Chapter 4

The string of figures on the screen was more money than she and Jack could earn in most of a lifetime, and it was the lifelong goal of that small-town man, so arrogant and so insecure, always reaching beyond his grasp.

I leaned close to her ear and murmured.

"I just feel sorry for you, that even now you still can't see your husband doesn't love you one bit."

"What do you think you can hold him with? That failing heart of yours, or those pathetic savings?"

"He's got a chance to live the good life with me now. You really think he'd choose you, a dead weight?"

Vivian's lips trembled for a long moment, until finally she shrieked, breaking down.

"You're lying! He could never abandon me!"

"He's the one who wants to find a hypnotist to kill you, to cut out your heart and use it to keep me alive. He couldn't possibly love you!"

"You're nothing but a walking organ bank. Your whole life, you'll never measure up to me!"

And just then.

The door opened and Jack came in, his whole face glowing green.

The corner of my mouth lifted.

Time for the show to begin.

Before I could say a word, Jack rushed over and clamped his hand over Vivian's mouth.

"It's only out of our years together as husband and wife that I've treated you with any courtesy, and you go and slander me like this!"

"Fine, then let's split, right now. I'll never care whether you live or die again!"

I watched coolly from the side.

Jack wanted me to fall apart, to go mad and seek death, to cradle my heart and offer it up to them.

So I'd let them turn on each other first, dog biting dog, mouths full of fur.

Vivian's eyes went wide as she fought with everything she had, until at last she was smothered into unconsciousness.

Only after dealing with Vivian did Jack turn and take my hand.

"Nora, you have to believe me. I'm sincere about you."

His eyes reddened, his voice thick.

"You remember how it used to be, don't you? If Vivian hadn't come between us, we'd have been married long ago. We might even have a kid running around by now."

I'd once believed his feelings for me were real too.

When it rained on the way to school as kids, he'd give me his umbrella and walk home in the rain with just his jacket draped over him.

When all the other students looked down on my poor family and ran off to play with Vivian, he was the only one who'd secretly slip me food, afraid I'd go hungry.

When people picked on me, he was the only one who'd stand up and speak for me.

People around town used to joke that our two families were sure to be in-laws someday.

...

He made me feel like he was the only one in the whole world who was good to me, and so I trusted him without reservation and was grateful to him.

It never even crossed my mind that the one he truly held in his heart was Vivian.

That girl who'd come from the city after her parents' divorce, wearing lace dresses the people in our town had only ever seen on TV, with hundreds of dollars in allowance a month, breezing along like the wind.

It was only later that I understood.

To people like them, who put their own interests above all else, a person like me who'd pour out her whole heart for a little kindness was the cheapest thing around.

A backup option that could be discarded at any moment.

I steadied myself and gently pushed his hand away.

"Let me go home and think it over."

The more out of reach I was, the more he'd want me.

Those next few nights, I kept dreaming of Jack.

In the dreams he knelt at my feet, sobbing, a mess of tears and snot.

"Nora, I really can't lose you. Without you I can't go on living."

He'd done so much for me. Surely I ought to be moved?

A prodigal's return is worth more than gold, after all.

A woman has to be brave for love at least once, doesn't she?

These were the things some so-called third party kept repeating to me in the dream, over and over.

I nodded and agreed to him. I wouldn't marry. I'd go with him, throw away everything and follow him without a backward glance.

When the dream ended, I was standing in a wedding dress in front of another man who loved me deeply.

The minister was asking me, "Do you take this man to be your husband?"

Before I could answer, someone suddenly burst into the wedding.

The room erupted.

Jack, looking utterly disheveled, rushed up to me, his eyes red, and shouted.

"Nora, I've come to take you home."

He probably thought this devoted display of his looked dazzling, and was waiting for me to dissolve into grateful tears and throw myself into his arms.

But I only looked at him coldly and took a step back.

My smile was all contempt and mockery.

"Jack, who gave you the nerve to come make a scene at my wedding? What exactly do you think you are?"

The words had barely left my mouth.

He stood there, frozen stiff.