Chapter 1

1: 1

My girlfriend came back from a business trip abroad with a pile of local specialties and gifts for my little brother.

Chester Sullivan bounded over to pick through them, thrilled.

Seeing me sit there without so much as moving, my mother asked,

"Aren't you going to see what Hazel Sanchez brought you?"

I shook my head. I didn't need to look.

Those gifts came in every shape and kind, but there was never one for me.

The two of them chattered away, happy, while I sat there like an outsider who'd wandered into the wrong room.

Then, easy as anything, Hazel slipped Chester a bank card.

"Here, your birthday's coming up. Buy whatever you want."

"Hazel, I knew you were the best!"

Chester was over the moon. He threw an arm around her neck.

The whole room was warm with it, my parents smiling too.

But my eyes were locked on that bank card, and my heart dropped straight to the bottom.

That card was one we'd opened together at the bank, to save the money we'd need to get married.

Hazel had said that once she saved up five hundred thousand, it would be her dowry, and we'd build a new home together.

But at dinner yesterday, Chester let something slip.

That was how I found out she'd already saved the full five hundred thousand six months ago.

She was just holding onto it, to give my brother as his bride-price money.

Watching the two of them laughing together, I lowered my head and told the company I'd take the overseas transfer, then turned and went back to my room.

That wedding I kept waiting for and never got, I didn't want to wait for it anymore.

To get close to her, I'd walked through every kind of weather and worn every bit of the cold.

But from here on out, however long the road, I only wanted to look after myself.

1

Seeing me say nothing and go straight to my room,

Hazel sensed something was off and followed, frowning.

"Zane Sullivan, why aren't you talking? Are you sulking again?"

"Come on, you're not actually jealous of your own little brother?"

A flicker of impatience showed in her eyes, but she kept her voice soft, coaxing me.

"All right, stop it."

"You know I'm going to marry you someday, so I have to stay on good terms with everyone in your family."

"I care for your brother Chester like he's my own little brother too. What more could you want?"

Right. I should be satisfied. I should be grateful, even.

Because she really did treat my brother better than she'd treat her own.

Too well, in fact.

Every business trip, she came back with gifts of every kind.

And what a coincidence, all of them happened to be things Chester liked, as if she'd hand-picked each one.

While I, her boyfriend, got nothing.

I turned and glanced at the pile of gifts, already divided up, and let out a bitter little laugh.

"So you go on a trip and bring back gifts for everyone. Where's mine?"

Hazel blinked, then broke into a smile.

"And here I thought it was something serious. So this is what you're jealous over."

She reached out and ruffled my hair, the gesture affectionate and practiced.

"You know how it is. Chester's young, and he's got a sweet mouth. The moment I see something a boy his age would like, I know it'll make him happy."

"You're my boyfriend. Do we really need things like that between us? My whole self already belongs to you."

She smiled, the same way she had a hundred times before when she wanted to cheer me up, her tone just as easy.

And it drove a fresh ache straight into my chest.

But she hadn't always been like this.

She knew how much I loved little rituals, how much I loved the ones she used to bring me on a whim from some roadside stand.

Even if it was just a bunch of flowers.

Or a breakfast sandwich, the kind I loved.

I'd stay happy the whole night, just knowing she'd thought of me even in the middle of nowhere.

But somewhere along the way, overlooking me had become a habit.

I looked into her eyes.

"That bank card, do you still remember it?"

Her smile paused, then she shrugged it off.

"Of course. Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

I kept looking at her. "Nothing. Just felt like asking. How much have you saved up now?"

Something evasive slid through Hazel's eyes, but she answered calmly enough.

"I was only fifty thousand short of the full amount, but a few days ago my mom suddenly got sick. It cost almost a hundred thousand, so now I'm a hundred and fifty short."

She lied without a flicker, then made a show of holding my hand tenderly.

"Zane, trust me. I've been working hard to save."

"A year at most, and I'll have the whole dowry put together."

"Then we can throw a proper wedding, the grand kind."

"Is that so."

I pretended not to see the panic in her eyes, and said quietly,

"But I just heard Chester bragging that you gave him a bank card and told him to spend whatever he wants for his birthday."