Chapter 2

Heather's POV

Theodore stiffened. Only after making sure I was nowhere in sight did he speak. "Why would you ask that? My project wraps up tomorrow. How about I make it up to you when I get home?"

I dug my nails into my palm, struggling to keep my voice steady. "If you're lying to me, we're over."

His voice remained as gentle as ever. "Heather, don't say things like that. We promised we'd spend the rest of our lives together."

He sounded so sincere. There had been a time when I'd been so captivated by that tenderness that I couldn't imagine life without him.

During my senior year of college, Theodore had sent me a breakup text and disappeared. I'd felt as though someone had ripped my soul out.

Then, three months later, he'd appeared before me, so thin that he was barely recognizable. "You're the only woman I want. How could I ever leave you?"

Only then did I learn that his family had been pressuring him into an arranged marriage. He'd spent those three months fighting them for my sake.

But ever since then, I'd struggled to feel secure in our relationship.

"Theodore, don't ever hide anything from me again. If you do, we're done."

That very night, simply because I'd mentioned wanting to see the ocean, he'd driven over 1,200 miles with a fever of 104 degrees.

The moment he stepped out of the car, he'd collapsed to the ground. Yet when he looked at me, his eyes shone brighter than a sky full of stars.

"Heather, I promise I'll never keep anything from you. I'll treat you right for the rest of my life," he said.

A thousand bitter words crowded my mind, but when I opened my mouth, only one escaped. "Okay."

I hung up.

Then I heard Mom's anxious voice. "She hasn't actually figured something out, has she? No. I can't just leave it at that."

After leaving the hospital, I received a message from Mom, just as I'd expected. She wanted me to come over for dinner.

I'd barely stepped through the door when Mom came downstairs. "Jeff is upstairs helping Celeste apply stretch mark cream. Have a seat for now."

My hands trembled slightly at my sides.

Only after checking my face for any sign of suspicion did Mom head into the kitchen.

At dinner, Sara suddenly spoke up. "The baby's doing well now, and the doctor said a little intimacy is actually good during pregnancy. Celeste, you and Jeff had better follow the doctor's orders!"

Theodore gave me an unreadable look.

Celeste ducked her head shyly, her cheeks instantly turning red. "Stop teasing me!"

"What's there to be embarrassed about? I heard you two just got a new bed. Don't tell me you broke the old one last night!"

Everyone burst out laughing—everyone except me.

I felt as though I'd been stripped naked and thrown into the street for everyone to stare at.

Sara had spent time abroad and had never been shy about discussing sex. She'd often teased Celeste about her love life.

I'd always been a little envious, though those types of conversations also made me blush.

Theodore was terribly old-fashioned. Even when things got heated in bed, he always stopped after exactly 99 thrusts.

Back then, whenever everyone joked so openly about sex, I'd laughed along like a fool.

Little did I know that the man Celeste was sleeping with was my own husband.

I couldn't bear to stay at the table any longer, so I made an excuse to go to the bathroom.

As I passed the storage room, I noticed it had been renovated into a small memorial hall. Before I knew it, my feet had carried me inside.

The moment I saw the name on the memorial plaque in the place of honor, my nails dug sharply into my palms.

Daisy—that was the name of the baby I'd lost in a car accident. She'd been delivered by emergency C-section at just six months, only to pass away after a single cry.

Beside the plaque was a note. It read, "Daisy, Aunt Celeste is having a baby. I know it must be you coming back to us. Please forgive me for hitting your mommy with my car back then."

I read those words over and over for five whole minutes. My hands shook uncontrollably until tears blurred my vision.

"Who said you could come in here?" Mom rushed over, crumpled the note into a ball, and grabbed my arm, trying to drag me out of the room. She refused to answer my questions.

"Mom, I already saw it."

She stopped trying to drag me away, her embarrassment quickly turning to anger. "Fine! I did it! Celeste and Theodore were deeply in love back then. If your baby had been born, Celeste never would've been able to handle it!"

I stumbled back several steps, tears streaming down my face and into my mouth.

Realizing she'd said too much, Mom softened her tone and tried to reason with me. "Heather, it's all my fault. Even if Celeste was wrong to steal your husband, you're the older sister. Can't you just let her have him?"

There it was again. I was the older sister.

When we were children, Mom would take Celeste to the amusement park and leave me outside in the freezing cold all day.

I was the older sister. As I grew up, I'd been expected to give up everything for her, even the man I loved. I'd always had to act older than my age. And now, even my child had become a sacrifice for her sake.

Yet, Celeste was actually two years older than me. Simply because she was always getting sick, I'd been forced to shoulder the responsibilities of an older sister since I was one.

Looking at the complete lack of remorse on Mom's face, I asked in a trembling voice, "So you decided to poison me?"

Her face went pale, and her voice rose uncontrollably. "It wasn't poison! You've always been healthy. You recover quickly, you have a good job, and you're beautiful. You can easily find someone else. Celeste has no one to rely on but us!"

I opened my mouth, but all that came out were tears.

Mom looked impatient. "Enough. Come out when you're done crying. You can take your anger out on me however you want, but don't keep Celeste waiting so long that she notices something's wrong."

At that moment, something inside my chest seemed to shatter, breaking into pieces that could never be put back together.

Just then, the door was thrown open.