Chapter 1

Outside the hospital, the rain was coming down hard. A strong wind blew toward me when I opened my umbrella. The wind flipped the old umbrella over.

I stood on the stairs and tried to flip it back. The umbrella’s rib sliced my finger, yet it was still not upright. Rainwater trickled down my shirt from the umbrella.

Liam Anderson walked past me, holding his black umbrella. He was holding a cake box in his other hand.

Lucian Sterling walked behind him, holding a huge bouquet of sunflowers.

Both of them saw me and the broken umbrella in my hands, yet they walked up the stairs without stopping.

Isla Brown was standing at the top of the stairs in her hospital gown.

“Isla, why did you come down?”

“I saw your car from the window, so I came down to see you a bit sooner.”

Lucian hurried over and wrapped his jacket around Isla’s body. Liam tilted the umbrella to shield Isla, and his exposed shoulder was drenched from the rain.

Last week, when I had a high fever, I called Liam. He told me that he was reading a bedtime story to Isla, so he asked me to drink some water and hail a cab to the hospital on my own.

Isla stared at the cake box as her eyes lit up. “Is it sugar-free?”

“We queued for two hours.” Liam smiled and smoothed her hair. “The doctor said you can only have a tiny bite.”

Lucian continued, “This cake only belongs to you. You don’t have to ask for a slice from someone else.”

On my birthday, Lucian tossed my cake into the trash can and said, “Isla can’t eat this cake, so you shouldn’t be eating it. Otherwise, she’ll be upset when she sees you eating.”

It turned out that she could have eaten cake. She just did not want my cake.

Isla reached for the cake box. Then, she looked up and saw me over Liam’s shoulder.

“Esme, why are you standing in the rain?”

It was then that Liam and Lucian recalled that I was still standing there as they turned around.

Lucian frowned. “Are you still mad?”

“I’m not.”

Isla immediately teared up. “Is it because of me? If it’s because of me, I’ll return Liam to you. Please don’t be angry.”

Liam immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t talk nonsense. The doctor said you shouldn’t become agitated.”

He walked down two steps and stood before me. His umbrella was still shielding Isla as he braced against the rain.

Then, he lowered his voice and said, “What are you thinking? Nothing is going on between Isla and me.

“She’s just curious. I’m pacifying her by having meals with her and bringing her to the movies.”

Before he could finish talking, Isla sneezed. Liam immediately turned around and wrapped her cold hands in his. Then, he slid her hands into his coat pockets.

I bought that coat for him last year. Back then, I tried to hold his arm as we strolled. He took my hand off his arm and said it was not appropriate to display our affection so publicly.

He warmed Isla’s hands as he turned to look at me.

“You’re in good health, so you can afford to wait. She doesn’t have the luxury of time.

“After she passes, we’ll get married.”

The rain splattered on my face. I suddenly felt like laughing. It was foolish enough for him to believe such a lousy excuse. Why was he trying to convince me with such a poor lie?

“Suit yourself. I’m not waiting anymore.”

Lucian snorted. “Here we go again. Why are you always competing with Isla? You’re acting as if you’re not the older sister.”

A black car parked before the staircase. My older brother, Hugo Brown, got out of the car.

When he saw Isla standing in the wind, his face fell. He took out a blanket from the car and wrapped it around her knees. Then, he passed her a gift box.

It was a musical box. When she opened the lid, a tiny figurine twirled on its tiptoes.

“Didn’t you want to watch a ballet show? Next month, I’ll rent the whole hall out. You can watch the show as many times as you please.”

I stared at that twirling figurine and recalled my offer letter he had torn in two. That day, he told me that if Isla could no longer dance, I did not deserve to dance either.

Isla hugged the musical box and tugged on his sleeves. “Hugo, I think Esme is still mad at me.”

It was only then that Hugo spared a glance at me.

Frowning, he said, “Because of you, Mom hasn’t been eating for the past three days. Why are you standing here in the rain instead of visiting her? Who are you putting up this act for?”

I wanted to tell him that Mom only threatened to starve herself to make me agree to her request, and I had already said yes. However, the words felt meaningless.

Instead, I asked, “Hugo, can you send me home?”

“Isla needs to go for another check-up later. I need to keep the car with me.”

I nodded.

Hugo glanced at the umbrella in my hand and said, “Since you won’t be at the hospital, you have to show your care some other way. I’ll hold onto your bank card and use it to pay for Isla’s check-up next month.”

I gave him my bank card the first month I started working. He said he would help me with my savings. All these years, my salary had been deposited into that card.

I did not want to fight with them in the rain, so I kept quiet. Instead, I reminded myself to find a time to deactivate my current card and get a new one instead.

He was no longer looking at me. Instead, he looked down at Isla to ask if she was cold.

At that, the wind blew toward me again. The broken umbrella shook, and all the water on the edge of the umbrella spilled right onto me.

Liam wanted to pass me his umbrella, but when Isla coughed, he quickly took it back.

“Isla, it’s very windy here. Let’s head up.”

He supported Isla as they walked in. He took a few steps before turning around to say, “I’ll call you tonight. Don’t overthink this.”

The four of them went into the hospital.

Hugo was holding Isla’s musical box, Liam had his palm against her back to support her, and Lucian was helping her to hold the bottom of her hospital gown.

No one even looked back at me.

I put the broken umbrella aside. Then, I took out my phone and opened the conversation thread I had with my grandmother. The very last message was displayed on the screen.

[Esme, if you can no longer stay in that family, come to Grandma.]

Back then, I told her that Isla could not be away from us. I had to wait for a little longer.

Instead, I had changed my mind. I typed out a message and hit send.

[Grandma, I’m no longer going to wait. I’ll go back to pack my stuff before making my way over to you.]