Chapter 2

Dulce's fever finally broke.

I stayed by her side at the hospital all night.

Jeffery didn't call until morning.

"Mollie, did you call me last night?" he asked.

His voice was rough from just waking up, with a barely noticeable edge of irritation.

"Yeah," I replied.

"What's up? I had my phone on silent last night," he said.

Was that just so he wouldn't get bothered by Vanessa, the one everyone called "emotionally unstable"?

"Dulce had a really high fever last night, 103.6°F," I said.

My voice was so calm, it was like I was talking about someone else.

"We're at the hospital now," I added.

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Why didn't you say something earlier? Is it bad? I'll be there ASAP," he said.

"No need," I said.

I glanced out the window; the sky was completely clear now.

"Her fever's gone. You can just do your thing," I added.

"Mollie!" he said, his tone growing heavier. "That's my daughter!"

"So you do remember you have a daughter," I replied, voice tinged with sarcasm.

I hung up with a practiced ease that was almost heartbreaking.

After checking Dulce out of the hospital, I took her to my parents' place so she could rest.

Then I went back to that cold, empty place I'm supposed to call "home."

The cake from last night was still there in the living room, just sitting out, untouched.

And that bottle of red wine had totally turned bitter.

I walked into the study, hoping to find a few picture books for Dulce.

But at the very bottom of the drawer, my fingers found something hard, a notebook.

Before I even realized it, I opened it.

It was Jeffery's handwriting.

The date was seven years ago.

"Today, Ariah Serrano left. She died saving me," it read. "There's no light left in this world anymore."

Ariah Serrano was the person I'd never met, but her name always lingered between Jeffery and me like a ghost.

I kept turning the pages.

My fingers shook uncontrollably.

There was a photo tucked inside.

The girl in the photo had long, flowing hair and a white dress, her smile radiant and full of life.

She looked so much like Vanessa, almost like they could have been sisters.

On the back, in Jeffery's handwriting, was a single line, "The love of my life."

Then what was I to him?

So, did these seven years mean nothing at all?

The last entry in the diary was from seven years ago.

It remained untouched until Vanessa entered his life.

Suddenly, I remembered the day Vanessa started at the company.

Jeffery fumbled and broke a teacup.

He stared at her face for a full ten seconds.

Then he said, "Your name is... Vanessa Hood? That's just right."

Back then, I just found it odd.

Now, I finally understood everything.

So, I, a rich single woman, gave him a kid and was stuck by his side for seven damn years..

It turned out I was just a freaking stand-in for a stand-in?

I thought I was marrying for love.

But I just walked right into a full-blown stand-in drama, like I was the understudy for someone's lost soulmate.

I put the diary and the photo back in the drawer, untouched, exactly as they were.

It was like none of it ever even happened.

But I knew some things were shattered beyond repair, like my trust in him and the last ridiculous illusion I ever had about this marriage.

Like my trust in him.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed.

The screen lit up; it was a message from Jeffery.

He said: [Family dinner tonight. Mom said to bring Nessa with you; she's new in town, so she should get familiar with the place.]

I just looked at the message.

I let out a bitter laugh.

Seriously? Bring her to the family dinner?

Get familiar with the place?

What was next? Was she going to get familiar with my spot too?