Chapter 4

I sat at the dining table for two full hours that day before I regained my senses.

That same day, I called Chelsea and arranged for us to get our abortions earlier than planned.

To my surprise, she was just like me; as soon as I suggested it, she agreed.

When we met at the private clinic, her face was as ashen as mine.

Before I could even ask her what was wrong,

She walked over and hugged me tightly, her scalding tears threatening to burn my neck.

"Don't ask, I don't want to talk about it."

I stroked her trembling back, a pang of sympathy rising in my heart.

She and my brother were college sweethearts; she'd poured her heart and soul into pursuing him.

I'll never forget the joy and happiness radiating from her face when my brother brought her home to meet our parents.

But in just seven short years.

That once innocent, adorable girl had withered like a neglected rose, all the brightness gone from her eyes.

After holding me tightly for several minutes, she finally let go.

"I'm glad, in my darkest moment, to have someone by my side."

With that, she walked resolutely into the doctor's office.

Watching her back, I wiped away the tears that had fallen from my eyes without my knowing.

Yes, I was glad, in my darkest moment, to at least have someone by my side.

Afterward, I mimicked her,

Resolutely, without a moment's hesitation, I walked into another doctor's office.

Three hours later, Chelsea and I lay in the same hospital room.

I didn't speak.

She didn't speak.

Only the hollow beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the room.

After an unknown amount of time, a choked sob came from behind the white privacy curtain.

"Cassie, do you know? I always thought if I aborted the baby, I'd be okay."

"I wouldn't love your brother anymore, I wouldn't be in pain anymore. But why, now that the child who was in my belly for five months is gone, do I feel such unbearable grief?"

No sooner had she spoken than her heartbroken wailing filled the room.

Listening to her sorrowful and despairing cries, I silently shed my own tears.

Yes, why did it hurt so much?

This was clearly the best choice.

His father simply didn't love him.

If I just severed this last tie with that family, I would finally be free from Sierra's vortex.

But why did it hurt so much?

My body felt like it was being flayed alive, my heart as if it were being torn into a thousand pieces.

Chelsea and I stayed in the hospital for a seven-day post-procedure recovery.

During those seven days, the man who constantly declared his love for me down to his very bones, didn't send me a single SnapChat.

He didn't make a single call.

Chelsea's SnapChat, however, kept pinging.

Afraid of her pain, I took her phone.

I saw text after text from my brother,

Asking her to pick up packages for Sierra.

Asking her to go to the jewelry store to pick up the limited-edition bag he'd ordered for Sierra long ago.

Tears welled up in my eyes again.

Just as my trembling fingers were about to curse him back, Chelsea opened her lifeless eyes.

"It's so pathetic, isn't it?"

"Sometimes I even think I'm pathetic."

"Actually, when I was dating your brother in college, I knew he had a sister he cherished to his very core."

"Every month he'd transfer her money, he'd regularly buy her sanitary pads, and every holiday, he'd leave without a word's notice."

"Back then, I thought that girl was you, and I was jealous of you for a long time."

"But it wasn't until I married your brother that I realized that girl wasn't you. The one he cherished was his sister with no blood relation to him."

"But I was so stupid, so foolishly believing that if I just worked hard enough, if I gave my all, your brother would love me."

"But love isn't something you can force. Even if I abandoned all my self-respect to please him, to love him, he still wouldn't love me. He'd rather find countless women who resembled Sierra than love me."

Listening to Chelsea's choked voice, my heart ached with suffocating pain.

I quickly consoled her.

"It's all over now. Once we divorce, we'll leave this place."

"If you don't know where to go, you can come with me."

"We don't need those people who only have Sierra in their hearts, okay?"

Chelsea's voice trembled as she whispered "okay," then pulled the blanket over her head.

Afterward, Chelsea and I stayed in the hospital for another two weeks of post-procedure recovery before being discharged.

As soon as we left the hospital, I received a call from Brandon.

He told me that my parents wanted to host a family dinner to celebrate Sierra's birthday.

What a ridiculously ironic call.

My parents were hosting a family dinner and they notified my husband, not me.

And perhaps not only had my parents forgotten, but my husband had also forgotten, that today was my birthday too.

My sister-in-law also received a call.

She was even worse off than me. My brother, besides informing her to attend the family dinner,

Also gave her a series of instructions.

To order a cake from the bakery.

To prepare a suit and dress shoes for him, and even demanded she pick them up at the airport. They were returning to Mom's mansion, and he wanted Chelsea to take their luggage home for them first.

Seeing my brother's SnapChat.

Chelsea and I exchanged a glance.

"Are you ready?"

Chelsea nodded. "I'm ready."

So she immediately SnapChatted back to my brother: "I'm busy today. I don't have time to be your nanny."

The moment her message was sent, my brother's call came through.

His voice filled with reproach and deep impatience.