In the distance, she heard a phone ringing loudly.

Josie groaned and wished the sound away.

To her delight, it stopped.

But then it rang again.

Josie threw her arm in the direction of the sound. When she found what felt like her phone, she grasped it and brought it closer to her. Prying an eyelid open, the high brightness instantly blinded her. She saw a number she didn’t recognise on her phone’s screen and answered the call.

“Hello,” she murmured, irritated that her sleep had been interrupted.

“Miss Faulkner?”

“That’s me,” she confirmed.

And then Josie heard words and not sentences as her heart ripped apart. Tears dragged down her cheeks as she flung the blanket off her body and said, “I’m on my way,” before throwing her phone onto her bed.

Josie raced to her closet, flicked on the light, and pulled open a drawer. She removed the first pair of jeans she found and slipped them on. She now cursed herself for being stupid enough to sleep in just her underwear and a long sleeve shirt. Josie grasped the zipper of her jeans and tried to pull it up.

She had tried twice before her body began to heat in frustration and anger.

“Fuck it!” she cursed as she left her jeans unbuttoned and pulled a coat off a hanger. Then she slipped into a pair of flats, grabbed her phone off the bed, and raced out of her bedroom. On her way out of her apartment, she swiped her keys off the hallway table and raced out, unsure if she locked the door behind her.

How Josie didn’t have an accident as she drove with tears in her eyes was beyond her.

She had found parking close by the electronic doors, got out of her car, and shoved her keys into her blue coat pocket.

When she found the desk, she raced towards it, and the nurse gave her a tight smile. She wasn’t sure if it was Kristy or Kirsty, but she did know that the double choc fudge cupcakes were her favourites.

“Hello, Josie.”

“Someone called,” Josie said, getting straight to the point. “They didn’t say—”

“I’ll page Dr Frederickson now,” Kristy/Kirsty said.

Josie pushed off the desk and covered her face with her hands. She took several deep breaths, hoping it would calm her, but it was no use.

She shook in fear.

Her chest pained because it seemed to know the truth.

And her eyes stung from the relentless number of tears that kept being produced and kept falling.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been crying when Dr Frederickson pulled her hands away from her face and led her through double doors to a quiet hallway.

The doctor had set his hands on her shoulders and apologised.

Then he spoke words that had her fall to her knees, sobbing.

He broke her heart with a sentence.

He tore out her soul with a statement.

He ruined her with the truth.

Dr Frederickson sent her home.

He gave her papers to read.

He offered her his support and comfort.

And Josie gave him silence.

It was a blur.

She had no idea what time the hospital had called her.

And she had no idea what time it was when she walked through the security gate of her apartment building.

Her heart was no longer in her chest.

It was left crushed in that hallway.

Josie’s throat was raw from her cries and shouts.

Her tears came and went.

But the immense pain stayed.

When she glanced up from her feet, she noticed Max sitting on the step.

In light of the circumstances, something in her found hope and warmth at the sight of him.

A faint smile began to cross her lips but was halted immediately when Max lifted his eyes to hers, and she saw the pain in his brown eyes. His eyes glazed over and his bottom lip trembled.

“Josephine,” he pleaded as he slowly got to his feet.

Pain struck her.

She knew.

She knew what he would say.

What remained of her heart tumbled from her chest to fall deeper.

And deeper,

and deeper …

Until it no longer beat for her.

Josie covered her face with her palms and sobbed.

Not Max.

This could not be happening to her.

Not after everything.

Arms were around her as she shook.

She wanted to push him away.

She wanted to scream at him that this wasn’t fair.

She wanted to tell him what she had just walked out of.

She wanted to yell that a doctor broke her heart and Max killed her off.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She didn’t believe him.

He was selfish.

So selfish.

He had no idea what sorry was.

“I have to go with her.”

He was choosing Andrea.

She hated him.

So much.

With all her charcoaled heart, she hated him.

Josie wanted to push him away, but her knees gave way, and he held her.

“I love you.”

You’re a liar!

But she remained silent.

“Please believe me. I love you.”

He wounded her with more pain.

“You promised you’d wait for me.”

But she wouldn’t.

She wouldn’t wait for a liar.

“You’re my La Vie En Rose,” he promised, and that got a reaction from her.

Josie pushed off his chest and slapped him hard across the face.

He had insulted her.

He had insulted her mother.

But most importantly …

He had insulted her love for him.

He had no idea what being someone’s La Vie En Rose meant.

She watched his mouth tell her lies.

She saw them, but she didn’t hear them.

Then he whispered, “Goodbye, Josephine.”

It wasn’t the first goodbye she’d heard today, but it was the first she had heard from his lying lips.

And with the first goodbye he had ever given her, she realised her love for Maxwell Sheridan was by far the worst disappointment she had ever experienced.

Then he left her.

Just like her father.

And just like her mother.