Chapter 3

Yale had barely left when the doorbell rang.

Riley opened the door to find a woman standing outside, holding an elegantly packaged box of pastries.

"Hi, I'm Selise Lane. The Selise who's been messaging you."

Her smile was sweet, but there was a challenge behind it. "Yale's been taking such good care of me lately that I made him some pastries to say thank you. You wouldn't turn away a guest, would you?"

Before Riley could answer, Selise let herself in and began wandering around the house, taking her time looking at everything.

She stopped when they reached the garden.

"These roses are my favorite variety. I can't believe Yale's still growing them."

Riley's fingers trembled. Every morning, Yale tended those roses himself, never allowing anyone else to do it. She'd always thought gardening was simply something he enjoyed.

Near the pond, several turtles were basking lazily in the sun.

"Oh my God, they're still alive!" Selise exclaimed in delight. "I raised these when I was little. I stopped taking care of them after I moved abroad. I figured they'd died ages ago."

Riley remembered how faithfully Yale fed the turtles every single day, and her chest tightened.

Inside the living room, Selise examined the figurines displayed in a glass cabinet.

"These are all my favorite collectibles." She glanced around the room with a pleased smile. "And the furniture! Scandinavian minimalism. Exactly my taste."

Riley followed her through the house, each step feeling like she was walking on knives. The place she'd called home for the past two years was suddenly becoming unrecognizable.

In the bedroom, Selise ran her fingers over the suits and ties hanging in the closet.

"I gave him all of these. I can't believe he's kept them in such perfect condition."

Riley thought of the countless mornings she'd spent carefully ironing those clothes herself, and her throat tightened.

So his insistence that she leave those things alone hadn't been about his obsession with cleanliness. It was because they were reminders of Selise.

Finally, Selise stopped in front of their wedding portraits.

"What a coincidence." She tilted her head, smiling. "Yale and I once talked about having three different themes for our wedding photos: desert, ocean, and forest. I can't believe you two chose exactly the same ones."

All the color drained from Riley's face.

Yale had insisted on those three themes when they took their wedding photos. She'd thought he simply loved the romance of natural landscapes.

"What are you doing here?"

Yale's voice suddenly came from the doorway. He strode into the room, looking distinctly displeased.

Selise immediately greeted him with a sweet smile.

"I made some pastries and thought I'd bring you some. Your lovely little wife was so welcoming! She invited me in and even asked me to stay for dinner."

Yale's expression relaxed slightly. Turning to Riley, he explained, "This is Selise. We grew up next door to each other, and she's always been like a little sister to me. She was living abroad until recently, so you two haven't met before."

Riley stared at him.

A little sister? Like brother and sister?

He'd certainly done a good job hiding what they really were to each other.

Selise played along without missing a beat.

"That's right. Yale's been taking care of me since we were kids. I was such a picky eater that he actually learned to cook just for me. His barbecue ribs, baked sea bass, and meatballs in gravy are still my favorites."

Riley dug her nails into her palms.

Those were the dishes Yale cooked most often. She'd naively believed he made them because she loved eating them.

Unable to force a smile, Riley excused herself, saying she wasn't feeling well, and went upstairs.

Not long afterward, Selise knocked on her bedroom door and came in carrying a bowl of herbal medicine.

"Yale made this to help with your pregnancy. He asked me to bring it up." Her smile was perfectly innocent. "Drink it while it's hot."

Riley took the bowl, wincing at the strong medicinal smell.

"Oh, by the way," Selise said suddenly. "You haven't happened to choose Jasper for a boy and Nina for a girl, have you? Those are the names Yale and I picked out together years ago."

Riley's hand shook so badly that she nearly spilled the medicine.

Those were the exact names Yale had chosen when she'd first gotten pregnant.

Was he really going to use even their child to keep Selise's memory alive?

A sharp pain seized her chest, but before she could recover, Selise suddenly cried out.

"Oops!"

She had "accidentally" knocked the bowl over, sending scalding medicine splashing across Riley's arm. Her skin immediately reddened and began to blister.

Riley gasped at the pain. Too preoccupied with her burning arm to pay attention to Selise's apologies, she hurried toward the stairs to get some burn ointment.

As she reached the top of the staircase, someone suddenly shoved her hard in the back.

"Ah!"

Riley tumbled down the stairs and landed heavily on the ground floor. Blood spread beneath her, soaking into the beige carpet and staining it red.

A moment later, Selise came tumbling down after her.

Yale had been about to open the refrigerator in the kitchen when the commotion sent him rushing out. His eyes widened at the sight before him.

"Lissie!"

He ran straight to Selise, catching her as she staggered and anxiously checking her ankle.

"Are you hurt?"

"I... I'm fine," Selise said weakly. "Go check on Riley..."

Only then did Yale turn toward his wife, who lay in a growing pool of blood.

Before he could do anything, however, Selise suddenly "fainted" in his arms.

"Lissie!"

Panic broke through his usually composed voice. He immediately swept her into his arms and hurried out, barely sparing Riley another glance.

Riley watched them disappear, her consciousness slowly slipping away.

In the final moments before everything went dark, she thought she caught a glimpse of the refrigerator door, which had been left slightly ajar.

Inside, one corner of the box containing Yale's "gift" was visible.

When Riley regained consciousness, harsh white light made her squint.

A doctor was examining her, while Yale stood nearby with a grave expression.

"How's the baby?" he asked.

The doctor looked up in surprise.

"The baby? Didn't Ms. Nolan already have her pregnancy terminated?"