Chapter 2

Rosalie sent me another voice message right after. "Darry brought his girlfriend home today, didn't he, Elle? What's she like?"

I told her the truth. "Not a good fit."

Rosalie immediately called me. "How so? Is she not much to look at? Or does she have a bad temper?"

"She has a foul mouth."

Rosalie fell silent for a couple of seconds before bursting into laughter. "Did she run her mouth at you? Well, she definitely picked the wrong target. My sister-in-law isn't someone who takes things lying down!"

I let out a soft chuckle. "You know me best, Rosalie."

After wrapping up the call, I shut the refrigerator door. Deep inside the freezer sat a bag of frozen ravioli. Rosalie had brought it over when she visited me last month.

The year our parents passed away, I was ten, and Darrell was six. Dylan was 12 years older than me.

After rushing home from the military base and taking care of the funeral arrangements, he stood in the living room, looked at Darrell and me, and said, "From now on, I'll take care of you."

Later, he married Rosalie. The two of them were genuinely like parents to Darrell and me.

When Dylan died in the line of duty, Riley had just turned a month old. Rosalie never remarried.

When people tried to persuade her otherwise, she told them, "Dylan treated me like a queen when he was alive. Now that he's gone, I'm going to make sure his brother and sister are treated the same."

Thus, if Vivian thought she could push Rosalie around now, she'd picked the wrong person to mess with.

…

Late that night, the front door lock clicked.

Darrell found me on the couch in the living room. He tiptoed over, looking as if he was a child who had done something wrong and was waiting to be reprimanded. "You're still up, Elle."

I didn't say a word.

He took a seat across from me. A heavy silence stretched between us for a long while before he broke it.

"Elle, I know Vivi said some awful things today, but she's really not like that usually. She's just been influenced by the garbage she sees online. After I cleared the misunderstanding with her, she realized she was wrong.

"For the sake of my future… could you please forgive her just this once?" he pleaded softly.

All of a sudden, I remembered the time he was in middle school. When he noticed I was being cornered by a delinquent at school, he'd been scared out of his wits, yet he'd still charged over to protect me.

I took a deep breath. "Darrell, I don't care who you date, but if she dares to disrespect our sister-in-law, she'll be sorry!"

Darrell immediately straightened up. "Yes, of course. I promise to keep my girlfriend in line!"

I rolled my eyes at him.

…

Early the next morning, the doorbell rang.

Vivian was at my doorstep with three gift bags in her hands, smiling as if nothing had happened the day before. "I'm here to apologize, Danielle! I went a little overboard yesterday. I shouldn't have made a mountain out of a molehill."

Her words were light and flippant. I arched my eyebrow and remained silent.

She walked in, placed her gifts on the coffee table, and scanned the room. "Darrell and I are planning to tie the knot at the end of the year. The decoration and layout of this house are a little outdated, so I want to renovate it beforehand. It'll be more comfortable for us to live here in the future."

Right after saying that, she began gesturing with her hands. "We can tear this wall down and connect it with the living room. Then, the living and dining area will be one big open space; it'll be so much brighter and airier. The crib can go here, and the play mat can go here. It'll be perfect!"

I didn't say a word.

After nosing through every corner of my house, she whipped out a document from her purse. It was a rental agreement. She placed it on the table.

"I found this single room for you, Danielle. It's not far from here, and the rent's only 800 dollars a month. Since you're a widow, I'll help cover your rent for half a year. It's a pretty sweet deal, don't you think?"

The rental agreement sat right beside the photo of Dylan and me. Vivian's fingers, painted with nude-colored nail polish, were resting on the paper as she smiled gracefully at me.

I lowered my head and took a look at the address on the rental agreement. The unit was on the outskirts of the city, three districts away. It was an 800-dollar single room.