Chapter 2

'une was always the one in Roderick's heart. I was just her substitute. After claiming him for three years, it was only right to let him go back to her.

After June went abroad, Roderick lost his mind, obsessed with finding women who looked like her.

I was the one who looked most like her, and I was also the most docile and understanding. After I devoted myself to him day and night, Roderick just barely let me stay by his side.

On the eve of our wedding, I overheard Roderick talking to a friend.

He said, "If it's not June I'm marrying, then anyone else would do."

I was standing right outside the door, but I didn't even have the right to make a scene.

I loved Roderick so much that I lost myself. Losing him was something I couldn't bear, even more than his lack of love for me.

But on our wedding day, June called Roderick away, leaving me all alone in the wedding hall. I was helpless and abandoned, like a child lost in a crowd.

I should have realized that, to Roderick, June could never be replaced.

June sent me a message, mocking me.

She wrote: [An imposter will always be an imposter. With just a wave of my hand, Roderick comes crawling back to me like a puppy. So, how does it feel to be left all alone at your own wedding?]

I bit my lip so hard it almost bled, my heart felt like someone had stabbed it and left it bleeding. So I asked June why she didn't marry Roderick since she was back.

But June's reply made me feel like a total joke.

She replied: [Marry him? Seriously? Roderick's just one of my simps. Why would I settle for one guy when I've got a whole bunch to choose from?

[Marriage is boring as hell. Only an idiot like you would hang onto a guy who doesn't even care about you.]

That night, when Roderick came home, he demanded a divorce.

I refused and shoved June's messages in his face, hoping he'd finally realize that the girl he worshipped was just stringing him along as her backup.

But Roderick slapped my phone away, staring at me like I was something disgusting.

He said, "Samantha, I never thought you'd sink so low, using alt accounts to fake messages and frame June, all just to get me.

"You think everyone's filthy because your own heart is rotten. If you're so shameless about clinging to the title of Mrs. Tingey, then fine, have it.

"But don't expect a shred of love from me, and I won't even touch you!"

That was when it hit me. Even if June did nothing at all, just by existing, Roderick would love her with everything he had.

"Roderick, I want you to make me some shortbread," June's voice snapped me back to reality as I watched them.

The two of them were wrapped up in each other in the hallway, their affection on full display, and everyone passing by couldn't help but glance over.

Some people looked jealous, others seemed genuinely touched.

Roderick smiled softly and playfully tapped June's nose.

"Alright, once you're able to eat again, I'll make it for you," he replied.

My heart ached all over. After I found June's social media, I'd obsessively check her updates, digging through her old posts, even ones from years back.

I remember one where she bragged about the shortbread Roderick had made for her.

I knew making shortbread was a hassle, and Roderick was the type who hated trouble. With all the chaos at the hospital, he barely had a moment to himself.

Once, I foolishly asked him to make some for me too. He just shot me a cold glare.

"Do I look like I have time for this? Do you even know what I do? Do you have any idea how valuable my hands are?" he snapped.

But now, for June, he agreed without a second thought. His hands were supposed to be too valuable for such things, but for her, he'd do anything, even crack open tough walnut shells by hand.

He could even walk into my own operating room, slice me open himself, and take out my kidney, all just for June.

The difference between love and not loving couldn't be more obvious.

Roderick was wheeling June toward the VIP ward when, halfway down the corridor, a gut-wrenching cry suddenly echoed through the hospital.

A woman cried, "My daughter, why did you have to leave so soon? How am I supposed to live all alone now?"

I instantly recognized that voice. It was my mom. With every cry, my heart clenched in agony.

It turned out that even ghosts could feel heartbreak.

But Roderick paused for a moment, as if he was trying to recognize something.

June squeezed his hand, her voice gentle and concerned, "Roderick, what's wrong?"

Roderick snorted coldly.

"Nothing. There are always so many pests in this hospital, addicted to putting on a show," he said.

Watching Roderick wheel June into the ward, I could only manage a helpless smile.

Roderick recognized my mom's voice, but he thought my mom and I were just acting.

He called my mom a fly. That was just cruel.

But Roderick had no idea, my corpse brushed right past June, and my mom cried herself weak, collapsing at the doors of the operating room.