Chapter 2

I replied:

[No.]

He asked again:

[Then why'd you add me?]

I typed back with an icy expression:

[You were the one who added me first, remember?]

There was a long silence on his end. Then one message appeared.

[Oh.]

That day, I stared at that single word for some reason, and a tiny smile slipped across my face.

After that, we somehow started getting closer.

We went from talking about games to school, from school to everyday life, and then from everyday life to saying good night every night before bed.

He did not know who I was. He did not know that I was Nevaeh's sister.

As for me, it was not until almost a month after we met that I slowly figured out who he was from a class schedule he sent me and some of his complaints about school.

Edward.

I stared at his name for a long time. My heart was pounding, yet I did not dare ask a single question.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, yet I could not make myself let him go.

Online, I was not Nevaeh's invisible little sister.

I could argue with him, I could tease him, and I could act like a brat. Whenever a message from him popped up on my phone, I could secretly be happy about it for hours.

Back then, he always called me Char.

One day, I asked him why.

He said:

[It rolls off the tongue.]

[It sounds kind of cute, too.]

I stared at those words as my ears slowly grew hot.

What I did not know was whether he called me Char because of me, or because he thought I was Nevaeh.

After the final exams, he confessed his feelings.

[Char, wanna give dating me a try?]

I stared at the message, completely stunned. It took me a long time to carefully type back:

[What do you like about me?]

Edward replied almost immediately.

[Your temper.]

[You're stubborn.]

[You love arguing with me.]

[Every single one of those things is annoying, but somehow, when you put them all together, I kind of like you.]

My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold my phone.

In the end, I sent back one word:

[Okay.]

From that day on, Edward became my boyfriend, as well as the deepest, most carefully guarded secret I had ever kept.

I thought that as long as I never told him the truth, things could stay this way forever.

Three days ago, Edward sent me several pictures of gold necklaces.

He asked:

[Which one do you think looks best?]

I lay on my stomach on the bed and studied them for a long time. In the end, I picked the simplest, most elegant one.

I told him:

[This one. I think an older relative would like it.]

Edward sent back a nodding emoji. Then he said:

[I think so too.]

At the time, I stared at my phone and secretly smiled for a long time.

Now, I stared at the gold necklace in Mom's hand, and my heart slowly sank to the bottom of my chest.

It was exactly the same one.

That was when I finally understood. He had not been asking me which necklace I liked. He had been asking me to pick out a gift for my sister.

The reason he had not replied to my messages for the past 3 days was not because he had been busy. He had been with Nevaeh instead.

I covered my mouth tightly with one hand, yet the tears still slipped down one after another.

My phone suddenly lit up. A message from Edward.

Just 3 words:

[Are you asleep?]

I stared at those 3 words, and my heart actually hurt.

Moments earlier, at the dinner table, my sister had been laughing as she said the necklace was a gift from her future boyfriend.

The truth was right in front of me, yet Edward still messaged me as if nothing had happened.

I stared at the screen for a long time. In the end, I did not reply. I opened his profile and deleted him.

I did not block him. I simply removed him from my contacts, as if I were leaving myself one last way out without making things even more humiliating.

The moment I deleted him, I felt strangely empty.

Then, almost the very next second, a new friend request popped up.