Chapter 2

Stephen stared at me.

"All because I wouldn't buy you a star?"

"It's not that I can't spare a few hundred dollars. I just think it's a scam. A waste."

The corner of my mouth twitched.

"Right. Birthdays, a waste. Anniversaries, a waste. Valentine's, a waste. None of it's worth it. Nothing ever is."

His frown dug deeper.

"You're not thinking straight right now. We'll talk when you've calmed down."

I shook my head.

"No. Let's break up."

Just then his phone rang, shrill and insistent.

It was some cartoonish little tune, not the kind of ringtone I'd ever expect from him.

He answered fast.

"Hello?"

Whatever he heard shifted something in his face.

"Got it."

He grabbed his coat and glanced at me.

"Something came up. I have to go out."

"What you said just now, I'll pretend I didn't hear it."

And then he walked out without looking back.

I pushed the window open. The night sky outside was pitch black, not a single star in it.

The cold wind hit my face, and the cold reached all the way inside me.

A while later the wind picked up hard, and in an instant the rain came down in sheets.

The drops struck my face, icy to the bone.

I shut the window and lay down on the bed.

My head was full of all the little pieces of these past years.

The first time I met Stephen was at a park.

A girl was being harassed, and he stepped in and stopped the man.

I fell in love at first sight with someone that upright.

And yet even someone that upright could lie.

I drifted off in a daze.

I woke in the middle of the night with my forehead burning, and forced myself up to put a fever patch on it.

I picked up my phone and opened that girl's feed.

Sure enough, she'd posted again.

"I told him I was scared of the thunder, and my sweetheart came straight over to keep me company. It feels so good to be spoiled."

Stephen still hadn't come back by morning.

I went back into that girl's feed.

At six she'd posted again, a photo of a breakfast sandwich and a hash brown on the table.

"I want to sit down for a lot of meals with you. So many of them."

My stomach heaved without warning, and I ran to the bathroom and threw up.

Even after there was nothing left, my stomach kept clenching.

My forehead was still scorching, so I gave up and took a cab to the hospital.

While the doctor was examining me, he said, out of nowhere,

"You should go see the OB-GYN."

My face changed.

In the OB-GYN, the doctor looked at me with a wide smile.

"You're pregnant. You'll want to watch your diet and get plenty of rest for a while."

I took the pregnancy report and got into the cab home in a daze.

When I reached the door, I noticed a pair of women's heels that hadn't been on the shoe rack before.

The door opened from the inside.

A pretty girl leaned out and gave me a smile.

"Hi there. I'm Delia Henson."

The girl wore her hair in a high ponytail, looking me over openly and easily.

Her gaze rested on me for a second, then turned to Stephen.

Stephen offered an explanation.

"Delia is the daughter of a friend of my dad's. She only came back to the country in the last six months."

Without thinking, I pinched the pregnancy report in my pocket. My fingertips felt a little cold.

Stephen studied me for a few seconds, then chose his words carefully.

"So, listen, I'm taking Delia to a play tonight. I won't be around for dinner with you."

"I'll bring you back a cake."

There was a testing note in his voice, like he was watching for my reaction.

But I only looked at him calmly.

"Don't bother. You've forgotten again. I don't like sweets."

He froze slightly, as if he hadn't expected me to be so calm.

Delia cut in from beside him.

"I'm sorry for stealing your boyfriend, sis."

"The tickets to this play are impossible to get. I barely managed to snag them, I've had my heart set on it for months."

"He just wants to help me make my wish come true, so please don't read too much into it, okay~"

"Oh, and, sis, why don't we add each other on our messenger apps?"