Chapter 2

At dinner, I’d ordered two plates of hot wings, and Andy and I were sweating as we devoured them.

A familiar yet strangely distant voice suddenly spoke from behind us: “You didn’t wait for me?”

We jumped in fright. Turning around, we saw it was Steve, my husband.

He walked closer, saw our chili-stained mouths and the spicy wings on the table, and his brow furrowed. “Six years of marriage, and you don’t know I have a sensitive stomach and can’t handle spicy food?”

Andy, munching on his wings, blurted out, “We didn’t order any for you, these are for us.”

Steve froze.

I gave a dry laugh and quickly tried to cover. “Um… I saw on Ins that you were at the amusement park with Olivia and Chloe. I thought you’d eat with them…”

“Emily.” He cut me off, his tone habitually impatient. “I’ve explained this. Olivia and Chloe were abandoned by their husband and are severely depressed. I’m a doctor; I’m just doing my job.”

“But what about you? As a wife and mother, you not only caused a scene at my workplace, but you’ve also taught Andy to be nothing but jealous and petty.”

He paused, his voice colder. “Was the car accident not enough for you both to reflect and change?”

Memories flooded back.

I remembered discovering he’d been ‘caring for’ his high school ex-girlfriend day and night. I’d taken Andy with me to confront him.

He’d just pulled us aside, looking exasperated. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d overthink it. As a doctor, abandoning my patients would be irresponsible.”

“Don’t bring Andy here and act out in front of my patients.”

His calm tone made Andy and me seem like hysterical fools.

So, I hired people to display signs outside his hospital that read: “Olivia and her daughter are trying to hook up with a married man.”

Andy ran around the kindergarten with a megaphone, chasing Chloe and yelling, “She’s the other woman’s daughter! Don’t play with her!”

Later, Olivia and Chloe cried and threatened self-harm. To force us to back down, Steve got me fired and made Andy an outcast at kindergarten.

I completely broke down, threatening divorce. He finally relented, promising to keep his distance from them.

Andy and I believed him.

We even booked a trip for our fifth wedding anniversary, counting down the days for his rare vacation. That day, we joyfully went to the hospital to pick him up, only to receive a cold FaceTime call:

“Urgent business trip, vacation postponed.”

Andy and I left the hospital heartbroken. But around the corner, we clearly heard his colleagues chatting, laughing:

“Dr. Steve is really devoted to Ms. Olivia, isn’t he? He took half a year off to help them with their therapy!”

“Tell me about it. I heard he’s already on his way to the airport to personally escort them.”

My ears rang, and my heart felt like it was being ripped out. Before tears could fall, I saw Andy’s pale little face, big tears rolling down, his voice trembling:

“Mom… is Dad really… abandoning us?”

That single sentence shattered my composure.

I immediately grabbed Andy, and we chased after them, desperate for an answer! We needed to understand!

Did he still want this family?

But before we could catch up, the car accident happened.

When I woke up, the world was a blank slate. Except for each other, we didn’t remember him. And he conveniently put us aside.

The memories faded.

Andy and I exchanged awkward glances. Even though our memories were back, our feelings weren’t. In fact, we couldn’t understand why we had been so hysterical back then.

We could only reassure him repeatedly that we really wouldn’t bother them again.

Steve’s face grew even darker. After a long moment, he regained his usual air of being in control.

“Tomorrow, I’m taking them to the forest park for therapy. Remember to prepare packed lunches for three.”

“Andy, help Chloe organize an extra set of class notes.”

He turned, then added lightly,

“It would be best if you truly kept your word and stopped doing… those embarrassing things.”

The door closed, leaving Andy and me to look at each other, then simultaneously shrug.

Then, I pulled out my phone and ordered a deluxe takeout for three.

Andy sent a message to his teacher, politely asking for a backup of the class materials.

As for tomorrow?

We already had plans to go hiking with Mr. Anderson.

Who had time for them?