Chapter 2
A chill ran through me.
Charlie not only called my parents grandma and grandpa, but also he'd actually been living with them for quite some time already.
He was three years old.
If Charlie were three now, that means he must have been conceived right around the time Emily got dumped.
That was the year Emily was kicked out by her ex. She stood outside my apartment with her suitcase, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
I couldn't stand seeing her like that. So I brought her home with me.
Ryan wasn't exactly thrilled about it.
He frowned and said, "Stop bringing random people home."
I smiled and spoke up for Emily. "She is not anyone. She is my best friend."
In the end, Ryan didn't object anymore.
When Emily had a stomachache late at night, he went out to buy her medicine.
When she craved oatmeal from that shop on the south side of town, he drove over to get it for her.
When Emily struggled to find a job, Ryan pulled some strings to help get her resume noticed.
Back then, I was oddly reassured.
I thought that the man I love was actually taking good care of my best friend.
But now I have finally realized that some of that so-called care had gone way beyond being friendly.
On the phone, Ryan was still talking. "Sophie, are you listening? Just try to calm down for a few days.
"Once things blow over, I'll tell you everything."
I didn't say a word.
I replayed the livestream.
On the screen, Charlie was in my dad's arms.
He had a tiny silver pendant hanging around his neck.
As the camera panned over, it caught the light for a moment.
I froze.
I knew that pendant the moment I saw it.
It was the pendant my mom made for me after my first miscarriage.
That day, I lay in a hospital bed, my face ghostly pale from the pain, and I couldn't stop crying, no matter how hard I tried.
My mom held my hand and tried to soothe me. "You'll have another baby someday.
"I'll make you a pendant. When you and Ryan have a child, let him wear it for good luck."
But that pendant was never meant for me.
It had always belonged to Emily's son.
I hung up the phone.
Then, without a second thought, I blocked Ryan, my dad, and my mom, one by one.
I was giving them their perfect little family reunion.
And for once, I was choosing myself, walking away from this seven-year farce.
Just then, my phone buzzed with a news alert. [Hero Pilot Ryan Carter Caught in Secret Romance. Old Photos Exposed]
The photo showed Ryan and me.
Back then, he wasn't a captain yet, but was just a rookie co-pilot who'd barely passed his exams.
I went to the airport to meet him.
He was in his uniform, standing in the busy arrivals hall, and he leaned down to kiss my forehead.
That was one of the few photos we ever took together.
But now, somehow, this photo had resurfaced online by someone.
The comments section was blowing up.
[Wait, so the hero pilot already had a girlfriend?]
[Then, who was Emily in today's livestream?]
[Isn't she Sophie Bennett's bestie? She knew he was taken and still went after him?]
[Seriously? Best friend snatches the boyfriend and shows up with a kid to push Sophie out? That's nasty.]
I stared at those comments, but there wasn't a shred of satisfaction in my chest.
All I felt was how absurd it all was.
The truth, coming so late, was like a knife left to rust.
It couldn't cut through the old scars. It only made the festering wounds uglier.
Not long after, the doorbell started ringing like crazy.
I hadn't made it to the entryway before the door swung open, and someone had used a spare key from outside.
Ryan stormed in. "Sophie, is this what you wanted?"
Before I could process what was happening, a sharp smack rang in my ears.
My cheek stung and started to swell; I turned my head away, my mouth filling with the metallic taste of blood.
Ryan's hand froze in midair.
For a moment, his eyes were filled with confusion, caught completely off guard.
He reached out to me, at a loss, as if a kid caught doing something wrong.
I pushed Ryan away with a cold, detached look, then wiped the blood from my mouth.
In that instant, Ryan's guilt was instantly replaced by a chilling indifference.
His voice was sharp and cold. "Emily slit her wrists after seeing the news. She got pulled back from the brink.
"Will you only be happy once you've driven her to death?"
I gave a cold, sarcastic laugh and looked down. "If I said I wasn't the one who leaked that photo, would you ever believe me?"
Ryan's brows knitted together, barely holding back his anger. "Who else but you would dig up a photo like that to milk sympathy?"
Every word hit me like a slap, cold and cutting.
He added, "Sophie, when did you get so ruthless?"
I looked at him, and suddenly, I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.