Chapter 3

I froze, then quickly called Jonah.

"The location you sent me is wrong."

He paused, and from the other end came Melissa's cry of surprise.

"Oh no, I typed it wrong, what do I do?"

Jonah sighed helplessly, but he didn't scold her.

"I told you to keep up, but you had to dawdle. Fine, just stay there. There aren't any rooms left over here anyway. I'll text you tomorrow, and you can wait for us once you reach the destination."

The words of explanation caught in my throat, choking again and again, and before I could get them out, the call had already been cut off.

I went upstairs in a daze, and it was nearly midnight by the time I finished packing.

Just as I was about to lie down, I heard the beeping of the lock at the door.

I hurriedly called the front desk.

The sound of the door opening turned into drunken cursing.

The phone still went unanswered.

Instinctively, I called Jonah.

Several calls in a row didn't connect, and the last one was simply hung up on.

I was about to send a message when his chat window popped up.

If I don't answer, it means I'm busy, stop calling. She's not used to the bed and she's having nightmares. I just got her to sleep.

The blood in my body felt frozen, so cold I was trembling.

Before, when I was away on business and he couldn't be with me, we'd talk on the phone all night long, because he was afraid something might happen to me and there wouldn't be time to call 911.

But now he wouldn't even answer my calls.

I dug my nails into my palm, held back my tears, and called 911.

Before long, the front desk and the police came and hauled away the drunk man who'd gone to the wrong room.

I checked out and moved to another hotel.

I lay in bed all night, unable to sleep.

The next day, dark circles under my eyes, I arrived at the antique market they'd mentioned.

Melissa was all smiles.

"I heard there's lots of pretty jewelry and antiques here. I wanted to come take a look. If there's anything nice, I'll buy it for you as a wedding gift."

I said nothing. Just then an ice cream vendor came by from the roadside.

"Hey there, handsome, how about an ice cream for your girlfriend? It's our new flavor—if you don't like it, it's free."

Jonah glanced at me guiltily, cleared his throat, and was about to wave the vendor off.

Melissa took his arm.

"I want some! It's so hot!"

Jonah looked at her helplessly and spoke without thinking.

"Your period's always so irregular—should you really be eating this?"

Melissa ignored him and went off to pick a flavor.

He sighed.

"Three, then."

Just as he was about to pay, I said coldly,

"No. I can't eat that."

He remembered his sister's irregular periods, but he didn't remember that today was my period.

Of course—the reminder he'd set for me on his phone had long since been deleted because it overlapped with Melissa's.

Jonah looked a little embarrassed.

"All right, I'll get you a hot one."

He walked off fast, giving me no chance to refuse.

When he came back out, he handed me the receipt.

"Go wait for it, it'll be ready soon. Melissa and I are going to look around."

I went into the shop. It was crowded, and I waited a good while.

Suddenly my phone chimed.

I opened it and looked.

Your account has been charged twenty thousand dollars. Remaining balance: $5.30.

I shot to my feet, wanting to go find Jonah.

The moment I stepped out, he came over.

"There was a twenty-thousand-dollar charge on your phone just now. You got it, right?"

I paused.

"You spent it?"

He nodded, looking over at Melissa, his tone as breezy as if he'd only spent a couple of dollars.

"She just took a liking to a bracelet but didn't have enough, so I paid for it."

She shook the jade bracelet on her wrist, shiny enough to glow, and smiled innocently.

"Isn't it pretty, sis? I loved it the moment I saw it—it's the best one here."

I clenched my fists, my eyes turning red.

"Do you know that was the money to pay off the mortgage on our wedding home early?"

There wasn't a trace of shock or panic in Jonah's eyes.

"I know. We're still young, and our salaries aren't low—we can just pay it back monthly. There's no need to make such a fuss. She's your own sister; can't you even part with this much?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

Back when we were living in that rented place, freezing in winter and sweltering in summer, he said that once he had money he'd definitely buy a house and make a warm home with me.

And now the money we'd finally managed to save for that house had been spent on someone else.

Seeing the mood between us go bad, Melissa yanked the bracelet off.

"I'm sorry, sis, I didn't know you needed this money. I'll give it back to you right now."