Chapter 3

By the time dinner was over, Sophia could not even remember what she had eaten. All she could think about was how their happiness was so overwhelming that she could only grit her teeth and hold back tears.

Seeing the pile of dirty dishes on the table, Adam, as the soon-to-be son-in-law, figured he should do his part.

He took his time rolling up his sleeves. "David and Margaret, let me take care of the dishes. Why don't you and Emily relax and watch some TV?"

Just a few simple words, and David and Margaret looked even more pleased.

Adam barely reached for the dishes before David cut him off. "You don't need to worry about chores like that. Let's get back to discussing your wedding plans with Emily."

Then his voice dropped, and his face turned stern as he looked at Sophia. "Do I really have to remind you to take care of simple chores like this? You were never as sensible as Emily, and you're still the same old you!"

Adam was just an outsider, and Sophia was his own daughter, but the way he treated them was like night and day.

Sophia had gotten used to it ages ago. Even when she was always at the top of her class, not once did her family ever smile at her for it.

But when it came to Emily, even if they had drained their savings to send her abroad for a degree that was little more than a piece of paper, they did it with a smile.

Even now, just like always, Emily's fiancé mattered more to them than she ever did. From beginning to end, Sophia was always the only one they never cared about.

Sophia kept her mouth shut, not wanting to waste her breath on another fight. She quietly cleared the messy table and walked into the kitchen.

December's chill had frosted the windows, and even the water from the tap bit with cold.

Sophia stood all by herself in the kitchen, her knuckles aching as she scrubbed each dish. She worked at the stains on the plates, scrubbing until not a single mark was left.

Just like her three years of love for Adam, scrubbed away until nothing remained, leaving only emptiness behind.

In the living room, they looked just like a warm, happy family.

Sophia turned to watch, her gaze locked on Adam, who had always hated strawberries, as he leaned in and took a bite from the one Emily held to his lips.

She knew he could not stand strawberries. She had always wanted to do something playful like that with him, but she never got the chance.

Now she finally understood. Rules only applied to people like her. She had always tried to accommodate his preferences, but for Emily, he would drop his so-called allergies without a second thought.

In the end, everyone bent the rules for Emily. But for her, she was the only one who never got a break. Rules were always strict when it came to her.

She had envied Emily countless times before. But ever since she met Adam, she had not felt that way for a long time.

But now, that old feeling surged back, making her feel like a rat, lurking in the shadows, secretly spying on someone else's happiness.

She arranged the dishes with practiced hands, took off her damp apron, and trudged to the entryway to slip on her shoes. While their laughter filled the house behind her, Sophia opened the door and stepped out.

Thick snow piled up on both sides of the street, and the app said there were a hundred people ahead of her in line for a ride.

She wrapped the brown coat Adam had given her tighter around herself and decided to walk home. To be exact, she was heading back to the apartment they once called home.

It used to be their little world. Now, with Adam about to start a new family, it was just her lonely refuge.

Fifteen minutes later, her legs were numb from the cold, and even her toes throbbed with pain.

She threw out the tea Adam had left behind and uncorked the bottle of Lafite she had been saving for their wedding.

The flames in the metal trash bin climbed higher. With each drink, she tossed another of his gifts into the fire, letting them turn to ashes.

By the time she was done, the only trace of him left in the apartment was the plain ring on her finger.

She took off the ring, holding it up and staring at it for a long moment. A date was carved on the inside, plain as day.

The first time they truly became one, he slipped out quietly while she was exhausted and fast asleep. When she woke up to the blinding sunlight, she saw the ring lying there, waiting for her.

He said, "Sophia, I am not just playing around. I love you. I want to spend my life with you." After saying that, he snapped a picture of their hands intertwined and posted it all over social media.

She used to savor that memory again and again, and every time, it made her feel genuinely happy.

But now, thinking back, that was also the day Emily went public with her boyfriend from overseas. He never really loved her. He was just using her.

He was using her to provoke Emily, or to prove to her that he had someone by his side, so he would not seem like the pathetic one in their old high school drama.

The silver ring landed against the wooden table with a dull, lifeless thud. Just like her love with Adam, which eventually was burned away by Emily's fierce flame.

The next day, Sophia found her love diary hidden away in the safe. She pulled out the heartbreaking miscarriage report, and tears welled up in her eyes once more.

She could not just hand over her blessing without wrapping it up in a fancy box.

On her way to the mall, she tossed her pile of love diaries, packed with all her silly crushes and heartbreaks, into a dumpster.

Her love used to be real, but after he betrayed her, it ended up as nothing but garbage. Trash belonged with trash.

At the mall, Sophia walked into a gift shop and picked out a simple gift box and a matching ribbon without a second thought. She wondered if he would really light up with joy when he opened her gift.

After packing it up, she instinctively weighed it in her hand. It was light as a feather, but it carried the weight of all her pain. Fate sure knew how to make a cruel bargain. Her heart was full of bitter irony.