Chapter 2

A loud ringing filled my ears.

After hanging up, I nearly collapsed.

So Freddie had been lying to me all along.

He had deceived me about everything, from his career to our marriage. From beginning to end, he had never truly cared about me. I had always been the one he was willing to cast aside.

“Olive?”

Freddie stepped out of the study and casually locked the door behind him.

“Why are your eyes still red?”

A trace of concern flashed in his eyes.

“Okay, we won't go to the hospital tomorrow, all right?”

I didn't answer. I pulled my hand away and asked, “You have the marriage certificate, don't you?”

Freddie's body stiffened, and he answered awkwardly, “I forgot where I put it.”

I closed my eyes and didn't press him any further.

“Oh, right.”

Freddie's tone was casual. “I'm going out tomorrow anyway. You should stay home and get some rest.”

He handed me a peach-flavored candy and added, “Get some sleep.”

Then he left the living room.

I sat alone on the floor, staring at the peach candy in my hand for a long time.

After a while, I laughed.

Gwen and I had never been alike, even when we were kids.

She had always been sweet-talking and easy to like. Even her favorite things reflected her personality—sweet, bright, and full of charm.

And peach happened to be her favorite flavor.

Freddie used to scoff at it.

“Gwen isn't five years old anymore. She's still carrying around peach-flavored candy everywhere. Isn't that childish?”

But when had he started carrying around the very candy he once despised?

I didn't know how much time passed before I finally got up and called my senior in Wexford.

“I'm in. I'll take the advanced training program you told me about.”

His voice came through the phone, surprised.

“Didn't you say you weren't in the best state lately and wanted to stay home and focus on your pregnancy?”

I curled my lips into a faint smile. “Never mind. My career is more important.”

After hanging up, I noticed a faint ray of sunlight filtering through the window. I took a deep breath and tossed the candy into the trash without hesitation.

The next morning, Freddie was already gone.

I didn't bother asking where he'd gone. I simply got up and headed to the hospital for my abortion.

As I passed Gwen's hospital room...

Inside, I saw Freddie feeding Gwen with a bowl in his hands. Dad was playing with the baby using the gold longevity lock, while all kinds of toys were scattered across the floor and new clothes were piled beside the bed.

The room was filled with warmth and harmony, like a perfectly ordinary family.

As I stood there dazed, the two of them suddenly leaned closer and started talking. I couldn't hear what Gwen said, but whatever it was made Freddie cover his mouth and laugh.

That's when I noticed a Hello Kitty sticker stuck to the back of his hand.

Still smiling, Freddie gently wiped the food from the corner of Gwen's mouth. The gesture was so natural that I froze for a moment.

Freddie had always been a serious germaphobe.

He wouldn't even touch someone else's leftover food, let alone wipe it away with his own hands. Even when I had low blood sugar and wanted to eat a piece of candy in his car, he absolutely wouldn't allow it.

But now, I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I was simply the one person he had never been willing to make an exception for.

My phone chimed with a message. My surgery time was almost here.

I closed my eyes and turned to leave when someone suddenly grabbed my hair with tremendous force.

I was thrown backward, unable to stop myself. The back of my head slammed against the floor, sending a searing pain through my skull. Blood immediately began pooling beneath me.

I forced my eyes open and saw that it was none other than my mother.

She shoved me away, her eyes bloodshot with fury.

“What are you trying to do?”

My throat was dry, and I broke into a violent coughing fit.

A trace of impatience flashed in her eyes.

“Putting on an act again? Is that it?”

She sounded so certain, as if she didn't even notice how badly I'd been hurt.

Or perhaps she simply didn't care.

After all, my parents had only ever loved my younger sister.

No matter how much I accomplished, it meant nothing in their eyes.

I was already used to it. So when the truth was once again laid bare before me in all its ugliness, I wasn't even that sad anymore. All I felt was bitter irony.

“Shouldn't I be the one asking the questions?”

A faint smile tugged at my lips as I asked hoarsely, “My dear little sister wasn't supposed to die protecting me?”

“You!” My mother's words caught in her throat.

After a moment, she finally spoke, “Fine. Since you already know, I'll be honest with you.”

“Yes, we lied to you. But you've figured it out, haven't you?”

“Freddie has always loved Gwen. The two of them are the ones who truly belong together.”

“Do you know that Freddie's lock screen password is Gwen's name? Did you know he has a whole album on his phone filled with photos of Gwen? Did you know Gwen is actually pinned at the top of his WhatsApp?”

As she spoke, she gave me a pitying look.

“They only did all that because they didn't want you to find out the truth and get hurt. After all, they both love you.”

“And you were never as emotionally strong as Gwen. We were afraid that once you found out, you might...”

I couldn't help but laugh at her words. “So that's your excuse for Freddie and Gwen cheating on me and all of you conspiring to deceive me?”

I forced myself to stand.

My voice trembled, but my words remained firm. “Stop using love as an excuse.”

“What gives you the right to assume I'd fall apart? And what gives you the right to destroy the medical career I've spent half my life building, all because you decided that was what was best for me?”

I looked at her, my voice firm.

“Mom, you and everyone else, including Freddie, have never truly seen me for who I am. I used to hold on to the hope that things might change. But from now on…”

I slipped the ring off my finger and threw it out the window without hesitation.

“Never again.”

With that, I walked past her without looking back.

Just before I entered the operating room, I came across Gwen's Instagram account.

There was a photo of Mom and Dad, Gwen holding the baby between them, with Freddie's arm wrapped around her shoulders.

What a happy family they looked like.

I didn't linger on the post. Without hesitation, I blocked the account.