Chapter 2

The lights were still on at the Hayes' estate. Vivian and a few friends were sitting in the living room, sipping tea. I was at the doorway, changing my shoes, and their conversation drifted clearly into my ears.

"Vivian, you're not actually going to let Lucas marry the housekeeper's granddaughter, are you?"

"If you ask me, you're just too superstitious."

"Kids get sick easily! Look at Lucas now, he's grown up, and his health is perfectly fine, isn't it?"

It was Karen, Vivian’s closest friend. Ever since Lucas and I got engaged, she’d always found reasons to disparage me. She’d said things like this not just behind my back, but to my face countless times.

Vivian sighed. "Chloe has had a hard life."

"She took such good care of Lucas."

"When Lucas gets married, I'll make sure to compensate her generously."

My vision blurred, hot tears stinging my eyes. I bit down hard on my lower lip, remembering how Vivian had once wept, begging me not to leave.

Lucas had always been sickly. When he was fourteen, he fell gravely ill, so ill that everyone feared for his life. Desperate, Vivian had consulted a renowned spiritual advisor.

That advisor, in turn, had singled me out. She claimed I possessed a rare aura, destined to bring good fortune to my future husband, and that my presence alone would ensure Lucas's recovery if we were engaged.

Just like that, I, an orphan adopted by the Hayes family's housekeeper, was thrust into the role of Lucas Hayes's fiancée.

Lucas had always been cold towards me. When I greeted him, he'd pretend not to see me.

When I secretly watched him, he’d frown and turn away.

Once, he had an urgent matter and went home early, but I didn't know, and was too scared to go look for him in class. I could only wait at the school gate.

I waited and waited until the sky darkened, until the school was utterly deserted, walking home with tears streaming down my face.

That day, I thought for a long time, and finally, I gathered all my courage and spoke to Vivian about breaking off the engagement.

But she’d wept, pleading with me not to be angry with Lucas, listing countless reasons to 'prove' he actually liked me.

"Chloe, Lucas is just a boy who isn't good at expressing his feelings."

"He doesn't say it, but in his heart, he can't live without you."

"If he didn't like you, why would he go to school with you every day?"

"Why wouldn't he hang out with other girls?"

"And why wouldn't he object to the engagement?"

Her words had anchored me, year after agonizing year, in Lucas’s chilling indifference.

Vivian’s kindness towards me had also grown, and sometimes, I’d secretly fantasize about her being my own mother.

But the illusion, however, was bound to shatter. While I painstakingly learned how to be a good wife and daughter, they had already, unilaterally, pronounced my sentence.

After ten years, this house felt less like a home and more like a gilded cage, and I didn't know if I could even step inside anymore. On the dark street, I dialed my college roommate Riley's number.

"Riley, is that offer for you to work in the States still on the table?"