“Didn’t you promise to keep me company? Who are you talking to?”

It was Xena.

Her voice was sweet and gentle. She pretended to be upset in that playful way only she could pull off. Hendrick always fell for it.

I opened my social media feed and saw that Xena had posted a new update.

“Some people have company late at night, while others are left gazing at the sea.”

The photo showed the back of a man, tall and well-built, wearing a warm camel-colored wool coat.

Above him was a sky full of stars and beside him was the vast blue sea. There were two slightly overlapping figures, clearly a man and a woman. The image was blurry, yet suggestive.

Beneath the post, her friends’ comments were filled with envy and teasing. It was their private circle.

That coat was a birthday gift I had given him. Just a few days ago, Hendrick wore it to a friend’s birthday party.

Everyone had complimented my taste, saying that Hendrick looked great in it. Even Hendrick himself often wore it.

I stared at Hendrick’s figure in the photo for a long time before giving it a like.

……

It was raining heavily the day I was discharged from the hospital, and Hendrick came to pick me up.

I never thought he would actually show up.

The temperature had dropped today, and Hendrick was wearing that same coat. He looked tall, vibrant, and full of life.

Camel really was his color and he loved it.

Meanwhile, I had lost a lot of weight. My face was pale, my eyes sunken, and the oversized clothes hung off me, only adding to my worn-out appearance.

When Hendrick saw me, there was a brief moment of confusion in his eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.

We sat in the car without speaking. I stared blankly out the window as raindrops trickled down the glass, blurring my view.

It had been raining like this the first time I met Hendrick, too.

I did not realize the car was heading in the opposite direction of home.

When we stopped at “Club Flamingo,” I thought Hendrick had forgotten I was still in the car.

I followed him into a private room filled with flashing lights and blaring music that made my heart ache.

Inside were Hendrick’s friends, and sitting at the center of it all was Xena.

"Chloe, you’re here," they greeted me in a chaotic chorus, not a shred of respect in their tone.

Their eyes swept over me from head to toe.

I was wearing an oversized coat over a plain white T-shirt, and I still had on the slippers I hadn’t had time to change, now muddy from the rain.

“It’s my birthday today. If you really didn’t want to come, you could’ve just said no. You didn’t have to… show up like this.”

All eyes were on me, filled with disdain and contempt. Xena’s eyes welled with tears as she looked at Hendrick, as though she had been deeply wronged.

I turned to Hendrick and softly asked, “Hendrick, what do you want?”

Hendrick completely ignored me standing by the door and walked over to sit beside Xena.

He gently comforted her, “If someone upsets you, just snap back at them. I’ve got your back. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Hendrick, I know you don’t want to see me hurt, but she’s still your wife,” Xena replied.

Realizing she might have said too much, Xena gasped and quickly rushed over to my side, linking arms with me in an overly affectionate, sickeningly sweet gesture.

“Chloe, please don’t be mad at Hendrick. He just can’t stand to see me upset. After all, we...”

“I’ll talk to him. Hendrick is so clueless.”

Xena's innocent expression and the subtle hints in her words were all too clear.

She was obviously showing off.

Pulling me further into the room, she dug her sharp nails deep into the arm that still had the IV mark. I held back a cry, trying desperately to pull my arm away.

Just as I managed to free myself, Xena suddenly staggered backward, knocking over a glass on the table as she fell.

Hendrick rushed to her side in an instant, his face full of concern.

Meanwhile, I lost my balance and hit my forehead hard against the corner of the table. Blood trickled down, bright red against my pale skin, making the scene even more startling.

Hendrick turned around angrily, but when he saw my face covered in blood, he froze.

His brows furrowed, and a flicker of worry crossed his eyes.

“How could you be so careless? Didn’t the doctor say your health is fragile and you need to be more careful?

“I’ll take you to the hospital.”

I was stunned for a moment, then grabbed some tissues and pressed them against the wound. It hurt so much that tears stung my eyes.

So, you did hear what the doctor said that day. You knew all along.

“Hendrick, the cake hasn’t been cut yet,” Xena called out.

Ignoring her, Hendrick took my hand and led me out.

I glanced back at her with a faint smile on my lips.

Xena glared at me. Her eyes were full of hatred.

Outside, the rain kept pouring down, harder than before. But with Hendrick’s broad frame shielding me, I did not feel the cold at all.

I glanced down at our intertwined hands, feeling a little dazed. It had been so long since Hendrick and I spent time together like this, without any arguments or harsh words.

In the beginning, Hendrick was very polite to me.

