2: 2

The moment Seth James saw me, he froze for three full seconds.

Then, without a flicker of hesitation, he walked straight toward me.

"Autumn, don't cry."

"Autumn, why have you gotten so thin…"

He brushed my cheek lightly, his voice low and gentle.

I wiped my tears and knocked his hand away.

Within ten minutes, his mother, my mother, and his cousin all arrived one after another, as if it had all been arranged.

Seth explained it to me line by line.

"I only found out after Willow was already pregnant. Her health is fragile, she couldn't get rid of it."

"I couldn't let my child come into the world with no father."

"There was no way I could take care of both of you at once, so I had to 'disappear' first, and come back for you after the baby was born."

He took my hand, his eyes earnest.

"Willow and I have registered the marriage, but it's only a temporary measure, just to get the child on the household register."

"Wait for me. Once she's finished her postpartum recovery, I'll divorce her, and we'll get married right away."

"And the child will go under your name from then on. We'll raise it together."

Willow came over right on cue, eyes lowered, her voice soft and small.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want this either, but the baby is innocent."

"Seth already told me it's only temporary. Don't worry, I won't try to take him from you."

She dropped her head, wearing the face of someone who'd suffered the greatest wrong in the world.

His mother pulled her close, aching for her, then turned to look at me.

"Autumn, you're twenty-nine already."

"When you marry Seth, you'll have a ready-made child, without going through the pain of childbirth. Straight to motherhood, no labor pains at all. What could be better!"

My mother edged in too and patted my other hand.

"Autumn, Willow's young and doesn't know any better. Seth was backed into a corner. Be gracious about it. We're all one family. There's no wound that can't be smoothed over."

I let out a soft laugh.

"She's twenty-six. Does that still count as young and not knowing any better?"

My mother got frantic, her whole face saying, how can you be so difficult.

"Autumn, can't you show a little understanding for Willow?"

"She's a young woman, pregnant before marriage. If word got out, her reputation would be ruined. How would she ever face anyone again?"

Every one of them was accusing me, completely convinced they were in the right.

Every one of them was waiting, as a matter of course, for me to nod.

I looked at my own family, and all at once I felt very tired.

They were supposed to be the ones standing behind me.

"I need time to process this."

Then I turned and got into the taxi.

As the door shut, I heard my mother say to his mother behind me:

"See? I told you Autumn wouldn't say no. She's always been soft-hearted, ever since she was little."

3: 3

The next evening, Seth showed up at the door of our home with Willow and the baby.

"The recovery center's time is up."

"Let Willow stay a few days. I'll find somewhere else to sleep."

Willow carried the baby inside, taking in the living room.

"Wow, sis. This place is huge."

"The baby's going to love it here."

I blocked the doorway.

"No. This is my home."

Seth froze.

"Isn't your home Willow's home too? The two of you are sisters. Why split hairs over what's yours and what's hers?"

I looked at him, cold. "Sorry. I'm not in the habit of fighting another woman for a husband."

Willow's eyes went red at once.

"I'm sorry. I know you hate me. I already told you I won't take Seth from you."

"I just wanted the baby to have a decent place to stay. Why can't you give me even that much?"

"He's your nephew too!"

My mother came out of the elevator and pointed straight at me.

"Autumn, how can you be so selfish?"

"That's your own flesh-and-blood nephew!"

"No wonder Seth chose Willow. At least she's got a heart!"

Seth pulled her back.

"Mom, that's enough."

He turned to me, whatever patience he had left finally gone.

"Autumn, I promised I'd get the divorce. Why won't you believe me?"

"You keep acting like this. How are we supposed to move forward?"

He was the one who faked his death, cheated, married someone else.

And now, somehow, I was the one who refused to make it work.

I stepped aside from the door.

"Move in, then."

That night, I heard laughter through the wall of the next bedroom.

Seth sat on the edge of the bed, Willow leaning against his shoulder, the two of them playing with the baby.

That room had been the nursery I designed.

Seth had once painted a growth chart on the wall, said we'd mark our own child's height on it as they grew.

Now, under that tree, stood another woman's baby in another woman's crib.

I stood in the hallway, took out my phone, and took the first photo.

Whatever softness I'd felt ended there.

I gave it serious thought: when exactly had Seth and Willow gotten tangled up together.

There had to be a point where it started, and a reason.

I turned it over and over, and only one possibility fit.

I logged into an investment account I hadn't opened in three years.

Three years ago, Seth's startup had failed and his cash flow dried up.

He couldn't sleep, hiding out on the balcony to smoke all night.

I wanted to help him, but I didn't want him to feel he owed me, so I funneled money in anonymously, under the name of a friend's company.

Three point two million, in twelve transfers, into Seth's company.

Two years ago, the account password was changed. But the money had already gone through by then, so I let it go.

Looking back now, the device that logged in the day the password changed matched Willow's phone model.

She stole my account. She stole the investor's identity. She stole my man.

That night, while everyone was in the living room.

I set my laptop on the coffee table.

"Seth, there's something I need to tell you."

"The investment in your company three years ago? It didn't come from Willow."

"It came from me."

The living room went quiet.

I plugged in the flash drive and pulled up the files.

