Chapter 2

When I walked out of the bedroom with my suitcase, Yarden and Yvonne were sitting side by side.

Yvonne turned to look at me and hurriedly took off the coat from her shoulders. “I forgot… Yarden, hold this for me first…”

“There’s no need to take it off.”

Yarden held her hand down. His voice was calm. “Yara won’t care.”

He looked up at me.

“Yvonne hasn’t been feeling well lately. She’s been sick on and off for the past few months.”

As if explaining himself, he continued, “Her period is coming soon, so she needs to keep warm.”

My heart tightened.

He even kept track of her period.

We had been together for four years. Every time I was in so much pain that I curled up in bed, all he ever did was tell me to drink more hot water before he hurried out the door.

Yvonne linked her arm around mine affectionately.

She looked at me with hesitation. “Yara, don’t get the wrong idea. Yarden is only taking care of me because you’re his girlfriend. He really is the perfect boyfriend.”

I stared at her coldly.

Yvonne’s smile stiffened. Her hand slowly fell away.

Yarden frowned. His lips moved, but no words came out.

I pulled my arm back and nodded. “Yeah, he’s the perfect boyfriend.”

I looked at him.

“I just don’t know whose.”

Yarden’s face darkened.

“Yara, what do you mean?”

He frowned. His voice sounded irritated. “You’re always like this. You get upset over the smallest things. Aren’t you tired of it?”

I stood at the doorway and looked back at him.

Yarden ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Yvonne and I are coworkers. She’s been sick, so I’m looking after her. That’s all.

“You eat with the people from your lab all the time too, don’t you? Can you stop assuming the worst about people? This side of you is really exhausting.”

Every word hit my chest like small pebbles. It did not hurt, but there were just too many of them. They piled up until my chest felt heavy.

“Yara!”

Yvonne suddenly rushed over. “Wait.”

Her fingers tightened around my forearm. They trembled slightly.

“Today…”

She bit her lip. Her voice became softer. “It’s my birthday.”

I froze.

Yvonne looked up at me. Her eyes were slightly teary. “I know you haven’t been in a good mood lately, but you always remember. We’ve known each other for almost fifteen years.”

Fifteen years.

Every year, I have been preparing for her birthday a month in advance.

Handmade cards. A music box I saved up for. A scarf I stayed up late knitting. The lipstick she once mentioned wanting…

That year, I had bought her a pair of pearl earrings.

She had looked at them in the display window for a long time. Then, she shook her head and left because they were too expensive.

I secretly bought them.

My fingers touched the box. The moment I felt the velvet, another memory came back to me.

There was a black hair tie in Yarden’s sealed bag.

He kept it carefully in the bedside drawer.

My chest felt as if someone had cut it open with a dull knife. The pain was sharp and clear.

I took out the box and gently placed it in her hand.

“Happy birthday.”

Then, I pulled my hand back and prepared to leave.

Yvonne’s tears fell. She held the box tightly and could not say anything.

Yarden could not stand seeing her cry.

He grabbed my wrist and snapped, “Yara, that’s enough.”

His voice trembled. “Don’t you know how good Yvonne has been to you? After all these years, when has she ever not been on your side? When you were upset, she stayed up all night talking to you. When you argued with me, she was always the one who tried to make peace between us. When you applied to study abroad, she cared more than you did. She went around asking different schools about it for you. And this is how you treat her?

“It’s her birthday. You’re just handing her a gift without even saying a single kind word? When did you become so cold?”

I lowered my head and looked at the hand holding my wrist. The hand had clearly defined knuckles.

The hand had once held mine through the emergency room hallway at 2 a.m.. The hand had once held mine tightly on New Year’s Eve.

“Yarden,” I called his name softly.

He froze for a moment. His eyes fell on my face, and his fingers loosened slightly.

I pulled his fingers away, one by one. Then, I looked up at him. “Yvonne doesn’t need me anymore.”