Chapter 2

Tony slung a sympathetic arm around Kevin's shoulders and spoke up on his behalf.

"Kevin's sacrificed so much for you. Can't you just come clean with that cripple, Clark, and run away with Kevin for good?"

Autumn froze for a moment. She had a complicated look on her face, but I couldn't tell if she was sad or something else. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Clark saved my life. For as long as I live, he's my responsibility."

Watching her look so torn, I found myself recalling the past.

Autumn was someone I'd taken in. Winters in the north were bitterly cold. After both her parents remarried and went their separate ways, the young Autumn was left homeless.

And all she could do was curl up under the eaves of my family's house just to keep out of the wind.

Being abandoned at such a young age taught her just how cruel people could be. As she sat there holding the bowl of pasta I handed her, she was silent for a long while before asking what I wanted in return.

My house was big, but it was rather empty. I didn't want repayment. I just wanted someone to play with.

From then on, I had a shadow by my side that never left me. Over the course of ten years, from the age of eight to eighteen, she grew more beautiful with each passing year.

Yet when she confessed her feelings to me, she was still so shy and insecure that her cheeks turned bright red before she finally managed to choke out the words, "I like you."

After we got together, she'd come up with all kinds of different dishes because she knew I had a sensitive stomach.

If I woke up with a stomachache in the middle of the night, she'd instinctively jump out of bed to get me some water and my medicine.

At first, Kevin couldn't stand her. He said she wasn't good enough for me, and that all she had to offer were these worthless acts of kindness.

Whenever Kevin went after her, Autumn always fired right back. The two of them were often at each other's throats.

I tried to play peacemaker, but eventually I could only conclude that they were both just too protective of me.

After all, one was the good friend who had protected me since we were kids, and the other was the woman who had always put me first.

That was, until Kevin pissed off the wrong people and got cornered by a group of street thugs in an alley.

Autumn, who was usually calm and composed, knocked over tables and chairs in her haste to run out the door. She didn't even look back the entire time.

By the time I got there, those lust-crazed thugs had Autumn pinned against a wall.

But instead of worrying about herself, she just told Kevin to run with tears in her eyes.

Back then, there was no time to question why Autumn was acting so strangely. I rushed over to protect her, only to get shoved into the road during the fight and end up in an accident.

The accident practically destroyed both my legs. Autumn knelt before my parents, whose hair had gone white in what seemed like no time at all, and swore she would take care of me for the rest of her days, or may heaven strike her down where she stood.

Kevin gripped my hand tight and promised he'd stay by my side until I could stand again.

The day I got my prosthetic legs, the two of them went red-eyed at the exact same moment. Back then, I thought they were crying because they felt sorry for me.

But looking back now, they were mourning the love between them that could never see the light of day.

Kevin's voice dragged me out of my thoughts. "Autumn, aren't we being too unfair to Clark?"

But everyone crowded around him, falling over themselves to comfort him. "This isn't your fault. Clark is the one who dragged you both down.

"If he weren't so narrow-minded, we wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble just to keep him from getting upset."

Autumn said nothing. She simply leaned gently into Kevin's arms. A crushing pain gripped my heart, leaving me struggling to catch my breath.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone and typed out a text. "You once said that if in the future you ever betrayed me, I could ask you for a grand favor. Does that promise still stand?"

The reply came almost instantly. "Of course."

I stared at those two words and slowly unclenched my fist. Then I stepped out and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Then tell me—whose fault is it?"