Chapter 4

"I'm sorry, Liv. It's my fault," James rushed over and held me before I completely lost control, pleading. "I broke the old plates. If you don't like the new ones, we'll buy more tomorrow until you find one you like, okay?

"Liv, please don't cry. Don't be upset. You finally got out of the hospital, and I want to see you happy.

"Whatever you want, Emily and I can do it for you. Right, Emily?"

He then turned to Emily.

Emily didn't respond, stood there. Then she got up and took the dishes into the kitchen.

Before entering the kitchen, Emily glanced at me and said, "You know what? You're difficult to please."

She looked again at James holding me, took a deep breath and suddenly laughed.

She set down the dishes, walked back to me, and looked me over from head to toe. "With a boyfriend like James, you should be content."

"Emily! Don't—" James tried to interrupt her. But when he saw tears in Emily's eyes, he fell silent.

Emily laughed as tears ran down her face. "Who are you putting on this act for now?

"You've been in the hospital for three whole years. Even an empty house would look different after that long.

"What are you so upset about? He saved your life. He spent a fortune on you. And this is your way of repaying him? You don't even thank him.

"I thought you were special. So he couldn't stop thinking about you and focus on me. But you're not. You're ordinary. I only lost because I met him a few years after you did."

Her words hit me hard. I was shaking so badly that my heart raced. I felt cold all over, down to my bones, and I could barely stay on my feet.

Emily kept going. "Do you know what he's been through these past three years? You lay in bed, not having to do a thing, while he was out there killing himself for you.

"I've known him for three years, and every single day, he went to see you, no matter what. I don't get how you can be so ungrateful.

"Do you realize? You two aren't married. And you don't have his kids. He's your boyfriend, nothing more. He doesn't have to take care of you."

The air fell silent.

James suddenly realized what he'd been letting slide and shouted at Emily, panic in his voice, "Shut the hell up!"

He pulled me into his arms, his eyes full of panic. "Liv, it's not like she said. Don't get the wrong idea."

But oddly enough, in that moment when everything went silent, I found myself unexpectedly calm.

"So, what role are you playing right now when you talk to me?" I stared at Emily, my gaze icy. "His friend? His roommate? Only a bystander? Or do you really see yourself as James's wife?"

She pressed her lips together, tears welling up in her eyes as she glanced over at James. She didn't say a word, let alone deny it.

Their eyes met, and for a few seconds, the silence between them was heavy.

"I—" Emily said, but her voice caught in her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes again. She turned away, her lips trembling, and walked back to her room.

James stirred, his body tense. He released me from his comforting embrace and chased after Emily for a short distance.

That brief moment of distance made me think of those early days with him.

Back then, James was always teased by our classmates for never letting go of my hand. They called him my little sidekick, my knight in shining armor.

James never denied it.

He'd smile and say, "That's right. Wherever Liv is, that's where I'll be. I'll always be with Liv."

I'd always been the kind of person who felt insecure.

After my parents divorced, they each left me some money and went abroad to start new families.

Nobody ever picked me, until James came into my life.

When I got assigned to the strictest professor on campus, he would drop his own schedule to take the hardest classes with me.

If I ended up in the most embarrassing spot during a club game, he'd jump right in and join me, no hesitation.

For eighteen years, I never felt important at home. But with James, I finally mattered.

This place was the first real home James and I ever had together.

When I said I wanted to buy it, James gently advised me, "Don't use the money your parents left you. That money was your safety net. Now, you can rely on me."

He promised he'd always stand by my side, always be the one I could count on.

He said he'd buy the house for me, so I'd be the first and only woman to ever truly own it.

He said he'd always stay by my side, and I'd be the only one in his life.

He only managed to keep half of those promises. The rest broke completely the moment he went after Emily.

Sometimes a broken mirror could be pieced back together for anyone who could bear the cracks. But I couldn't. So right then, I didn't want the mirror at all.

"James," I called out, my voice barely above a whisper.

James was stuck between Emily and me, separated by the door. He turned to look at me.

"Liv..." He seemed to realize something, suddenly pulled back and rushed toward me. "Liv, I didn't—"

"Let's break up," I said. 'I'll pay you back for everything I owe you. Let's call it even between us."

I didn't need to take anything with me. So before James realized what I'd said, I walked out the door.

While I was waiting for the elevator, I heard James rushing after me, tripping over himself inside the house.

Then I saw him and Emily, right behind him.

Her face was dark with anger. She walked past James and blocked my way to the elevator. "What do you want? Are you really going to force James to choose between us?"

It was weird.

Just one day passed, and she was a completely different person from the poised, easygoing girl I first met.

She was falling apart, upset, totally losing it, and making a big fuss like she couldn't keep it together.

So, was it that she never realized how much I meant to James? Or was it that James never let her see how important I was to him?

I almost wanted to laugh. "Emily, you're so pathetic."

"What do you mean?" she snapped. Her face went pale in an instant.

I said, "Yesterday, when you saw me, you tried to act all cool and playful, showing off how close you and James have gotten over the past three years.

"Was it because deep down, you always thought James had already started seeing you as the most important person in his life?

"You had to play the naive, easygoing girl who never asks for anything, and you thought that would get you everything you wanted, right?"

Emily was fuming, her face flushing red and then turning pale. "You bitch! You're talking nonsense." She lunged at me, like she was about to cover my mouth.

But as she was about to touch me, James yanked her back. "Emily, you might hurt Liv," he said.

At that moment, the elevator arrived.

I stepped inside, watching the two of them caught up in their drama, and I couldn't help but find it all so ironic.

"Enjoying staying with someone else's boyfriend, aren't you?" I said. "But what if it was your husband who couldn't let go of his ex? I hope after I'm gone, you two can still be like you were."

Before the elevator doors closed, I looked at them and genuinely said, "Just like before, you can keep being his little fairy, quietly taking care of everything.

"And he can keep sharing that ordinary life with you. May you two never, ever be apart."