Chapter 2

Then came the day my grandmother died.

Thirty-two calls. Five hundred messages. Every one of them swallowed into silence.

Outside the funeral hall, the rain came down in sheets.

What I got back wasn't a word of comfort from Marvin. It was a sugary little voice instead.

"You passed, sis. Looks like you really do care about our Mr. Pruitt~"

"No more losing touch from now on."

It wasn't until a day later that Marvin sent a voice message, unable to hide his excitement.

"Baby, Patsy did me a huge favor…"

He gushed about all the connections she'd brought him.

At that moment, I was sorting through my grandmother's belongings.

Three years long-distance had worn me numb to Patsy's games.

Now the two of them looked at me, waiting.

Waiting for me to lose my temper.

As if the moment I made a scene, true love would fill back up to full, like a health bar in one of their games.

I rubbed my eyes. They only stung.

"If everything's the opposite of what you say, Marvin, then let's go get married right now. All right?"

The room was dim, but I could see the shock in Marvin's eyes clearly enough.

Because I'd taken the marriage paperwork out of my bag.

Patsy laughed at once.

"Sis is just dying to get hitched, carrying the license papers around with her~ I really do envy you two."

"But what a shame. The county clerk's office is already closed at this hour."

I wasn't dying to get married.

Tomorrow was the day I was going to register a marriage.

This was the last question I would ever ask of a love that had lasted ten years.

Marvin didn't answer it directly.

He just circled an arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, the way you'd soothe a child who wouldn't behave.

"No rush. We'll get there eventually."

Marvin, there is no eventually.

Getting the marriage license went quickly.

Before we parted, Dudley Pruitt pressed a reluctant kiss to my forehead.

"Sis, what am I going to do. My flight's this afternoon and I already miss you."

That's right. My new husband is the Pruitt family's false young heir.

When did it start?

The sixth sense in a long-distance relationship is sharp.

In all those check-in photos he sent me, I saw the intimacy that crossed the line.

The pink chopsticks beside the lunch box, the matching printed shirts, and in the mirror, the profile of a girl tilting her face up to kiss him.

Maybe Patsy did it on purpose.

It doesn't matter anymore.

Now Marvin lets Patsy sit in his passenger seat and keep the jealousy game going.

"Sis, we're going to the society dinner tonight~"

No warning ahead of time.

The two of them in couture, and me in a windbreaker.

The weather had turned a little cold.

We'd just come from seeing Dudley off at the airport.

I only stayed to put an end to it.

I didn't open the car door. I went to scan one of the shared bikes parked nearby.

"You two go on ahead."