Seth read through them page by page, his face growing heavier.

I looked at him.

"Now you know."

"The one who understood you, saved you, stayed with you through the worst of it. It was me, from start to finish."

He sat there and said nothing for a long time.

Willow held the baby tighter, gazing up at him, the picture of helplessness.

After a long silence, he crossed to me and picked up the flash drive holding every piece of evidence.

"Autumn, this ends here."

"Whoever put in the money back then, I'll pay it back."

"Willow's still nursing."

"If any of this gets out, they'll tear her apart."

I asked him, "And me?"

He avoided the question.

"You're stronger than she is."

The next second, he threw the flash drive out the window.

Willow stopped crying.

She raised her eyes to me, victory hidden underneath.

My mother patted my shoulder.

"Autumn, I always knew you were the sensible one."

"Family shouldn't keep such careful accounts."

I stood by the window, staring at my empty palm.

He knew the truth now, and still he chose to protect the other one.

4: 4

Early that morning, I found the flash drive in the shrubs below the building.

The casing had cracked, but the files inside still read fine.

I uploaded all the evidence to the cloud and contacted a lawyer to have it notarized.

When I got home, a gold-embossed invitation was sitting on the coffee table.

Groom: Seth James. Bride: Willow Locke.

The wedding was tomorrow.

Willow came out of the bedroom in her pajamas and pushed the invitation toward me.

“Sis, don't forget to come tomorrow. You're at the head table.”

She stroked the wedding-gown catalog and added, on purpose,

“Seth says he's going to throw me the grandest wedding this whole city has ever seen.”

Seth had his arm around her shoulders, and somehow he could still calmly console me.

“This wedding is only to give the child a proper standing.”

“Once it's all over, I'll make it up to you.”

I asked “And how do you plan to make it up to me?”

He let out a breath, thinking I'd finally come around.

“Later I'll give you a bigger one.”

“Autumn, the one I've always wanted to marry has been you all along.”

Willow's face shifted, and then she clutched his arm.

“Seth, my stomach hurts. Maybe I didn't sleep well last night.”

Seth caught her at once and didn't spare another word to explain himself to me.

I watched them go into the bedroom, picked up the invitation, and called the real estate agent.

I'd paid the down payment on this marital home.

I was the only one making the mortgage payments.

Only my name was on the deed.

I demanded we sign that same day, at thirty percent below market price.

Even the agent thought I'd lost my mind.

“Ms. Locke, selling like this, you'll lose over a million, easy.”

I only asked him “Can the title transfer go through today?”

By four that afternoon, the buyer had signed, and the full payment landed in my account.

My one condition was that the buyer could move in before noon the next day.

I boxed up all of Seth and Willow's clothes, their household things, the crib,

and had the hauling company take it to the waste disposal station.

Everything that was mine filled only two suitcases.

At the very back of the closet still hung the wedding gown I'd never gotten to wear.

On the inside of the hem were my and Seth's initials, embroidered there. I'd always been too fond of it to put it on.

I got the scissors and started at the waistline, cutting it open piece by piece.

I put the scraps into a gift box, then added a photocopy of the home sale contract.

On top I laid a card.

Once I'd written the last line, I booked a same-city courier.

In the small hours I changed my phone number, deleted all my social accounts, and turned off location sharing.

At six in the morning, I wheeled my suitcases out of the city.

At ten, the wedding began right on schedule.

Luxury cars packed the lot outside the hotel, and the banquet hall was full of guests, every one of them a somebody in this city.

Willow, in her wedding gown, was led onto the red carpet by my mother.

My mother cried her makeup off, telling anyone who'd listen that her younger daughter had finally found a good home.

Marion pulled relatives aside to show off.

“Willow is gentle and sensible, and she's given us Jameses a grandson. That's what a daughter-in-law should be.”

Ivy stood by, smiling along.

“Seth and Willow are so in love, and they already have the baby. No one could ever tear them apart.”

A guest who didn't know the story suddenly asked,

“I thought Seth's bride was supposed to be Autumn.”

The table went quiet in an instant.

My mother's face darkened first.

“Don't bring her up. She's had a mind of her own since she was little. Nothing like how sweet and sensible Willow is.”

Ivy picked it up.

“Autumn cares too much about her career. Not the type to settle into married life. Seth saw through her just in time.”

Seth heard that, and his brow furrowed as he spoke.

“Autumn isn't what you're all making her out to be. She……”

Willow suddenly pressed a hand to her chest and asked, wounded,

“Seth, it's our wedding today. Are you still going to blame me for your sister's sake?”

Seth stopped for a few seconds, then finally soothed her under his breath.

“No. We won't talk about her today.”

The officiant began reading the vows.

Willow raised her right hand and said that for richer or poorer, she would stay by Seth's side forever.

Seth was about to speak when the doors of the banquet hall swung open.

A courier carrying a white gift box walked up to the stage.

“Excuse me, which of you is Mr. Seth James?”

“A same-city urgent delivery from Ms. Autumn Locke. She required you to sign for it in person.”

The whole room went silent again.

Willow's face went white on the spot.

Seth took the box and undid the ribbon around it.

He paused for a moment, then reached out and lifted the lid.