Chapter 2

To be honest, in the first few years after Mom brought Jose home, I resented him a lot and felt like he had stolen the love that was rightfully mine. So, I intentionally ignored him on his birthday.

When Mom walked through the door and hugged him first, I threw a tantrum and smashed his toys all over the floor. But he would pack everything neatly away in silence, wait for me to calm down, tug the hem of my shirt, and hand me a note that read "I'm sorry, Vicky".

He was always so quiet and sweet.

Gradually, I began to accept him. We read books, did our homework together, and walked home from school side by side.

On my 12th birthday, Mom was caught up with a surgery and couldn't make it home, so Jose brought out a cupcake to wish me a happy birthday. When I demanded to know where he got the money for it, he would cautiously ask if I liked it.

I forced myself to swallow the strawberry, the fruit I hated most, nodded eagerly, and told him I loved it—that strawberry cake was my favorite.

Shortly after we got into the same high school, a rumor started spreading out of nowhere that he was an unwanted orphan. When I found out, I beat up all the people gossiping behind his back in front of the entire class.

Then, I looked Jose in the eye and told him that he was a gift to our family and that he was never an unwanted child.

That night, Jose didn't head straight home to rush his homework for once. Instead, he bought a huge cake.

He had already grown into a man, but when he confessed his feelings, the same cautiousness he'd shown as a child lingered in his eyes as he nervously asked, "Can we build a real family together, Vicky?"

I agreed without a second thought.

I used to wonder why I couldn't find any of these old notes anymore; it turned out that Jose had saved and organized them right here.

My tears slipped out uncontrollably and blurred the ink on the notes.

When I drove over to the address Jose texted me, Rachel opened the door. The moment she saw me, she smiled and shouted into the apartment behind her, "Vicky's here! I won the bet!"

Won the bet?

When Jose heard that, he walked over and scoffed. "You're even more patient than I thought, Vicky."

It finally hit me. Jose never cared about the things he had left behind; all he wanted was a last chance to mock and make fun of me.

Suppressing the urge to turn around and walk away, I handed him the wooden box. "I think there are some things you shouldn't throw away."

"Oh, really?"

He disdainfully reached out. "In that case, I'd love to see what the great Ms. Vicky Larose thinks is so valuable."

The second he opened the box, the expression on his face shifted. I waited for him to speak, but instead, he stared at the notes and suddenly laughed.

Then, he looked up at me and asked, "Are you here to humiliate me, Vicky?"

While I stood frozen in shock, Jose hurled the box to the floor in disgust. The fragile wood split apart with a loud crack.

After taking a step forward, he stared down at me. "I spent years living under your roof and swallowed my humiliation just to keep you happy. You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Living under our roof and swallowing his humiliation?" I repeated to myself.

It turned out that to Jose, all the love and affection Mom and I had poured into him was nothing but charity. The love I thought he had for me was just a perfect, flawless act.

Rachel took his hand and smugly lifted her chin, and for a moment, I was lost in thought.

Her parents were rarely home, so Mom would sometimes invite her over for dinner. But at some point, Rachel would already be in the house whenever I came home, greeting me as if she were the lady of the house.

I looked over at the dining table to see two sets of dishes and a half-eaten cake.

Rachel stuck out her tongue and said, "I'm sorry, Vicky. Jose said you'd be home late, so we went ahead and had our dinner without you."

Noticing my embarrassment, Jose quickly explained that Rachel was still young and got hungry easily, conveniently ignoring the fact that she was only six months younger than I was.

This mocking grin right now was the same look Rachel had given me back then.

I knew that Jose considered the university the most important milestone of his life, so I had planned to wait until it was over before finding the right chance to tell him about his illness.

Still, I never expected his betrayal to come first.