Chapter 3

I'd known Cliff Bishop for twelve years, and dated him for eight.

Everyone thought we were certain to get married.

Me included.

Back in college, the hardest year of starting his company, there were only three people left.

I went to class during the day and helped him tally up orders at night.

The office leaked, so we caught the water in plastic basins and ate instant ramen sitting on cardboard boxes.

He held my hand and promised he'd give me a good life someday.

I believed him.

Not because the words sounded nice.

Because back then he remembered I didn't eat cilantro, he'd heat up milk for me after I stayed up late, and he'd leave me the only umbrella.

He really did love me once.

So every time he left me behind afterward, I made excuses for him.

Work was too busy.

An old friend was in trouble.

It was urgent.

We had a long life ahead of us.

Carly Lyons was his high school classmate.

When Cliff was seventeen, his father suddenly had a stroke.

Cliff kept watch alone at the hospital, too scared to tell anyone.

It was Carly who noticed something was wrong, called their teacher, and stayed with him until his mother rushed over.

He carried that debt of gratitude for years.

He promised Carly that whenever she hit a wall she couldn't get past, she could come to him anytime.

There's nothing wrong with making someone a promise.

What was wrong was that later, every wall she hit, she got past by stepping over me.

She lost money in her business, and he used the money we'd set aside to buy a house.

She got drunk, and he drove two hours in the middle of the night to pick her up.

She was scared to spend her birthday alone, so he canceled on my dad's dinner.

Every time, before he left, he'd hand the choice off to me.

"Cordelia, I'm the only one who can help her right now."

"You won't mind, will you?"

"Just this once."

Once it was put that way, the moment I minded, I became the cold-blooded one.

So I nodded, again and again.

"It's fine, go ahead."

He heard it so many times that even he came to believe it.

He really thought I didn't mind.

On the night of our engagement banquet, he had to go pick up Carly again.

I chased him to the hotel entrance.

"Cliff, on our wedding day, unless someone's about to die, you cannot leave me."

He froze for a second, then laughed that I was overthinking it.

I didn't give in. "Promise me."

He finally put his phone away, came back, and held me.

"Okay."

"As long as you're still standing there, I'll come back."

Back then I held on to that line for a long time.

Only now do I understand that the sky doesn't have to fall.

One tear from Carly is enough.