Chapter 2

"This is Sophia Quinn, a college friend of mine," Frank said, his tone as casual as if he were introducing a delivery guy. "She's been unwell lately and needs some treatment.

"It's hard to find a place near the hospital, so I told her she could stay with us for now."

Emily glanced at the suitcase. It wasn't very big, but it was packed to the brim.

"Hi, Emily," Sophia said with a gentle smile, her voice soft and sweet. "Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble at all," Emily replied with a smile. "How long will you be staying?"

"About two or three months," Frank answered for Sophia, already pulling the suitcase inside. "The sofa bed in the study can be used. I'll go set it up."

Emily watched as Frank walked into the study, with Sophia following behind.

She stood there, her hands still stained with cucumber juice from chopping cucumbers.

The study was Emily's usual spot. She kept her sewing machine there, a few baking books, and a pothos plant she'd had for two years.

At dinner, the three of them sat down together at the table.

Frank kept putting food on Sophia's plate, urging her to eat more.

With every bite, Sophia would say, "Emily, your cooking is amazing."

Emily poured her a bowl of soup, and Sophia's hand shook slightly as she took it.

"What's wrong with you?" Emily asked.

Sophia's hand froze midair with the bowl, then she glanced up at Frank.

Frank set down his fork. "Leukemia. It was caught early, so a bone marrow transplant should fix it."

"Bone marrow transplants need a match," Emily said.

"Yeah," Frank replied. "Her family isn't a match, so we're still looking for a donor."

"What about the bone marrow registry?" Emily asked.

"There are too many people waiting," Sophia said, lowering her head and stirring her soup with her spoon. "The doctor said I can't really wait much longer."

Emily didn't ask any more questions. After dinner, she started washing the dishes.

Once Frank finished making up the bed for Sophia, he walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Emily from behind.

"Emily, you've worked so hard," he said.

"It's nothing," Emily replied.

"Don't worry about Sophia. We're just regular classmates. She's got no family here, and I couldn't just leave her on her own," Frank added.

"I'm not worried," Emily said, rinsing the soap off the dishes and stacking them in the dish rack. "She's your friend, of course you should take care of her."

Frank kissed the back of her neck. "I knew you were the kindest."

After he went back to the bedroom, Emily wrung out the dishcloth and hung it on the faucet.

She pulled out her phone and saw a message from Linda. [I found out. Sophia is twenty-seven and was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia three months ago.

[She's currently undergoing chemotherapy at the hematology department of the city hospital, and her attending physician is Julian White.

[And there's something else you probably don't know. She's not just some classmate. She was Frank's girlfriend in college.

[They were together for three years and broke up when they graduated.]

After reading the message, Emily locked her phone.

She stood in the kitchen, looking out at the streetlights in the neighborhood.

Under the streetlight, a young couple walked hand in hand, moving slowly, the woman resting her head on the man's shoulder.

Emily watched them for a few seconds before pulling the curtains closed.

The next morning, when Emily came back from grocery shopping, she heard voices coming from the study.

The door was closed, but the sound still carried through.

It was Frank's voice. "How are your numbers looking? What did Dr. White say?"

Sophia replied, "The third round of chemo is over, but it didn't really help. Dr. White said if we can't find a bone marrow match, I might not make it past six months."

Frank didn't say anything.

Sophia's voice dropped even lower. "Frank, you don't have to do this. You have a wife now."

"Don't worry about it," Frank said, his voice heavy. "I said I'd handle it, and I will."

"But your wife…" Sophia hesitated.

"She won't find out," Frank promised. "Everything will go as planned. Just focus on your treatment."

Emily set the groceries down in the entryway and took a couple of steps back.

Then she pushed the door open again and called out, "I'm back. The shrimp looked great today. I'll make shrimp for dinner."

The voices in the study went silent right away.

The door opened, and Frank came out, taking the plastic bags from her. "You bought so much? Let me carry those."

Emily looked at his smiling face.

She reached into her apron pocket and found the pregnancy test she'd bought at the pharmacy earlier that day. There were two bright red lines.

Emily stared at those two lines for five minutes. She knew that wasn't some accident.

Every sabotaged condom, every time Frank timed things for my fertile days, every sweet "Emily, let's have a baby"—it was all part of his plan.'

She wrapped the test in a tissue and stuffed it at the bottom of the bathroom trash can.

When she came out, Sophia was leaving the study, holding an empty cup. "Emily, I'm just going to get some water."

"There's hot water in the kitchen," Emily replied.

As Sophia walked past Emily, her gaze flickered down to Emily's belly.