Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes, the fluid dripping through the IV had left half my body cold and numb.

I turned my head a little and saw Jade sitting close beside Felix.

He hadn't looked that relaxed in front of me in a long time.

Jade speared a piece of fruit and lifted it to his lips.

"You're always taking care of her. Let me take care of you."

Felix leaned in and bit down,

the whole motion easy, practiced, as if they'd done it a thousand times.

The older woman in the next bed hid a smile behind her hand.

"You two make such a sweet little couple."

I forced the words out, my voice raw.

"Honey."

She let out a startled little cry and turned away.

The smiles froze on Felix's and Jade's faces too.

Felix came over and felt my forehead.

"You've got a fever. Why didn't you tell me?"

I said nothing, but what I thought was this:

when he'd carried me to the guest room, hadn't he felt how wrong my temperature was?

The old Felix had always been so careful.

He'd notice if the bathwater was off by even a couple of degrees.

Jade leaned in and bent to tuck my blanket around me.

The pearl necklace slid out from under her collar,

glowing with a soft, wet sheen.

"Felix has always cared about you, Nellie. He and I are only good friends. Everything I did was just to help you get better faster."

I stared at that string of pearls,

then asked Felix.

"You stole the necklace my dad gave me and gave it to her?"

Felix couldn't stop his frown.

"Don't make it sound so ugly. Jade's done so much for you. It's just a necklace."

Right. What was one necklace my father gave me,

when I'd already handed her my husband.

But even so, I wasn't willing to let it go.

"Take it off. Give it back to me."

Jade's eyes reddened.

The moment she unclasped the necklace,

the chain snapped, and the pearls fell like rain.

Jade kept apologizing,

Felix only glanced down, indifferent,

and stopped me when I tried to get out of bed.

Neither of them made any move to pick them up.

Felix's phone rang. He answered it,

and left the room with Jade.

A few hours later, Felix sent me a message.

"My mom just told me the baby isn't feeling well. Come see him when you're up to it."

But when I got there, it wasn't the scene I'd pictured.

The room was ablaze with light.

Josephine Sanchez and Felix's sister sat on one side,

Felix, Jade, and the baby in his high chair on the other.

Any outsider walking past would have taken it for a family dinner.

And I was the outsider who didn't know how to read a room.

Josephine gave a cold snort.

"The madwoman shows up uninvited."

Felix's sister put food on Josephine's plate and chimed in.

"Exactly. If only Jade were my sister-in-law. Then I wouldn't lose face like this."

"When people ask, I can't even bring myself to say my sister-in-law is a lunatic who screams her head off every single day."

Felix shot his sister a glare

and told me to come sit by him.

"I didn't call you because I know you don't like crowds."

I didn't go over.

"The baby isn't sick?"

Jade, busy fussing over the baby, turned her head at that.

"Don't go cursing a perfectly healthy child, Nellie. It doesn't look like you've taken your medicine today. Maybe you should just go home first."

Josephine's face went black in an instant. She slammed the table.

"Nellie, the Sanchez family has gotten nothing out of marrying you this whole year, and now you come here to curse my grandson? I'm throwing you out today, and I'd like to see anyone try to stop me!"

In the past, sounds like these would have closed off my throat.

But right now, I could stand there, steady.

"Jade, being a nanny to my son and a warm-the-bed maid to my husband, does it feel good?"

Felix set down his chopsticks, his brows drawn tight.

"Nellie, you really haven't been in your right mind these past couple of days. Jade has done so much for this family, and you smear it all with one sentence!"

"Felix, I told you long ago, you spoil her too much." His sister crossed her arms and sneered.

"Postpartum depression, what a joke. Never heard of it. She's just being difficult, wanting the whole world to coddle her and give in to her!"

"Since everyone's here today, the two of you should divorce, and you should marry Jade!"

"Shut up!" Felix snapped.

Jade finally rose, the same old routine.

"Please, stop fighting. I'll go. You all eat…"

"You don't need to go."

I walked closer, one step at a time,

taking in his sister's spiteful eyes, Josephine trembling with rage,

and Felix's arm thrown out on instinct to shield Jade.

My hand closed around the tablecloth.

"Since you want to eat, let me treat you."