Chapter 2

The group chat lit up again.

Alison: 【I feel like something's off with Patricia.】

Evangeline: 【Leave her be. She's the one who said something awful right where Felicity could hear it. Felicity already takes everything to heart, and she's been down ever since.】

My eyes went blurry.

I stared at those words for a long time. Long enough that the chat had already moved on to something else.

Mrs. Abbott: 【Congratulations to my daughter-in-law Felicity on winning the finals!】

I tapped the video open.

In it, Mortimer had his arms around Felicity, spinning her around, both of them laughing.

The same Mrs. Abbott who had once placed the family heirloom in my hands was now calling Felicity her daughter-in-law with every breath.

Beside them, smiling and snapping photos, was my sister. The one person I'd relied on my whole life.

Alison, egging them on: "Kiss! Kiss!"

The video froze on the last frame, Mortimer and Felicity kissing.

Evangeline: 【Congratulations, Felicity!】

Alison: 【Congratulations, Felicity! I always knew you could do it!】

The lock turned.

Mortimer came in, cane tapping ahead of him.

His face was dark, and he didn't say a word.

I knew this look.

It was the same one he wore every time Felicity came to take him away during an episode and then brought him back.

I'd always thought he was just in a bad mood.

Only now did I understand.

Maybe he simply didn't want to come home.

Ten minutes later, Mortimer felt his way over slowly and lay down beside me.

Out of habit, he pulled me into his arms.

His sweet, cloying scent filled my nose.

I pushed his hand away.

By the faint glow of my phone, I saw the bandage on his neck.

He used to say that without me around, he was always falling.

So I'd laid tactile paving through the apartment and put padding on every sharp corner.

And still the bandages kept appearing on him.

Turned out those bandages had been covering more than wounds.

It was almost funny.

The phone lit up again.

Evangeline: 【Tomorrow at two, the usual place. We're setting up a surprise for Felicity, to celebrate her win.】

I lowered my eyes, suddenly desperate to know where their usual place even was.

One in the afternoon.

Mortimer picked up his cane.

"Patty, I've got a counseling session today. How about I pick up a cake from that place near the hospital on my way back?"

I said nothing.

Before he left, he reached for my hand the way he always did.

"I'm off. See you tonight."

I followed quietly behind him.

And ended up at the one place I knew better than anywhere else. The marital home Mortimer and I were supposed to share.

If not for the accident two years ago, we'd have moved in long ago.

The door wasn't shut all the way.

For the mood, they'd drawn the curtains.

Where my award certificate used to hang on the wall, there was now a family portrait of them.

Anger surged up in me. I shoved the door open and walked in.

Confetti rained down, and voices called out congratulations all around.

In the chaos, someone lifted me off my feet.

"Felicity, congratulations on the win. Will you marry me?"

My mind went to static.

Sunlight poured in.

The smile hadn't yet faded from Mortimer's eyes.

The next second, he looked down at me, his tone edged with impatience.

"What are you doing here?"

My sister's brows drew together.

"Do you have any idea you just ruined the surprise we set up for Felicity?"

Alison looked just as annoyed.

No one explained.

There was only blame.

They were in the marital home I had once decorated, preparing Mortimer's proposal to another woman. And still they blamed me for ruining their surprise.

I fought down the sourness rising in my chest, forced the tremor out of my voice, and asked back.

"Blindness? Post-traumatic stress disorder?"

Mortimer's face stiffened for a beat, his voice going colder.

"That's right, I was never sick. The one with PTSD isn't me. It's Felicity.

"Whose fault is it that you're so petty, that you couldn't make room for Felicity? This was the only option I had left.

"We did it for your sake, too. Haven't you been happy these two years?"

Happy?

I gave up painting, the one thing I loved most.

Spent every day running from one hospital to the next.

I didn't dare stop.

For two years I hadn't slept a single full night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Mortimer collapsed in a pool of blood.

And now he told me I'd been happy?

My sister came over to coax me.

"Patty, if you'd just spend more time with Felicity, you'd see how kind she is, how good.

"If you could accept her, we wouldn't have to keep hiding things from you anymore."

I brushed her hand off.

"Good? What kind of good person steps between two people who are together?"

"Patricia! Don't be so ugly about it! If you'd been a little more generous, we wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to keep you in the dark."

I looked at Alison, the one who'd said it.

The year her father cheated and ran off with every cent the family had, I was the one who stayed by her through those miserable days.

She'd cried and laughed at once: "Patty, when you find a boyfriend someday, keep your eyes wide open. Whatever you do, don't pick someone like my dad and let him ruin your whole life."

And now she'd become Mortimer's accomplice.

Telling me to be generous.

Beside me, the TV was still replaying the clip of Felicity's win on a loop.

At the sound of a familiar title, I turned to look before I could stop myself.

There on the screen was my unfinished painting.

The one I could never touch without Mortimer breaking down and cutting me off the moment I picked up a brush.

I froze where I stood, chest choked with something sour, disbelief written all over my face.

Mortimer followed my gaze and shrugged it off.

"It's just a painting, Patricia. Don't blow it out of proportion."

"That's my painting."

I stared hard at Mortimer.

"Taking something without asking is stealing."

The words were barely out before I heard Felicity start to sob behind me.

"I'm sorry, Patricia, it's my fault, I took your painting. I'll go to the committee right now and have my title revoked."

Mortimer caught her hand, his voice dripping with tenderness.

"This win wasn't easy to come by. How could you just throw it away? Don't talk nonsense, Felicity."

My sister joined in to soothe her.

"Felicity, this painting is your heart and soul. No one can take it from you. The title is yours."

Mortimer dropped his voice.

"Patricia, if it weren't for Felicity, this painting would still be gathering dust somewhere. Hurry up and apologize to her."

I laughed out of sheer anger.

"Mortimer, have you forgotten why I can't paint anymore?"