Chapter 4

When I returned with Mochi, my code no longer worked.

It took Julian a long time to answer his phone.

"Why did you change the code?"

He sounded half-asleep. "The immigration lawyer came by this afternoon. He said if USCIS comes by for a home visit, they'll know something's wrong if they find someone else's belongings here."

The wind made my voice tremble. "So you locked me out?"

There was a pause, as if Julian had only just remembered I had nowhere else to go.

"Stay at a hotel for a couple of nights."

He paused, then asked, "Did you find Mochi?"

I looked at Mochi in my arms, the IV line still taped to his leg.

"I found him."

He exhaled in relief.

"Good. Come to Southbridge tonight. Fiona needs more evidence for her green card application, and you need to sign an affidavit as a mutual friend."

His voice softened. "Chloe, this is the last step. After you sign, I'll help her move out and change the code back."

I closed my eyes and let the tears fall.

It wasn't the wind making my voice shake.

Even now, a small part of me still wanted to believe him. Just one last time.

The private room at Southbridge was packed with our mutual friends.

Fiona wore a red dress, her arm linked with Julian's.

A slideshow of photos from the past four years played across the wall.

The beach. A sushi bar. The furniture store.

I had seen every one of them.

I had taken the original photos myself.

But I had vanished from the slideshow.

Every photo had been cropped to put Julian and Fiona in the center.

Someone said, "So you two have been together for four years? Chloe's been a good sport, taking all these pictures for you."

I stood in the doorway and did not go in.

Fiona saw me first.

"Chloe, come in. Your signature is the last one we need."

An affidavit lay on the table.

One sentence read, "I confirm that Julian Hayes and Fiona Blake married voluntarily, have lived together in a committed relationship, and did not enter into their marriage for the purpose of obtaining U.S. immigration benefits."

I looked at Julian.

"A committed relationship? For years?"

Julian held out a pen.

"It's just evidence for the green card interview."

I did not take it.

"When did this supposed relationship begin? The first time the three of us went to the beach? Or the first birthday you celebrated with me?"

Fiona put her glass down.

"Stop cornering him. I'll tell you."

Julian frowned.

"Fiona."

She ignored him.

"Four years ago, he confessed his feelings for me. I told him I didn't want a relationship unless he could prove that no one else could take him away from me."

My fingers went cold.

"So that's why he started dating me?"

Fiona nodded. She even sounded apologetic. "At first, he only pursued you to make me jealous. Then you took the relationship so seriously that he couldn't find a way out."

I looked at Julian.

"Is that true?"

He was silent for a long time.

"In the beginning."

My voice shook. "And after that?"

He looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

"Later, I did develop feelings for you."

Developed feelings for me.

Four years, and that was all he could say about us.

Fiona's eyes reddened.

"Chloe, I was going to step aside. But every time someone mistook us for a couple and he refused to correct them, I knew he was still waiting for me."

She took out her phone and played a voice recording.

It was a recording of Julian's voice from two years earlier. "Chloe is understanding. She won't leave me. But you're still the only woman I love. Whenever you're ready to come back, I'll be waiting for you."

I recognized the date immediately.

My birthday.

He had disappeared that entire evening, claiming a friend needed him at the hospital.

That friend had been Fiona.

I looked at him.

"Then what about the apartment you pushed me to rent, the furniture you asked me to buy, and the cat we raised together?"

Julian's voice grew hoarse. "That recording is two years old. After that, I really did start imagining a future with you."

He grabbed my wrist.

"But Fiona needs me. I can't abandon her. Once her green card is approved and we're divorced, I'll come back to you. This will be the last time, Chloe. Please trust me."

He spoke with absolute certainty.

As if he already knew what I would do.

I would go home, clean the apartment, hold Mochi in my arms, and wait for him.

I looked down at the affidavit.

"Once I sign, you'll have everything USCIS needs?"

Fiona's shoulders relaxed.

"Yes."

I picked up the pen.

Julian's fingers slowly released my wrist.

Everyone in that room thought I would help them cover up this final lie, just as I had covered for them for the past four years.

I wrote two words in the signature field.

Not my name.

"Not true."