hadn’t given up on me. He was truly concerned with my behavior because he knew how much I loved Jay so much.

“E, he is struggling because of how you are acting.”

I pushed him off, took a bottle of wine, and walked outside. I sat on the lounge chair and took a huge swig from the wine bottle. The alcohol rushed into my body, numbing my already-cold veins.

Mikey followed me and took a seat beside me. He sighed as he laid back on the chair.

“I won’t ask you anything. I will just stay here by your side,” he said softly.

Hot tears cascaded down my eyes like raindrops sliding down a car window. I cried silently, and he never asked me why. God, I was going to miss Mikey. Especially my baby. But I had to go for them to live the dream that they had always wanted.

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Today was the day. My last day with Jay. I felt the pain deep in my bones. I didn’t sleep a wink last night because how could I when my entire world was falling apart?

I turned to stare at Jay. He looked so peaceful when he slept. His long black eyelashes rested on his cheek like he was an angel. His lips pouted as he breathed and with his hair wild and tousled, sticking up everywhere, he looked so beautiful.

I couldn’t help but place a kiss on his forehead and cuddle up to him.

Jay’s eyes scrunched up before he opened them. His beautiful blues gazed straight at me, a slow smile forming on his face.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he mumbled before pulling me deeper into his arms.

I sank into his delicious warmth, inhaling his clean, woodsy scent that I loved so much while I listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart.

His arms embraced me tighter, his fingers playing with my hair.

We both knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know why. He didn’t vocalize it because he knew it would turn into an argument.

Things were far from fine between us. We argued all the time. I hated it doing all of this but the alcohol in my system helped. My days started with a bottle of wine and ended with a pounding headache.

I switched off the location finder on my phone, which only made him madder. Between his work and me, he couldn’t find the time to understand all of this. It confused him. It made him mad.

We stayed like this for hours—we didn’t speak a word while I lay there in his arms, my home, one last time. I wasn’t ready to let him go.

Later that evening, I donned a tight white bodycon dress because I hated the color. But I wore it for a reason because tonight was going to be the night when it all came down, crashing.

I would never wear white after that night. That much I knew.

“You ready?” Jay asked, holding out a hand for me.

I nodded as I took it. We were going to the Arcadia tonight to celebrate the success of the band’s first single. The Brown-Eyed Girl was officially rebranded and launched as their single for the album. It broke so many streaming records that it landed in the top five of the official charts. It was steadily climbing to the number one spot. There were so many talks that this album wasgoing to be a huge hit. I knew it would be all because of his hard work and talent. I was so proud of them. It reminded me that my sacrifice meant something and that it wasn’t a waste.

I wondered how many other artists were struggling because of these big-name labels. It was a cruel thing to do when so many artists were capable of so much more. I wished that when Jay became pretty established, he would help a lot of artists achieve their dreams.

The band made rounds, greeting everyone who was congratulating them on their success, while I sipped on my fifth glass of wine for the day, listening to the numbing techno beat thudding through the speakers. I needed all that alcohol for what I was about to do.

White slid in next to me with a dirty martini in her hand.