Chapter 3

The next day, I went to Natalie and Simon's home.

They hadn't invited me over, of course. I'd found the apartment through a photo Natalie had posted on her social media.

The doorbell rang for a long time before Natalie finally opened the door. The moment she saw me, her eyes turned red.

"Tara…"

I looked past her into the apartment.

Three types of shoes filled the shoe cabinet—a man's, a woman's, and a child's. On top of the cabinet was a bunch of children's art supplies.

A family portrait drawn by a child was stuck on the fridge. It showed a father and mother holding hands with a little boy, with a huge sun drawn above their heads.

The photo wall was filled with pictures of the three of them together. The one in the center had been taken on the day Andy was born. Simon held the newborn in his arms while Natalie leaned against the hospital bed. Her face was pale, but she wore a blissful smile.

The date was written beneath the photo. It'd been taken September 12, six years ago.

My fingers tensed.

That day, Simon and I had agreed to go shopping for his wedding suit. I'd waited all afternoon for him, only to receive a single message from him much later that evening.

"A problem came up with my project. We'll need to postpone the wedding."

At the time, I clutched the wedding suit catalog and reassured myself by saying that it didn't matter—that he was just busy with work.

But on that very day, when he told me we were postponing the wedding I'd been looking forward to with all my heart, he'd posed for a family photo with Natalie and their son.

Standing behind me, Natalie choked out, "Tara, I'm sorry…"

I didn't turn around. "All these years, whenever I complained about how Simon kept postponing our wedding, didn't you rant about him with me?"

Her tears fell harder, but I chuckled.

"I told you that he was refusing to get married. He kept running abroad each time. I said that maybe he didn't love me that much after all. Every time I said those things, you'd hug me and tell me not to overthink things.

"Be honest with me, Natalie. What was truly going on in your head whenever you held me and comforted me then?"

She covered her mouth and sobbed so hard she could barely stay on her feet.

When Simon finally rushed into the apartment, the first thing out of his mouth wasn't concern for whether I was hurt. Instead, he spotted Andy's shoes by the front door, and his expression hardened as he turned to Natalie.

"Why did you let her in? Andy's here!"

I snorted. "Even now, all you care about is whether Andy gets hurt."

Frowning, Simon said, "Stop acting like this, Tara."

"Acting like what?" My voice trembled hard. "I waited for you for eight years, only to see a family portrait featuring the three of you. What does that make these past eight years of my life, Simon?"

Simon swallowed hard before saying, "I'll settle things."

There it was again. I'd heard those words from him countless times already.

When he said we had to postpone the wedding, he said he'd settle everything. When we delayed registering our marriage yet again, he also said he'd settle things.

Even when I waited for him at the bridal studio until closing time, he said he'd settle everything.

In the end, his way of settling things was simply to leave me hanging while he happily made a home with another woman and the child he had with her.

Our voices had grown louder, and the door to a bedroom opened.

Andy appeared in the doorway, clutching his dinosaur toy as he eyed me timidly. "Miss, are you here to take my daddy away from me?"

I froze in place, while Simon immediately shielded Andy behind him. "Go back to your room, Andy."

However, Andy looked terrified.

Natalie went over and crouched down to reassure him in a trembling voice, "It's okay, Andy. I'm here. Be a good boy."

Watching the three of them all huddled up together, I felt the last of my strength drain away. I lost all urge to question them.

Who did Simon truly love? Did Natalie regret what she'd done to me? How could they have lied to me all these years?

I'd come looking for answers to these questions, but now, it no longer mattered to me.

I turned around and walked out.

But just as I reached the elevator, Natalie's alarmed cry rang out behind me. "Andy?"

I turned around and saw the door to Andy's room standing ajar. The room was empty.

He was nowhere to be seen.