Chapter 2

The call connected quickly, and Eliza Grant's warm, familiar voice filled my ear. "Anna, what's up?"

Eliza was Samuel's older sister.

After my grandma passed away, Samuel was the only family I had left.

The love I lost after my parents' divorce was made up for by Samuel's warmth in his own way.

For a while, I thought I was the happiest girl in the world.

Because of Samuel, I even ended up with an older sister who doted on me.

But the way Samuel acted just now made me realize that my so-called happiness was nothing but a joke.

"Eliza, I saw Samuel. Do you believe it?" My voice was as calm as still water.

There was no answer on the other end.

I asked again, "Eliza, did you know from the start?"

I could hear her choking up on the other end.

Then Eliza started apologizing. "Anna, I'm so sorry for putting you through all this. Samuel didn't mean to hurt you. He just loves you so much that he felt he had no other choice.

"Otherwise, who would ever hold a funeral for someone who's still alive? That's just so messed up."

She was right. Who in their right mind would break up with their girlfriend like that?

"Eliza, you know better than anyone how I've treated your family these past three years since Samuel died. Please, don't treat me like a fool, okay?" I said, using my kindness as leverage.

Maybe it was because I'd been covering his dad's expenses with half my paycheck ever since Samuel faked his death, Eliza was embarrassed now.

Or maybe it was because, after Samuel's "death," I ended up struggling with depression, so Eliza felt guilty.

Eliza finally came clean and told me everything about Samuel faking his death.

Just a few days after Samuel and I held the wedding, he got a call out of the blue.

He didn't say a single word to me. He just bolted out the door, looking all flustered.

I figured it was just work.

But instead, I was hit with the news that he was dead.

Now I finally knew the call he got that day was from his ex, Melody.

It was almost ridiculous when I thought about it.

Back in our sophomore year, Samuel fell head over heels for Melody at first sight.

I even helped set him up with her, playing Cupid for him.

That was how the shy, well-behaved girl started going out with Samuel back in high school.

I kept my feelings hidden and just watched everything happen from the sidelines.

I swallowed all my hurt and kept it to myself.

With all those complicated feelings swirling inside me, I stuck by Samuel, pretending I was just his friend.

It wasn't until our freshman year in university that Samuel and Melody went into long-distance relationship.

Then, out of the blue, she broke up with him.

I didn't even hear about it until our high school reunion.

He drank a lot that day, pouring all his pent-up frustration and hurt to me.

When he told me Melody and him had broken up long ago, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

I felt oddly relieved to hear that.

After that, we just kept talking for ages. He told me I was like him.

I asked him why. That was when I found out why he'd always looked out for me in middle school.

"My mom struggled with postpartum depression and ended up dying. I got bullied a lot at school. When I saw you, it was like seeing my old self. I knew how that felt, and you were a girl. I didn't want you to go through that pain," he said.

Back in middle school, I was always getting picked on and left out by the other kids.

I was big and stocky, had bad acne, and my grades were at the bottom of the class.

But Samuel was the total opposite. He was smart, athletic, good-looking, plus he was the class president.

He was at the top, and I was stuck at the very bottom.

But Samuel always looked out for me. He said that as class president, it was his responsibility to lead everyone in the class to do better.

And since I was the one struggling the most, he figured if he could help me improve, it would really prove he could make a difference.

For the first time in my life, I actually felt like someone cared about me.

Little by little, my feelings for him slowly turned into something more.

Because of him, I studied nonstop, burning the midnight oil every single day.

All I wanted was to get into the same high school as him, just so I could stay by his side.

But when we hit high school, I learned the hard way that people change.

The guy who only cared about grades ended up totally crushing on Melody, the quiet, sweet girl from the class next door.

I was so scared of losing him or messing up our friendship, so I chose to step back and keep things between us safe.

I even helped set them up.

I tried to be more gentle and considerate because that was the type Samuel was into.

I used to think Melody was just a brief chapter in Samuel's youth, something he'd remember fondly but move on from.

But looking at it now, she was his entire youth. There was no place for me at all.

Eliza told me Melody was battling depression and was threatening suicide.

Melody called Samuel, even though they'd been apart for years, just because she wanted to hear his voice again. She said she never stopped loving him.

Just a sentence, and Samuel ditched me, his newlywed wife, without a word.