Chapter 2

2: 2

I thought my mother would at least ask how Wallis was.

But after a few seconds of silence, she said,

"They didn't know anything would happen. Why take it out on Vivian and Ivan?"

"Fine, I'll apologize to Ivan on your behalf, all right? So petty. Nothing like me at all."

The line went dead in a hurry.

Right after that, she updated her social media feed.

In the grid of photos, she was clinging fondly to Ivan Swanson, Vivian Bailey sitting beside them.

The caption read:

【My precious boy is finally home after so long away. Mom couldn't be happier.】

Someone commented:

【Handsome son, beautiful daughter-in-law, one big happy family.】

My mother didn't explain. She liked the comment.

The bitterness in my chest turned my stomach.

I jammed my thumb on the button to shut off the screen.

Instead I answered the call coming in from Vivian.

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I can't make it over there to be with you and our daughter."

"Mom said Ivan's home, so we have to have a welcome dinner together. I was afraid you'd feel awkward if you came, so how about I come pick you two up once it's over?"

"I'll throw Wallis another birthday tomorrow to make up for it. Don't be angry."

I cut her off.

"Did my mother not tell you Wallis is in the hospital because of you?"

She went tense at once.

"What do you mean? What happened to Wallis?"

"The city hospital. If you still count as her mother, come see what you've done."

But I kept watch all night, and she never came.

All I got was one message.

【Mom says Wallis just took a little fall, nothing serious. Ivan needs to get over his jet lag and only just fell asleep, and if I go out now I'll wake him. I'll come get you two tomorrow.】

I sent her the divorce agreement I'd already drawn up.

The thought of divorce hadn't come to me only now.

But in that moment, I decided for good.

Only because my mother had married Ivan Swanson's widowed father, everyone had decided that we were the ones who'd stolen his home.

He broke my father's keepsake, and my mother forced me to apologize.

He claimed credit for my project, and my mother still urged me to give up my promotion to him.

Later, the Vivian Bailey he'd loved from afar for years married me, and everyone felt even more that I owed him.

To make it up to him, Vivian could abandon me at our own wedding and chase him to the airport, just to stop him from leaving the country in a fit of temper.

And she could lose our first child, because he'd said one line about not being ready to lose her.

Yet the moment I showed the slightest discontent, they blamed me for not being big enough about it.

"You've already taken so much from him. What's the harm in giving in a little more?"

But I had never done anything wrong.

Why should I keep swallowing it?

At daybreak, the light over the emergency room finally went dark.

A nurse hurried out.

"The child's condition is critical. We need to bring in a specialist from out of town for surgery. We have to complete the paperwork now. Did you bring the family registry?"

I rushed straight home.

But I entered the code several times in a row, and the lock kept flashing an error.

This code was supposed to be Wallis's birthday.

Just as I was about to call Vivian, the door suddenly opened.

She stood there in a half-sheer nightgown, hair a mess, and the second she saw me she shushed me.

"Keep your voice down. Ivan's still asleep."

Seeing me stare at the keypad lock, she explained, awkwardly,

"Ivan couldn't remember the old code, so everyone talked it over and changed it to his birthday."

"Everyone?"

"Mom, Neil Swanson, and me."

The down payment on this apartment came from selling the old house my grandmother left me, and I'd been the one paying the mortgage all along.

But when they decided to change the code to my home, I was the only one they never asked.

I pushed past her and headed straight for the master bedroom.

Vivian rushed to block me.

"What are you looking for? I'll get it for you."

The bedroom door stood half open.

Ivan Swanson lay naked in the bed.

Wallis's little pillow and quilt had been dumped in a heap next to the trash can.

He scrambled to pull on his clothes, only making it more obvious.

"Don't get the wrong idea. Vivian was worried I wouldn't handle the jet lag well, so she had me sleep in the master bedroom."

Vivian explained too.

"I slept on the couch last night. Don't read into it."

The arguing woke my mother and Neil.

Neil said coldly,

"My son finally comes home, and he sleeps in your room. So what?"

My mother grabbed at me too.

"It's just a room. Do you have to make everyone miserable over it?"

I shook her off and walked to the safe.

The clothes Ivan had changed out of were piled beside it.

I'd barely reached out to push them aside when a torn square wrapper dropped at my feet.

Vivian went white and rushed to say,

"It's not what you think, that's the wrapper from the gloves Ivan uses for his late-night snacks..."

I drew a deep breath, kicked it aside, and took out the family registry and Wallis's papers.

Only then did Vivian remember her daughter.

"Where's Wallis? Why didn't she come back with you?"

I slammed the safe door shut hard and looked past her, straight at my mother.

"Now you remember Wallis?!"

"Wallis is only six, and you put her on a roller coaster that requires you to be at least ten."

"She fell off the top, they worked on her all night, and she's still lying in the ICU!"