It hit John in the forehead, drawing blood.
He gasped and looked at Lily, “Are you
okay?”
Lily frantically dabbed at his forehead, glared
at me, and called 911.
I took Max to the vet.
But it was too late.
I took the home security footage and a strand
of John’s hair from the bathroom.
The tech guy said it would take at least two
weeks to recover the footage.
L
I gave the hair to the hospital to test if the baby was really John’s.
They needed fetal tissue, so I pulled some strings with a former colleague of John’s.
“Emily, everyone knows what happened. Is this really necessary?”
I’d helped this colleague, Sarah, a lot when I
was with John.
He wasn’t good at networking, and I’d helped him build connections.
I even helped Sarah get her kid into a good
school.
“I’m paying, aren’t I?”
L
I glared at her, not understanding what her
problem was.
“Fine, two thousand dollars.”
“What? The most expensive test is five
hundred!”
“Then forget it. A cheater like you, who are
you trying to fool? That video…”
Sarah stopped abruptly, looking flustered.
She stammered, “I just saw it online, I didn’t
spread it.”
I stared at her in shock.
My face paled.
く
A sharp pain stabbed at my heart.
“Emily, John is such a good man, we all saw
- it. The video doesn’t lie. Don’t say I’m kicking
you when you’re down, I’m giving you a
discount on this test.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow, smug.
John had completely disregarded my
reputation.
He really wanted to destroy me.
I sold my engagement ring.
John had spent three months helping me pick
it out.
Now, he was framing me and discarding me
for another woman.
It all felt so unreal.
I wanted to go back to a time before John.
I went back to my high school, a familiar
place to go when you’re dying.
But I didn’t expect to see Lily and John there.
She clung to his arm, “John, they say if you
visit each other’s schools, you’re bound
together forever.”
John chuckled and tapped her nose, “Where
did you hear that?”
I tried to hide, but a teacher called out to me.
く
“Emily!”
It was my former homeroom teacher, the one
who proctored my SATS.
We chatted for a bit, and she sighed, “I was
so worried you wouldn’t finish the test that
day. Thankfully you persevered. It’s a shame
about that doctor…”
I gave a weak smile.
Guilt gnawed at me.
I saw John and Lily notice me.
The teacher, oblivious, continued, “There was
a girl in the next class, if she hadn’t said she
had a stomach ache and delayed your
<
treatment, you might have done even better.
That doctor died in a car accident getting her
medicine.”
“He died because of me?!” I asked, confused.
The teacher gasped, looking behind me. “Oh!
I think that’s her.”
Lily, now being pointed at, looked
uncomfortable.
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
The teacher waved her hand awkwardly, “It
was a long time ago, I don’t remember clearly.
I just remember the girl had a birthmark on
her hand.”
Lily bed a birthmark on her band
ᄀ
My parents used to say she was a
reincarnated lotus fairy.
They’d bragged about it to everyone.
No one knew we were sisters.
They were ashamed of me.
“Who did you pay to say that?” John scoffed,
his eyes cold. “Emily, stop with these games.
Lily is so innocent, she’s not manipulative like
you.”
Lily put on a pitiful act, “John, let’s go. My
sister has suffered enough.”
“Apologize.”
John looked at me, his voice hard.
He threw a card at me.
“Apologize to Lily.”
It had ten thousand dollars.
John’s heart was made of stone.
I gave a bitter smile, fighting back tears.
“John, I hope you never regret this.”
“Emily, marrying you was the biggest regret
of my life. You’re not even worth a fingernail
on Lily’s hand.”
