Chapter 1

Just as my food arrived, my girlfriend, Shirley Lake, called me. I declined the call without hesitation.

A second later, she texted, "Stop being jealous for no reason, okay? Joshua and I grew up together. What's wrong with that? You have a dirty mind, so you think everything is dirty!

"Josh had something come up here, so I came to help him. It suddenly started pouring. He's not in good health, and I was afraid something might happen, so we got a room to wait out the rain."

…

Messages like that kept coming one after another. But the only thing she avoided mentioning was that she had promised to have dinner with my parents that day. I stopped reading her messages. Mostly, I just felt bad for my mom and dad.

I looked up at them, my stomach twisting with guilt. They were getting older, and they had flown in just to meet my girlfriend. But Shirley didn't show up—again.

After so many broken promises, my parents were already unhappy with her. But because I loved her, they kept trying to be patient.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I've wasted your time again."

Mom looked at me with concern, while Dad said indifferently, "I won't comment on your issues. You young people make your own decisions. We only came to see you."

My eyes stung immediately.

In our five years together, Shirley had never once gone back with me to visit my parents. She was a well-known attorney, always claiming that her time was expensive and billable by the minute.

But one call from Joshua Solomon, and she would travel halfway across the city to go see him. She'd even find time to travel with him.

Whether she loved me or not was painfully clear. I'd just been lying to myself all this time.

Sometimes, a moment was all it took to let go.

…

After dropping my parents at their hotel, I got home around 11:00 pm.

Shirley was sitting on the couch, sulking. The moment I walked in, she gave me an earful. "It's already so late! Where were you out messing around? Why didn't you answer my calls or reply to my messages?"

I patiently listened to her rant, then cut in, "Do you remember what you were supposed to do today?"

"I went to work. What else? Or are you trying to…" She stopped mid-sentence, then spoke again, "I'm sorry. Have your parents already left? Tomorrow. I swear, I won't forget tomorrow!"

"That won't be necessary," I replied flatly. Then, I went straight to the bedroom.

After a shower, I turned off the lights and lay down to sleep. A moment later, Shirley came in. She had just showered too and was wearing a black nightdress. Just like always, she slid into bed beside me.

"Are you still mad at me?"

I turned my back to her, saying nothing.

She wrapped an arm around my waist and whispered by my ear softly, "Baby, I'm sorry. I was wrong. Josh got into a car accident. He called me, and I panicked and forgot."

When I still didn't speak, she turned me forcefully, making me face her. Under the moonlight, I saw the red spider lily tattoo on her shoulder. I instantly thought of Joshua's Instagram post, and a wave of nausea washed over me.

"What's wrong? Joshua didn't satisfy you enough?"

Shirley shot up, fury blazing in her eyes. "Chester Gibson! Are you done? I already explained everything and apologized. What more do you want from me?"