He never let me do any heavy work, always remembered every holiday, and gave me gifts. Sometimes it was clothes, other times jewelry or bags. It was always the latest style that girls loved.

He even deposited over a million into my account every month. He would always address me politely as “Miss Fisher.”

When did things change?

It probably started when I stood up to Xena for the first time.

A wife without love could never matter as much as the woman he truly cared about.

I wanted to tell him that if we could always be like this, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hen...”

“Hendrick, wait for me!” Xena’s voice cut off my words as she came rushing over.

Hendrick turned to me. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing.”

“Chloe, the rain’s really coming down, and Hendrick’s been drinking. Let me drive you both.

“And I should get my hand looked at. I cut it on the glass earlier.”

Hearing this, Hendrick asked anxiously, “Is it bad? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“It’s nothing, just a small cut. Chloe’s injury is much worse.

“I know she didn’t do it on purpose, so don’t be upset with her, Hendrick.”

Her words, laced with insinuation, instantly darkened Hendrick’s expression. Even the way he looked at me turned cold.

“She’s always causing trouble for herself and others. But you’re still so kind.”

Just like that, Hendrick believed her without question and condemned me without a second thought.

The rain continued to pour, growing heavier by the minute. What should have been a thirty-minute drive had turned into an hour, and we still had not arrived.

My head wound had been hastily bandaged, but the pain still lingered with a dull, constant throb.

A sense of foreboding kept growing stronger and stronger.

As we rounded a corner, a truck suddenly veered out of control, heading straight for us.

Xena screamed in terror, and Hendrick reached across the seat to shield her, gently reassuring her, “It’s okay. I’m here. Don’t be scared, Xena.”

When shards of the car flew toward Hendrick, I did not hesitate for a second and threw myself in front of him.

The moment the metal pierced into me, the pain was excruciating, but I couldn’t worry about that.

My vision quickly blurred, and just before I blacked out, I saw the worry and fear overflowing in Hendrick’s eyes.

And his lips were forming a blurred word.

He was calling out, “Chloe.”

......

I had a dream. I dreamed of the one person I had always longed to see again.

Felix Scott and I grew up in the same orphanage.

I was two years older than him, and when we were kids, he used to follow me around, calling me “Sis.”

Felix was lucky. He got adopted less than a year after he arrived.

The headmaster would always pat his head and tell the prospective parents, “This boy is smart and perceptive.”

But no matter how smart he was, he always ended up being sent back. The last time he was returned, he was already around ten, just about to start middle school.

He came back to the orphanage with bruises on his face.

I sternly applied medicine to his wounds, deliberately pressing a little harder than necessary. Felix winced and gritted his teeth, yelling, “Easy!”

It was around that time that he stopped calling me “Sis” and started calling me “Sis Chloe.”

I kept my face stern and said nothing, but tears streamed down my cheeks.

Felix panicked, clumsily trying to wipe my tears away.

“Sis Chloe, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

I asked, “Why do you keep letting them send you back?”

Felix’s face turned red, and after stammering for a long time, he finally said.

“Because I want to stay with you. Forever.

“Sis, we’re going to live in a big house, we’re going to have more food than we can eat, and we’re going to have a real home.

“I’ll buy you everything you like. We’re going to have such a good life.”

His eyes shone brightly, reflecting my image in them. Only later did I realize that what he had said was his dream.

And as time went on, Felix really did get better and better.

In high school, he was admitted to the best university in the state as the top student, with a full scholarship that covered tuition, books, and even living expenses.

I didn’t learn about this until after my own college entrance exams.

It happened to be my birthday that day. Felix stood there with his acceptance letter in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.

I was happy for him, but when I turned around, I found myself looking into his eyes, shining like a sky full of stars.

“Chloe, I like you. Will you be with me?”

It was the first time Felix called me just by my name, and it was the first time I realized how beautiful my name sounded.

I smiled and said, “Okay.”

Just one word, and it completely unraveled him.

He pulled me into his arms, and the rapid beating of our hearts gave us away.

So, when I made my birthday wish, I had one selfish thought.

“Felix, I want you to be safe and happy, always.”

He gently placed a necklace around my neck.

It was a butterfly pendant, wings spread wide, something he had saved up for after months of part-time work.

He said, “Sis Chloe, we’re going to fly away from here together.”

That was the last time he ever called me “Sis.”

I woke up feeling parched, as if my throat were on fire.

“Water...” My voice, barely a whisper, wasn’t loud enough to reach the person standing by the door.