Chapter 2

When I woke up the next morning, a note sat on the nightstand in Sylvia's handwriting.

[Sorry for being so tired last night. I shouldn't have acted like that. I'll make it up to you with a big dinner tonight. Love you.]

Her handwriting was still as beautiful as the letters she'd written me years ago.

But the words didn't feel warm anymore.

I picked up my phone.

Kenny had posted again.

This time, it was a video of fireworks over the water.

Brilliant bursts lit up the night sky one after another.

The caption read:

[Thank you for the exclusive romance. Let's stay happy forever.]

I knew that place.

Back when Sylvia and I were broke, our favorite date spot was the riverside park.

Seven years ago, on a freezing winter night, we squeezed onto a bench together, sharing one thin coat to stay warm.

Across the river, fireworks suddenly lit up the sky.

I pointed at them, unable to hide my envy.

"Sylvia, look. That's amazing."

She wrapped her hand around my frozen fingers and looked at me with bright, determined eyes.

"Just wait. One day, I'll make the most beautiful fireworks in the city bloom just for you."

Now she could.

But the man standing beneath those fireworks was Kenny.

The video kept playing.

The camera shifted.

Sylvia held a sparkling lucky-charm necklace and carefully fastened it around the baby in Kenny's arms.

My breathing caught.

A sharp ache spread through my chest.

That necklace was something we'd searched everywhere for together.

It was supposed to be for the child we'd dreamed of having.

Back then, her career was just taking off.

At her request, we postponed the wedding.

Life went on as usual.

She attended events with me and drove me home afterward.

Then one night, we got into a car accident.

We lost the baby.

The medication used to treat my injuries damaged my fertility.

The grief nearly broke me.

Sylvia stayed by my side for days, her eyes red from lack of sleep.

She kept telling me we'd get through it.

That one day we'd have a child of our own.

Over the years, I quietly sought treatment from specialists.

There was finally hope.

And yet she still betrayed me.

I couldn't take it anymore.

I grabbed my keys and rushed out.

On the way, I kept calling Sylvia.

The phone rang forever before she finally answered.

Fireworks crackled in the background, mixed with cheering voices.

"Hello?" She sounded annoyed.

"Where are you?" My voice shook.

"With a client. It's an important project. Stop making trouble. I'm hanging up."

She was already trying to end the call.

Then Kenny's voice came through clearly.

"Sylvia, the baby's asking for a hug."

She hung up immediately.

When I got there, I drove along the riverside and spotted a familiar black Maybach parked nearby.

The license plate was my birthday.

Sylvia held the baby in her arms.

Kenny stood beside her with an arm around her shoulders.

The three of them smiled like a perfect family.

So warm.

So painfully bright.

The life I'd spent seven years building was now being lived by someone else.