Chapter 3

In an instant, I felt all my strength drain.

So, as long as I survived, all my hardships could be brushed off.

All my anger and sadness turned into a lump inside my throat.

I turned to leave, but Mandy caught up to me and grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going? You’re hopeless with directions, and we’re not back in Sommerset. What if you lose your way?”

I was stuffed into the back seat of the car.

Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a white villa.

In the garden were hydrangeas and lemon trees. Under the porch were wind chimes that let out pleasant sounds as they knocked into each other.

I stood at the door and felt dumbfounded.

The arched door at the entrance, the tall floor-to-door windows in the living room, the semi-open study to the right, and even the embedded shelf beside the fireplace was the same as my designs.

Two years ago, I had excitedly brought Mandy to visit a new housing development, and I had said, “Let’s buy it so that it can become our new home.”

Back then, I pulled all-nighters and looked through all sorts of documents. I modified the blueprint repeatedly so that I could plan every part of our future home.

The blueprint that I had drawn so carefully, revised so many times, and treated like treasure had become another man’s home.

Just then, I heard a familiar voice from the kitchen. “Why are you back so early today? Lance, what do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you. The stew is already ready. Is Jane hungry…”

I turned around to look and saw that it was Zoey, Mandy’s mother.

Zoey had severe high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. She had poor health.

She was frequently hospitalized over the years, and I had to find my friends for help, pull strings, and get specialists to treat her. I also stayed by her bed to tend to her every need.

Zoey had always said that I was like her son, and I believed her. What a joke.

Out of guilt, Zoey averted her eyes and did not dare meet my gaze. “Jane, come. Let’s go up and play with your building blocks.”

In an instant, only the three of us were left behind in the spacious living room.

Mandy and Lance sat on the couch together, while I sat across from them.

They made the distinction far too clear. I was the unwelcomed outsider.

Mandy broke the silence. “Since you now know this, there’s no need for me to hide it anymore. During the graduation party of our senior year, everyone had too much to drink. Lance and I… both didn’t have our full faculties.

“When we woke up the next day, it had already happened.”

Lance continued meekly, “Andrew, I know that I have no right to see you. After that happened, I bought a plane to fly out of the country immediately.

“But Mandy got pregnant. The doctor said that she’s weak. If she aborted the baby, she might not be able to become a mother again.”

In resignation, Mandy said, “I know just how much you like children, Andrew, and I won’t rob myself of the right to become a mother. That’s why I disappeared for an entire year in the name of participating in a fully confidential R&D project.

“After Jane was born, Lance took care of her alone abroad.”

Suddenly, Lance looked at me with panic in his eyes. “Andrew, I really wasn’t trying to ruin your relationship. But when Jane was one, she got acute pneumonia and kept asking for Mandy. I was too scared. That’s why I called her.”

Mandy sighed. “Her parents may have sinned, but Jane can’t be faulted for that. She needs her mother. That’s why I spend two months every year to keep her company and carry out my responsibilities as a mother.”

She then looked at me squarely in the eyes. “Aside from those two months, I spend the rest of the ten months with you. Shouldn’t you already be satisfied with it?

“I need to carry out my duties as your girlfriend with you, but I also need to carry out my duties with Jane. You can’t tell me there’s anything wrong with that.”