Chapter 2

Charlie's POV

I quickly stopped Astrid. "Can you look at it tonight? I want to surprise you."

She didn't notice anything strange and simply smiled as she slipped the wish list into her pocket.

"Okay. Whatever you say. Are you hungry? The doctor said you haven't eaten. I'll make you some pasta to tide you over. Later, we can take Naomi out to celebrate her birthday."

Ethan quickly followed her. "Then I'll make the sauce. Charlie can finally try my cooking."

Naomi happily skipped into the kitchen after them. "I'll help peel the garlic!"

The three of them disappeared into the kitchen, smiling and talking.

I was left standing there, watching their happy backs. They looked like a picture-perfect family.

I let out a bitter laugh. Fine. Once I spent one last birthday with Naomi, they would finally become a real family.

The pain in my stomach twisted sharper. I went into the bedroom and started sorting through my belongings.

Ever since I caught Astrid cheating on me, I had become paranoid about everything. She had been wearing a blue dress the day she cheated, so I burned every blue thing in our home.

If even an inch of something in the bedroom had been moved, I would break down and demand to know if she had brought someone home.

Now, the white walls of the bedroom were covered in blue wallpaper. The men's pajamas hanging on the shelf had been replaced with Ethan's size.

Everything that once belonged to me had turned into everything he wanted.

From somewhere down the hall, I heard Ethan's voice.

"Charlie, my lease ran out a couple of days ago, so Astrid let me stay in your room for a while. Your things are in the top cabinet. Just look up there."

I didn't answer him. My eyes fell instead on the cat toothbrushes by the sink—the matching set Astrid and I used as a couple.

Ethan was lying. If he were only staying here temporarily, the bristles wouldn't be worn and bent outward. He certainly wouldn't have placed it in the same cup beside hers, at the same angle.

I couldn't help but remember the day I was admitted to the hospital. Ethan had stood there with red-rimmed eyes and made a promise to me.

"Focus on getting better, Charlie. I'll stay by Astrid and Naomi's side and take good care of them for you."

He really did. For more than a thousand days and nights, he never once stayed away. He took care of my wife and daughter for me, filling their lives in my place.

I pushed down the bitterness in my ribs and pulled open the cabinet to sort through what little I had left.

At the side, the laptop kept chiming. I was about to reach over and shut it off when the words on the screen made me freeze.

"Ms. Miller, I've finished writing today's love letter with AI and sent it to Mr. Sage's inbox."

The day I was admitted, I couldn't stand being locked away in that cold, sterile room. I cried and begged to go home. To calm me down, Astrid promised she would write me a letter every day.

Every page was filled with her guilt, her tenderness, and all the love she claimed to have for me.

Through countless unbearable nights, I read those letters over and over. Slowly, they became the medicine that sped up my recovery.

There were more than a thousand love letters, which meant I had cried more than a thousand times over them. Now, I realized it was all just a cruel joke at my expense.

My stomach burned with a searing pain. That familiar sense of suffocation crashed over me, something invisible closing up my throat.

Without thinking, I grabbed the fruit knife from the table and slashed my wrist again and again. Blood wound its way down my arm. The sharp pain somehow dulled the suffocation a little.

Through the haze, I heard Naomi crying beside me. Someone snatched the knife from my hand, while Astrid pinned me down on the bed and expertly wrapped my wound in bandage after bandage.

Only then did I return to my senses.

Astrid grabbed me by the chin, forcing the back of my head against the mattress.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and tears slid down her cheeks and onto mine.

"I've spent three years revolving my entire life around your illness, Charlie! Isn't it enough? Do you hate me so much that you don't even want to stay alive and face me?"

I stared at her for a moment, then instinctively raised a hand to wipe the tears from my face.

My knuckles brushed against her chest, where I felt a scar.

It was from the worst time I ever hurt myself. She had been crying as she drove a knife into her own chest.

"Charlie, I'm sorry. I was the one who hurt you. If you die, I'll follow you into the grave."

Something stirred in my long-dead heart for the first time in ages. My voice softened without me realizing it. "Astrid, earlier, I—"

A scream erupted outside. "Shit, Astrid! Naomi passed out from seeing the blood!"