Chapter 3

"We met each other a few times in the past, but we're not close," Rosalie answered smoothly. "We just happened to run into each other when I came out to get some fresh air, so we started chatting about what you were like when you were a child."

Rosalie claimed that we weren't close even though we had been together for over seven years—2,625 days. I wanted to laugh, but the corners of my lips were too stiff.

Daniel didn't say anything else. He glanced at me as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, saying, "It's getting late. Let's go home after saying goodbye to Aunt Patricia."

"Okay. I'll listen to whatever you say," Rosalie replied, leaning against his chest.

They didn't spare me another glance as they turned around and left.

Mom was trying to convince Rosalie and Daniel to stay the night when I returned home. Daniel shook his head and said, "Rosalie needs to sleep in her own bed. She has a hard time falling asleep in somebody else's bed."

I couldn't be sure if he had done it intentionally, but he had emphasized the words, "somebody else".

Sleep eluded me that night after we sent them away. I tossed and turned in bed before finally tapping on Daniel's social media account, almost as if I wanted to torture myself. There were over 300 posts. Most of them were about their relationship.

The newest post was uploaded yesterday. A photo of a gold pendant was attached to the post.

"The price of gold increased so much recently. I told her not to buy this for me, but she insisted, saying that she wanted to fulfill her promises to me."

I took off the silver pendant that I was wearing. Rosalie had bought it for me seven years ago when we started dating. I had always cherished it like a precious treasure.

She could only afford to buy a silver one even after using all the money that she had, but I had been moved by her willingness to spend all her money on me. She had told me that she would buy a gold one for me when she had more money, but she never did, even after seven years had passed.

Daniel uploaded a post on November 12th. The attached photo showed a pregnancy report.

"Our love has borne fruit. We don't know whether they're a boy or a girl yet, but Rosalie has already decided on their name. If he's a boy, his name will be Leon Yorkford. If she's a girl, she'll be named Zara Yorkford."

I had come up with those names for our unborn child. It seemed that Rosalie hadn't let them go to waste.

Daniel uploaded a wedding portrait on August 7th. Rosalie looked incredibly happy as she kissed him.

It had been my birthday that day. I had been all alone on an overseas business trip. Unable to adapt to my new environment, I had come down with a fever that left me slightly delirious in my rented apartment. All the messages that I sent to Rosalie had been completely ignored.

It was the first time that she forgot my birthday. In the past, she would rush to my side no matter the circumstances—come rain or shine. She felt sorry that I had such an unhappy childhood and swore that I would never be lonely again since she would be by my side for all my birthdays from then on.

Unfortunately, Rosalie broke her promise.

My heart slowly sank into my gut. It felt as if all the blood in my veins had turned to ice when I scrolled to the last post. It turned out that Daniel and Rosalie had gotten together even longer than she and I had.

What the hell did Rosalie take me for?

Furiously, I navigated to our chat, freezing when I got a good look at the messages. Rosalie had started replying to my messages with simple one-word answers from the beginning of last year. Her conscience had been crystal clear as she spent her time with her husband while I was wallowing in endless agony.

Hot tears splattered on the screen just as I received a message from Rosalie.

"I'll make it up to you when I return home, darling."

I blocked her without hesitation.

…

Rosalie showed up at my doorstep just as I was about to return to work. I tried ignoring her, but Daniel suddenly poked his head out of the car window and said, "I asked Rosalie to pick you up, Scott. We're heading back too."

I had no choice but to get into the car under Mom's watchful gaze.

Rosalie was chattering away to Daniel about the things that she had to take note of during her pregnancy for the entire car ride. She talked about her plans after the child was born and also her expectations for the future.

Her words combined with the cloying fragrance in the car nearly made me suffocate. It was as easy as breathing for her to give the things that I had dreamed of for my entire life to someone else.

I had no idea how much time had passed, but we finally arrived at our destination.

Daniel suddenly said something with a knowing look right before we went our separate ways. "You've never been able to win against me, Scott."