Chapter 2

The manager's face went pale. "How could this happen so suddenly? Didn't he just say he was too busy with work to make it?"

"Miss Jenny, given your special circumstances, I can apply to see if we can refund your deposit."

I shook my head, a dense, prickling pain spreading through my chest.

Charlie and I had a secret marriage. No ceremony, no wedding banquet. Even our friends and family didn't know.

That's why I was obsessed with taking wedding photos.

In six years of secret marriage, he'd refused me eighteen times, claiming he was too busy with work.

But now, he was here taking wedding photos with someone else.

Seeing my silence, the manager assumed I was in shock from my husband's death and carefully supported me. "Miss Jenny, are you alright?"

I suppressed the sour feeling in my throat, my voice hoarse. "I'm fine. Keep the deposit."

With that, I walked step by step toward Charlie. He took a guilty step back.

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of my mouth, then I turned and walked out the door.

That evening, he came home with a bouquet of red roses, his face showing a rare hint of flattery.

"Jenny, you did great today. Thank you. Eve is sensitive. If you'd made a scene, I don't know how much she would have cried."

"Didn't you want to vacation in Hawaii? Once I get through this busy period, I'll take you there."

A tear slid down my cheek. The scene I'd dreamed of could be realized so easily.

My husband coming home from work with flowers, gently promising to take me to Hawaii.

I should have been happy, if I hadn't discovered his affair.

I didn't answer his question. Instead, I asked, "Why her?"

Eve. My stepsister. Back then, to force my mother to divorce, she and her mother had joined forces and driven my mother to her death.

She was my mother's killer.

Charlie knew full well that I hated her most. He could have cheated with anyone, but choosing her hurt me the most.

Tears fell like beans as my voice began to tremble. "You know I hate her most of all. What did I do wrong that you would treat me like this?"

Hearing this, Charlie frowned, his tone impatient. "Jenny, that's all in the past. You can't blame Eve for your mother's death. She was just a child then."

"If you want to blame someone, blame your mother for being too weak. She couldn't handle it, so she killed herself."

My vision gradually blurred. I stared in shock at the man who had promised to protect me for life. I never imagined he could say such things.