Chapter 2

Before bed, Aaron took my hand like he always did, his fingertips gently tracing patterns on the back of my hand.

Once his breathing settled, I quietly eased my hand out of his grip as I rolled over, curling up with my back to him and pulling my knees close.

After a while, the phone suddenly rang in the darkness.

Aaron reached over and declined the call in a flash.

"Layla?" Aaron called my name, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

I just kept my eyes shut and stayed silent, acting like the ringing had briefly woken me up before I went right back to sleep.

After a moment of silence, he softly nudged my shoulder. "There's an emergency at work. I need to go in, but I'll try to make it back before morning."

Half-asleep, I just murmured a barely awake "mm" and muttered, "Drive safe."

He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head, trying to reassure me.

Once I'd made sure Aaron was gone for real, I jumped up, pulled on whatever clothes I could find, and bolted downstairs.

I booked an Uber and jumped in.

I pulled up a short video app, paused a moment at the search bar, then ended up typing "Emily Revera and Aaron Hill."

When the results loaded, I remembered there was a time when Aaron's profile name used to be called "Moon for Layla."

I could still see the smile on his face the day he switched his profile name, telling me, "Layla, the moon's only bright because of you. You're my night sky, my heaven."

Another lie.

Scrolling through Emily's profile, I saw she was posting multiple times a day.

There were outfit selfies from her shopping trips, tourist spots she'd visited, group pics with friends at dinner, and even little videos of her gaming sessions.

I just tapped into one of her gaming clips, and there on the score screen, her username, "A Little Fish," really popped out at me. Right away, it brought back a flood of old memories.

Back then, I randomly asked Aaron to team up with me in his favorite online game.

Once I joined, I immediately saw "A Little Fish" in the party.

She'd chosen the healer role.

But for the entire match, even when I was getting mobbed by monsters and my health was on the brink, she never healed me once.

When the game ended, I checked the stats. The healing I got was literally zero, not even a single tick from her.

I couldn't hold back and typed in the party chat, "Healer, are you ever going to heal me or what?"

After a bit, she finally replied, "Oops, sorry! It's my first time playing, and I don't really know how the controls work yet. Next time I'll pay more attention."

I couldn't help blurting out my confusion to Aaron.

Aaron just waved it off, trying to reassure me. "Don't worry. She's a total beginner, still figuring out the game. Next time, I'll leave her out so you can actually have some fun. No need to let it bother you."

Looking back now, I finally realized something was seriously off. I was just their plaything for all that flirting.

The driver sped through the streets, smooth and steady. By the time I reached the apartment building, Aaron still wasn't there.

The sky was thick with dark clouds, as if it might collapse any second.

After a few muffled rumbles of thunder, the rain started pouring down like a broken string of beads, drenching the ground almost instantly.

I hurried into a nearby convenience store.

Just as I wiped the rain off my face, my phone started ringing. Aaron's name flashed on the screen.

I hesitated for a second, but then picked up.

"Layla, did the thunder wake you up?" His voice was soft, filled with that familiar warmth that always seemed to melt through the phone.

I gripped my phone, asking quietly, "How did you know I was awake?"

"Don't I know you better than anyone?" Aaron said tenderly.

He laughed gently. "You're terrified of thunder at night. Those loud strikes just now must've scared you. Before I left, I unplugged the lamps and TV. Just in case there is a power surge from the lightning. Don't worry. Go back to sleep. I'll finish up quickly and come home to keep you company."

When I was little, a thunderstorm caused a short circuit at home and started a fire. I was so terrified, I curled up in the closet, sobbing uncontrollably.

From then on, I couldn't sleep a wink whenever thunder rolled in.

After Aaron found out about this, he never left my side during stormy nights.

One time, he was in a meeting in a neighboring city when he heard about the rain back home. He dropped everything and sped home through three hours of rain just to be with me.

The moment he stepped inside, the first thing he said was, "It's okay. I'm home."

Soft music drifted through the convenience store as I gazed at the rain blurring the world outside the glass door. Suddenly, my resolve wavered, and I found myself second-guessing everything.

Maybe… I was overthinking. Maybe he really was going to the company. Maybe those messages were just misunderstandings. Maybe he was still the same Aaron who cared about my fears.

The rain was still pounding against the convenience store's glass when I suddenly spotted those familiar hazard lights flashing in the distance.

It was Aaron's G-Wagon. It slowly pulled up to the curb outside the apartment building.

I fixated on that car, feeling as if someone's fist was squeezing my heart so tight I could barely breathe.

Soon enough, a girl in a lacy slip dress came running out of the nearby apartment building.

The bottom of her dress was drenched, the fabric plastered to her legs.

No umbrella, her rain-soaked hair sticking to her cheeks.

She made it to the car, paused by the passenger window, knocked lightly, and said something to whoever was inside.

Then she circled around, popped open the back door, and slipped inside.

A few seconds later, Aaron got out of the car too.

He was holding an umbrella, walked quickly to the backseat door, bent down, and got in.

I stood frozen, staring at the black car through the pouring rain, unmoving.

No clue how long I waited before the car finally pulled away.

And that girl? She never got out.

The rain kept coming, and any last shred of hope inside me was drowned by the storm, leaving me completely empty.

Just as the first rays of morning light peeked through the curtains, Aaron pushed open the front door.

He carried the chill of the outside air with him, but in his hands was a delicate white box.

He held it out to me. "Layla, happy Valentine's Day. This is for you."

Inside the box was a classic black and gold Chanel bag, the exact style I'd always loved.

I took the box and tossed it on the couch without thinking. "Did you stay up all night? Why not crash in the bedroom for a bit?"

"I can't. Got an early flight for work," Aaron said.

He looked seriously exhausted. "I'll just pack my stuff and head out. Just chill at home, okay? I'll bring you something nice when I'm back."

He quickly packed his bags and caught a cab to the airport.

Once the house was completely quiet, I went down to the underground garage and retrieved the voice recorder.

Back home, I pulled the bag out of the box, snapped a few photos, and put it up for sale on eBay.

Barely any time passed before a young couple messaged me about it.

When we met, the girl clutched the bag in her arms, turning it over a bunch of times, grinning from ear to ear. She couldn't help but ask, "Wow, it's in perfect condition! You've never even used it. Why sell it? Such a waste."

I just shook my head softly. "It's not really my thing."