Chapter 2

The video had already hit the trending list. People were digging into who they were in real life.

Sure enough, I found Elisa Walker's alt account in the comments.

It had been updated forty minutes ago.

Every single time, I'm the one who wins.

The day before, she'd posted a photo: two silhouettes kissing by the ocean.

Five years finally beat eleven. I win.

My tears slid down in time with my scrolling finger.

She's in the hospital recovering from surgery, and I cough twice and he comes running.

So what if your little car accident dragged him away for a night? You're a dead fish in bed. The only one who ever makes him lose control between the sheets is me.

He's mine now.

Further back.

So happy. Stood her up at dinner tonight. Win once and you'll win a thousand times.

Made him a heart-shaped bento. He said it was delicious.

First day of the semester. Maybe I just met the one.

…

I followed the posts one by one, scrolling back five years to the day they first met.

I watched her shift from secretly thrilling at a stolen touch to showing off every scrap of his attention like a trophy.

And I watched him drift from me, inch by inch, toward her.

My face was wet with tears, yet I felt strangely calm.

That surprised me.

I thought about it.

Maybe I'd always had a feeling.

I don't know how much longer I sat there before I finally stood, dragged my stiff body to the kitchen, and threw the cake in the trash.

And suddenly I was eighteen again, crouching with Robert outside a bakery, waiting for the prices to drop.

It was the first time we'd ever had savings.

Two hundred eighty-four yuan.

We'd earned it wearing mascot costumes for an entire day in thirty-eight-degree heat.

"Gabriella, your first-ever birthday cake is on me!"

"It's only gonna get better from here. I promise."

I'd wanted to say no.

But his bangs were still dripping with sweat, and he said it like it was the most solemn vow he'd ever made, and my resolve just—gave.

"Okay," I heard myself say.

A minute before the bakery closed, we bought the very last birthday cake.

Kiwi.

I still remember the panic in Robert's eyes right before I passed out.

And his empty pockets when we walked out of the hospital.

But when, exactly, did he stop remembering any of this?

Was it when he hired Elisa behind my back?

Or was it the very first time he introduced her to me and said, "She's my junior from school."

If Robert and I were weeds that had to fight just to survive,

Elisa was a flower raised in full sun.

I'd joked about it with him once.

"Elisa's pretty, fun, her dad's some big official, her mom's a chairwoman—and they both just dote on her."

"If it weren't for me, you'd definitely fall for her, wouldn't you?"

Robert was quiet for a long time.

"We've been through so much together."

That relief numbed me. I let it.

I never saw the dark look on his face when he dropped his eyes.

So without my knowing, everything began to shift.

Robert, who used to insist on coming home for dinner every night, started eating all three meals at the campus cafeteria.

On my birthday, he was busy comforting Elisa because she was in a bad mood.

On the anniversary of the day we escaped our living hell, he was at the beach with Elisa, setting off fireworks.

Later and later nights. Excuse after excuse for leaving.

And me, quieter and quieter.

I was so tired. I just wanted to go lie down.

Passing the study, I saw Robert's computer screen still lit up on the desk.

A chat window with Elisa.

I turned around and looked at the whole place.

Pale hardwood floors. A lush monstera. Simple furniture.

No leaking roof. No cursing echoing off the walls. Always clean, always bright.

Home.