Chapter 1

1: 1

My brother had just fought with his girlfriend for the ninety-ninth time, and now he'd come to talk me into a divorce, still fuming.

"What do you say, Neville James? You file for divorce, I'll file for a breakup."

"Let's run off together. Let them be the ones stuck on business trips forever, never coming home!"

It all came down to the fact that our partners were twin sisters.

Beautiful, thoughtful, well-off.

Their one flaw was how busy they were, always traveling, home only once every two or three months.

That was why my brother felt so insecure, always ending up in a fight with his girlfriend.

I sighed and soothed him the way I always did.

And suggested it again:

"Why don't the two of you just go get a marriage license too? It'd put your mind at ease."

I'd started dating the younger of the twins first.

She said she'd made up her mind about me for life, and married me the moment we graduated.

That little red marriage certificate was what gave me the strength to get through countless lonely nights on my own.

But my brother, who was always loudly declaring in front of me that he'd "only ever marry her," went quiet for a long time after I said it.

In the end he pushed me away, his expression complicated.

"Neville, you don't get it."

I had no idea what he meant.

Not until my wife, Mabel Cox, rushed off on a business trip and left her messaging app open on her laptop, the screen lighting up.

A message came in from an avatar identical to my brother's.

【This is the ninety-ninth time you've refused to divorce. I don't want to keep playing this twin-sister game with you anymore.】

【That day… I didn't use anything. The physical says you're pregnant.】

【Pick me or pick him. It's your call.】

……

The truth spilling out in those few lines was too absurd to be real.

I stared blankly at those two lines and couldn't come back to myself.

And it hadn't been long ago that Mabel, with the company already calling to hurry her along, still made a point of rising up on her toes to kiss me.

"Wait a little longer, Neville. When I get back this time, I'll use up every bit of annual leave I've saved."

"We'll go to the snow-capped mountains, the plains, and finally take those travel wedding photos you've always wanted."

Behind the chat window, an unclosed webpage still had row after row of suits and wedding gowns.

Now the sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains and fell across them, so white it stung.

The screen flickered. The account that stood for my brother sent another message pressing her.

【Think it over and tell me before midnight tonight.】

Mabel was still on the plane. She hadn't replied.

My fist clenched until it went stiff, and it was a long time before I forced down the urge to demand answers.

The mouse slid gently.

The intense feelings the two of them had hidden under all that calm laid themselves out right in front of me.

【Mabs, I'm craving the wontons from that place on the east side. Bring me a bowl after work.】

【Okay.】

The company was on the north side. The round trip took over three hours.

I remembered that bowl of wontons.

That day, to celebrate Mabel landing a new project, I'd taken time off early and gone home to cook a whole table of food.

But by nine at night, after I'd reheated the dishes three times, Mabel finally strolled in.

She was holding two bowls of wontons and gave me an apologetic smile.

"A coworker said this new place is really good, that it tastes just like where you grew up."

"I figured you'd like it."

Two sentences, and all the sulking I'd built up out of worry melted away.

I took the wontons and wiped away a tear.

"A bowl of wontons, three hours round trip. I'm not that precious."

That's what I said, but I ate that bowl clean.

Even the cilantro and chili I never touch.

The other bowl went to my brother, who lived right across the hall. She said it was on the way.

Now that I think about it, cilantro with extra numbing spice and heat was always exactly how my brother liked it.

【Got caught in the rain and I've got a fever, feel awful. I want my wife Mabs to come take care of me.】

That day I'd had too much to drink at a work dinner and threw up in the bathroom until I was half-conscious.

Mabel ran up and down, wiping me clean, changing my clothes, boiling a broth to sober me up.

Through the haze, I saw her eyes gone red with worry for me.

But when I woke in the small hours, the other side of the bed was empty and cold.

There was a message from her on my phone.

【Something came up at work. I've gone back to the office to put in some overtime.】

So while I was at my worst, she was sleeping in someone else's bed, holding another warm body.

There were so many chat logs I scrolled and scrolled and couldn't reach the top.

I skimmed fast, not daring to look closely.

But their words, like a couple deep in the throes of new love, kept forcing their way into my eyes.

【Mabel, I want to eat something you cooked~】

【Mabs, I miss you.】

【Mabs…】

Working hours, off hours, business-trip hours.

Whatever my brother sent, Mabel answered.

My first year on the job, one of my calls interrupted a meeting Mabel was in.

Her boss reprimanded her.

Mabel didn't blame me. She just ruffled my hair, her smile a little tired.

After that, when my car got rear-ended, when a hospital misdiagnosed me with something serious, even at the height of my panic I'd send her a line first: "Is this a good time?"

By the time I'd scrolled to the very top, my fingertips had gone slightly numb.

One glance, and the truth stabbed into my eyes.

Setting aside the system notice from when they first added each other, this was the first thing Mabel had ever actually said to my brother.

【We were both drunk that night.】

【Whatever you want as compensation, I'll give it to you. Just keep your mouth shut and don't take this to Neville.】

The date was July 3rd, two years ago.

That was the day Mabel and I went and got our marriage license.

At the little family dinner to celebrate, some relative with bad intentions kept pushing drinks on me, and Mabel took every one of them for me.

That night, she didn't come home.

Tears fell one drop at a time, scattering into small wet marks on the desk.

I sat withered in front of the computer until night came down.

Ding, ding—

The special alert I'd set just for her sounded in the dark.

I moved my stiff body and picked up my phone.

It was Mabel's habitual check-in.

【Honey, I've made it to the hotel.】

I didn't reply. I only glanced at the time.

Ten minutes to midnight.

I knew Mabel had definitely seen that message of his.

After all, in her phone, he was the other pinned name, besides me.

He'd said: 【Pick me or pick him. It's your call.】

What would Mabel's answer be?

10, 9, 8, 7…

In those ten short minutes, it was as if a dull knife were dragging slowly through the flesh of my heart.

Dragging until it ran with blood, until nothing was left but numbness.

The moment the clock struck twelve.

The computer screen flickered again.

But I didn't look. I closed the messaging app first thing.

I thought, I had my answer too.