Chapter 2

I sent the message and looked up to see Ida twist her mouth, as if it cost her something to allow it.

"Fine, we'll let her know when we hold the ceremony."

Lewis said nothing.

She frowned. "What? Does it hurt to think about her?"

"Lewis, the whole point of having you act was so she'd believe she'd been saved, and then break when she found out the truth."

"Don't tell me you actually fell into the role. You don't like her, do you?"

Their mother laughed and took Ida's hand.

"Silly girl. That little liar isn't half of what you are. Why would Lewis ever like her?"

"Back then we just couldn't stand her. But she was legally a Summers, so we couldn't just throw her out. That's why your father and I faked our deaths, took you and your brother, and left. We left her behind to fend for herself."

So that was it.

When they brought me back from the orphanage to the Summers family, I thought I finally had a home.

But no matter how carefully I stepped, in their eyes I was always the liar.

When I said I didn't push Ida down the stairs, I was lying.

When I said I didn't take that five hundred dollars, I was lying.

When I said I'd come first in the grade without cheating, still lying.

For a while I wondered if I just wasn't likable enough.

After they "died," I wondered if I was a curse, bad luck to everyone around me.

When I had given up on everything, Lewis appeared and saved me.

But in the end, family or love, I never really had any of it.

Lewis pulled a cool, thin smile and adjusted her veil for her.

"She's coarse and slow. What is there about her to like?"

"I just realized, forget the ceremony, we haven't even taken our wedding photos."

Ida smacked her own forehead. "I forgot!"

Yara pointed toward the exit. "There's a place right by the station that does wedding photos, prints them on the spot."

"If we go now, before the staff here clock in, we can shoot and come back in time."

Ida glanced at the line behind them and frowned, torn.

"But then we wouldn't be the first couple to register."

The corner of Lewis's mouth curved. "That's nothing."

Five minutes later, every couple behind them had a box in their hands.

Inside each was a solid gold necklace.

His smile was easy and clear, his voice gentle.

"Congratulations to all of you in advance. My wife wants to be the first to register, so if you wouldn't mind holding our spot, we'll take our photos and be right back."

The crowd went quiet for a beat, then broke into noise.

"Oh my God, is this what rich people's love looks like?"

"The groom is so devoted, handing out gold just to make his bride happy!"

"Of course they should go first. What's a little waiting to us!"

"I hereby declare I'm happy to be cut in line by true love!"

Ida leaned against Lewis's shoulder, her face flushed, unable to keep the smile off her lips.

I watched, quiet.

I thought of the time I skipped lunch for two straight months to buy him a watch for his birthday, until I passed out on the side of the road.

When he opened that thousand-dollar watch, he turned his face away, his shoulders shaking.

I thought he was moved.

Turns out the watch was so shabby he was afraid he'd laugh out loud the second he spoke.

I picked up my radio and asked the station manager for time off, then followed them up to the station exit.

Amid the crowd, I hid behind the door of the photo studio like a mouse peeking at the sun.

Watching them sit close and cozy in front of the camera, something in me emptied for a moment.

Before I understood what I was doing, I had already dialed.

Through my blurred vision, I saw Lewis look at his phone screen, his brow drawing together.

Once, twice, three times...

He never picked up.

As if, five years ago when he confessed, he'd never said, "Any time, any place, I'll always pick up your call on the first ring."

Ida leaned in for a look and let out a cold snort.

"Is that pest checking up on you again?"

She reached over and hit the end button. "You're not allowed to answer, or you won't have a wife anymore."

Lewis ruffled her hair and gave a helpless laugh. "As you command, my lady wife."

He sent me a message. 【Busy. I'll get back to you later.】

I stared at those few words and laughed until I cried.

【You didn't send a voice message. So you can see now?】