Chapter 2
The world I live in was basically one giant, over-the-top, trashy angst romance novel.
My husband, Patrick Irving, was the loyal best friend of the overbearing CEO male lead.
He was the kind of guy who'd do anything for his buddy.
Patrick always spent way more time with Lionel than he ever did with me.
It was all thanks to Lionel and his crazy, obsessive love for Vivian.
Kidnapping, locking people up, car crashes were common in this world.
Vivian got hurt so often, I'd honestly lost count.
Every time Lionel called, Patrick would ditch me in a heartbeat, no questions asked.
Patrick would always say, "Vivian, you know Lionel has only ever fallen for someone once. I've got to help him."
Turns out, it was all because of the so-called "main character halo" and the way the story' was rigged for the leads.
A tidal wave of grief and anger flooded my chest.
I could barely breathe.
Since I was still early in my pregnancy and pretty healthy, I spent two days in the hospital before going home.
But Patrick didn't come home.
I read the remarks again.
[Sonia and Lionel finally made it through all the wild stuff: lookalikes, car crashes, amnesia, kidnappings, you name it. They're together at last. Can't help but tear up for their love story.]
[Lionel picked his bestie Patrick as his best man, and the maid of honor is Vivian's bestie. Seriously, they look perfect together.]
[Did anyone else catch Patrick taking a drink for Vivian's bestie at the engagement party? There's definitely something going on between those two.]
[Ugh, you guys are so clueless. Remember when Sonia and her bestie got kidnapped on Valentine's Day? Lionel protected Sonia, and Patrick had her bestie's back. Those two ended up spending the whole night alone in the wild.]
[It's obvious they'll be together. Wish them all the best!]
[Hey, did anyone remember Patrick has a wife? Just because the story wants to pair people up doesn't mean we should go wild shipping them.]
Two months ago, on Valentine's Day, I found out I was pregnant.
I spent the evening setting up a romantic candlelit dinner at home, hoping to surprise Patrick.
But after midnight, all I got was a phone call.
"Sorry, Vivian. Sonia's been kidnapped. Lionel needs me to help him rescue her. Guess you'll have to eat alone tonight," Patrick said.
By then, Patrick had already been running around dealing with all the drama between Lionel and Sonia Willford for about half a month.
That night, worried sick about him, I sat alone on the couch until dawn.
Little did I know, while I was sitting there, anxious and alone, Patrick was holding someone else in his arms.
Judging by the comments, it felt like this whole storyline was about to hit its finale.
I clenched my medical report in my hand.
The absurdity gripped my heart like an icy, merciless hand.
Perfect match? Happily ever after?
My baby was dead after my husband abandoned me to rush off and take care of his best friend's girl when she got hurt.
And in this world, that was just another reason for everyone to cheer and clap?
Screw that "perfect ending!"
An overwhelming surge of hatred and fury blazed through me, incinerating what little grief I had left.
Ending? To hell with that.
Words appeared before my eyes again.
[Ladies, this is karma at its finest. The villain Travis Hutton, who kept trying to steal Sonia from Lionel, is bankrupt now. He lost the girl and his career.
[He's crashed and burned so hard, he's standing on his own rooftop about to jump!]
I couldn't help but frown at that comment.
[Serves him right! That's what Travis gets for always trying to make Sonia play substitute for his precious first love.]
I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in years. When the call connected, the voice on the other end sounded so fragile, like it was drowning in endless sorrow.
Travis voice came. "Who is this? If you're here to laugh at me…"
"Guess what? It's your old man," I joked.
There was a long pause, then he blurted out in disbelief, "Vivian Talbot?"
The comments said he already had one foot over the edge of the rooftop.
I gritted my teeth and snapped, "Travis, rooftops aren't for bungee jumping, you know."
Travis instinctively stepped back, like he'd seen a ghost. "Vivian, weren't you supposed to be dead?"
"It's only been three years since we met and you're cursing me? Please, if anyone's dying first, it's you," I shot back.
Three years ago, my dad's business back home got targeted by some ruthless competitors.
After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to take the whole family overseas to start over.
It wasn't until last year, when I met Patrick at an academic conference abroad and fell for him, that I finally made up my mind to come back to the country alone to get married.
Travis finally seemed to get it, pausing uncertainly before he spoke.
He explained, "Back then, Alice, the lady next door, said your dad went bankrupt and couldn't handle it, so he took the whole family and left. Honestly, I figured you died ages ago."
Suddenly, I remembered everything.
Alice Calhoun was the old lady next door who was always spinning wild stories.
After a long silence, I said, "Seriously, you're hopeless. You really think you can play the villain with that brain of yours?
"If you can't even figure out how to be a proper villain, step aside and let me show you how it's done."
I asked Travis to meet me at his place.
"You don't look so good," he said.
Travis seemed a lot more grown-up than he used to.
After all these years, he actually looked kind of nervous.