Chapter 2

I walked into the apartment.

There wasn't a single pair of my shoes in the shoe cabinet.

The master bedroom closet was filled with Sophia's clothes, and all the storage boxes I'd brought in late last year were stacked out on the balcony.

The 4,300-dollar mattress I'd bought was gone too.

"Where's the mattress?" I asked.

Sophia was leaning against the master bedroom door. "My back can't handle something that soft. Mrs. Carter sent it to her relatives back home."

I turned to Adam. "Did either of you even bother to ask me before messing with my stuff?"

"It's just a mattress. If you really need one later, buy another," he said.

"That mattress cost 4300 dollars."

"I'll buy you a new one."

I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he was. "I pay the down payment, I cover the furniture deposit, and now they're even bugging me for the balance on the dining table she swap out.

"So with what money are you planning to buy me a new one?"

Sophia spoke, her voice casual and indifferent. "Tell me how much everything costs and I'll cover it. Don't walk in here checking off every item like we purposely owe you."

She stood her ground, no guilt, no shame.

In her eyes, everything had a price. As long as she handed over the cash, every trace I'd left could be erased, piece by piece.

I went out to the back balcony to look for James's old wooden box.

His reading glasses and old watch were tossed at the bottom of a cardboard box.

Adam knew better than anyone how much those things meant to me, but he just glanced at them.

His voice dropped, cold and impatient. "It's an old cabinet. Do you really have to keep bringing up James to guilt-trip everyone? He's been gone for two years now. Are you ever going to let it go?"

My hands stiffened around the wooden box.

The day James was buried, Adam held me in his arms at the cemetery the whole afternoon.

He said, "James's gone, but you still have me."

Later, when the compensation money came through, he was the one who convinced me what to do with it. "Letting the money sit there will only make you feel worse. Let's use it to buy a home together."

I believed him.

And like that, 287,000 dollars went into the apartment on the seventeenth floor.

Now he was here, acting like James's cabinet is clutter.

I didn't bother arguing with him. I called a moving truck and had the cabinet and James's things hauled away.

Right before the cabinet went into the elevator, Sophia asked, "Ms. Lane, when are you going to clear out the rest of your stuff?"

Before I could answer, Adam jumped in. "Get it all out in the next couple of days."

Before the door closed, I saw him reach out and put his hand on Sophia's shoulder, guiding her back inside.

He did it like it was second nature, like he'd done it a hundred times before.

The next afternoon, I was fixing the cracked cabinet door when my phone rang. It was the wedding venue. "Ms. Lane, just to confirm. You're no longer going to be the bride at the October 19th wedding, right?"

The screwdriver slipped from my hand and hit the floor. "What do you mean?"

The staff explained, "Mr. Carter already switched the booking. He said the original wedding is off.

"The 12,000-dollar deposit you paid has been transferred to another wedding reception on the same date."

I gripped my phone tightly. "Who agreed to this?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. "We didn't double-check with you personally. That was an oversight on our part. If you object, we could put the transfer on hold."

I only had one question. "Who's the groom?"

No answer came.

I was already up, reaching for my coat.

When I got to the hotel, they were testing the electronic screen at the entrance of the banquet hall.

On a red background, two names scrolled by side by side: [Adam & Sophia.]

I kept reading. [Date: October 19th.]

Not even the date was changed.

They didn't bother to pick a new wedding day.

Just swapped out the bride.

I stood there until Adam's voice came from behind me. "So you actually showed up at the hotel?"

I turned around.

Mary was right behind him.

Back then, whenever we met, she'd always take my hand and call me sweetheart.

Now, she frowned. "Emily, you know everything now?"