Chapter 2

By the time I finished handling my parents' funeral arrangements, it was already the next evening.

I dragged my exhausted body through the door.

The carefully tidied house had become a complete mess.

Jason was rummaging through things with his head down, carelessly tossing items onto the floor.

Like he was used to it, confident that someone would always clean up after him.

Hearing the door, he didn't even look up, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction.

"Where have you been all day on the weekend? I even had to order takeout for lunch."

I froze. So he didn't come home last night either.

These past two years, he'd always been like this.

When Mia's apartment light broke, he could get up in the middle of the night to fix it for her.

But he'd forget to lock our door properly, letting a drunk stranger stumble in and giving me nightmares for an entire month.

When Mia's dog was about to give birth, he could refuse to accompany me to my prenatal checkup.

But he'd take a week off work to stay with her, even though that was supposed to be the vet's job.

Getting no response, Jason finally looked at me, surprise flooding his eyes.

"Your face is so pale. Is the baby giving you trouble again?"

I stepped back, avoiding his hand reaching toward my abdomen, my tone flat.

"I called you seventy-six times yesterday. Why didn't you answer?"

Jason's hand hung in midair. He frowned at my words.

"Hermione, are you interrogating me?"

"Mia and I are childhood friends. Her dog Snowball is different from the other pets in her shop—she's raised it since it was small. They have a deep bond."

"Snowball was giving birth and Mia was worried sick. I had to help with the delivery. At such a critical moment of life and death, how could I have time to answer your pointless calls?"

"It's just a prenatal checkup. Plenty of pregnant women go by themselves. At worst, you had your parents. They're free anyway. What difference does it make if I'm not there?"

Looking at his self-righteous expression.

I really wanted to ask—what about my parents?

That car accident was terrible. Dad had no vital signs by the time he reached the hospital.

Mom was rushed into surgery for emergency treatment, but her injuries were severe and complex.

Jason's colleague said that only if Jason performed the surgery himself would there be any chance of saving her.

He said he was too busy to answer my calls, yet when I liked that Instagram post, he immediately ordered me to unlike it.

Afraid Mia might read too much into it.

"Are you really just childhood friends?"

"But Jason, I saw you kiss her."

At the very restaurant where he'd proposed to me. Even sitting in the exact same seats.

In my mental haze, I didn't see the motorcycle speeding toward me.

Although the driver braked in time, the tiny life inside me that was barely three months old was still lost.