Today was Saturday and I really wanted to spend some quality time with my boyfriend, so I invited him to play an escape room game. I reckoned we could cultivate our trust in this place. However, imagined my surprise when I saw Bart Jones was not alone. Instead, he brought his "sworn sister", Karen Scott, with him.

Karen was Bart's sworn sister, whom he had taken under his wings six years ago.

"Karen said she had never played this game before, so I brought her along with me. I know you don't mind, right?" Bart smiled. Karen did not say anything. She just smiled at me sweetly, though there was a hint of provocation in her eyes.

I could only swallow my disappointment and entered the game area with them. They entered inside hand in hand while I walked alone behind them.

When we were playing, the building suddenly got on fire. Seeing the fire, the first thing Bart did was to scoop up his precious "sister" and escape through flame. His mind was only filled with his "sister" that he never thought of my well-being and abandoned me.

I was not able to escape the fire. As a result, my whole body got heavily burnt. On the other hand, his good sister, Karen, managed to leave the scene without a single scratch left on her body.

Luckily, the firefighters were able to save me. They managed to drag me out through the thick smoke. Seeing me that was finally saved, Karen sneered and provoked me from the safety of her stretcher, "In my brother’s heart, I’ll always be number one. Guess your life doesn’t mean much for him after all, does it?"

Anger surged inside of me. I struggled to my feet and slapped her hard across the face. "All you ever say is 'brother, brother'! If you’re so desperate to have a kid, I'll help you out!"

——

Then I crumbled and fell into the oblivion.

Then, the next time I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the sterile white ceiling of the hospital room.

The searing pain in my right arm felt like molten lava had scorched my skin, a burning reminder that the fire was not some horrible dream.

My phone rang, but I didn’t even have the strength to roll over and answer it.

A kind nurse next to me pick the phone and hit the speaker button for me.

As soon as she pressed the button, Bart's furious voice lasted from the phone, "Emma Madison, are you crazy? What gave you the right to slap Karen?"

"Sir! The patient has severe second-degree burns and is about to undergo a skin graft,” the young nurse cut in coldly with an indignant manner. “What kind of boyfriend are you?”

“So just because she’s injured, she thinks she can hit people? Put Emma on the phone now!” Bart barked.

"You're crazy!" the nurse snapped back and ended the call.

My chapped lips curled into a bitter smile. It was impossible to save a relationship where even if you were hanging yourself, he would just assume you were playing on the swings.

Then I was wheeled into the operating room in my blue and white hospital gown, prepared for the skin graft on my right arm.

I was all alone, every step of the way.

To pass the time during my recovery, I scrolled through social media and found a post on Karen’s feed. In the picture, she pouted cutely while Bart applied some antiseptics to her face. She had written a caption, “I got slapped by a mean dog. This guy insisted on avenging me. What am I supposed to do without him?”

I took screenshot of her post and saved it then calmly turned off my phone.

I had had enough of this silly drama. I refused to see their public display of affection any longer.

Finally, after recuperating for some time, I was healthy enough to go home. Unfortunately, the hospital discharge took a long time and by the time I got home, it was already well at night.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was Brat. He was sitting on the sofa with his back facing away from the light and a cigarette between his lips. From the look of his face, it seemed he was ready to confront me.

"Nora, do you know why I didn't stay with you during your surgery?" he asked.

"Of course, I do. You were too busy lending your hand to Karen!" I said nonchalantly, as I walked into the room with my clothes in one hand

Bart was about to say something when his eyes fell on my freshly grafted arm. Suddenly, a flicker of guilt raised in his heart. "Nora, I'm sorry. I had never expected that you would get hurt that day. I thought because you had filmed scenes with fires before, you could handle this situation better. On the other hand, Karen is a timid girl. She became an art teacher as soon as she graduated. She never encounters any hardship. As you know the fire was so intense. If I hadn't saved her, how could she, a school teacher, who spends all her time with kids, be able to escape?"

"So, you did realize that the fire was so intense!" I looked pointedly at Bart.

"Nora, can't you stop with your sarcasm? Karen and I are just like brother and sister. I don't understand why you're always so paranoid about our relationship. You even slapped her right after she got out of the fire. She didn’t even hold it against you, so what more do you want?"

"You're right. I used to be paranoid. I'm always the one who misunderstands the two of you. Well, I did hit her and she called me a dog in her social media post. I’d say we’re even."

I threw a screenshot of Karen’s post at his face. "If I’m not wrong, she probably blocked you from seeing this post, didn’t she?"

After he saw the photograph, Bart looked at me with an awkward gaze. "Ugh, Karen is still childish. I'll talk to her about it later. Don't hold it against her; she doesn’t mean any harm."

He did it again. As usual, he told me to not hold this matter against her. I had heard these words hundreds of times and yet I was always the one who got hurt, the one who got overlooked.

Before, I might have argued with him until the skies fell, but now, after everything I’ve been through, I was not as disappointed as I used to be. Instead, all I felt was fatigue. Maybe facing death had changed something in me.

In fact, Karen was not wrong. In Bart's heart, his god-sister would always come first. My life could not even compare to a single tear from Karen.

At lunch, my assistant, Rachel Thomas, called me excitedly, "Nora, I've got great news for you!"

Seeing her so flustered, I asked, "Rachel, what’s the matter?" 

“There is a novel being adapted into a web series and I sent your headshots and info to the investors and director. They want you to audition next Saturday!” Rachel explained with excitement.

My heart skipped a beat. An audition? It had been so long since I last auditioned. That’s right, I was a small sporting actor, not even in the ranks of D-listers. When I first graduated, I had big dreams of becoming a star. However, reality and dreams were worlds apart, separated not only by timing and luck but also by hard work and perseverance.

Ever since I started falling in love with Bart, my entire heart had been consumed by him and as a result, my already struggling career took a nosedive. I took a sip of water, my excitement bubbling up. “Rachel, thank you so much for getting me this opportunity. Next Saturday, right? I’ll definitely be there on time. I’ll need your help with some of the preparation work.”

“No problem, Nora! You’re finally getting back on your feet! Do you know that the director even complimented you after seeing your profile? He said you really fit the character. You have to seize this rare opportunity!” Rachel encouraged,

With fire in my eyes, I said, "I promise I'll do my best!"

I had finally realized what truly mattered to me and I would never let it go and hold on to everything I got.

As for everything else, I would not care any longer.

There was a week left before the audition. I should have been resting after my surgery, but opportunities wait for no one.

I deleted all the food delivery apps on my phone and started eating salads and drinking coffee. By doing so I was hoping to reduce the swelling in a week. At night, I studied the script until late. Although it was just a supporting role, I analyzed every line carefully. The story was a Western drama and I was playing the male lead’s confidante, Mary Smith, whom he met when he had just tasted what love was. Though she was trapped in a life of hardship, she had a strong sense of patriotism. At a critical moment during the war, she decisively severed her romantic ties with the male lead. Though the role was small, for someone like me, this was a golden opportunity.

The script demanded a lot of discipline and sets of emotions from the actor, so I moved from home to the studio to make the most of this week.

One day, as I was eating a salad, Bart called me, "Nora, do you want to eat Japanese food together tonight? I’ve been trying to reach you, but you haven’t answered.”

His tone carried a hint of accusation. If this had been before, I would have scrambled to explain myself, eager to please and accepted his invitation. Yet now, all I wanted to do was to focus on the audition.

"I need to get rid of some water weight, so eating Japanese food is not an ideal food right now," I said calmly.

“When will you be done? I’ll pick you up when you’re free," Bart asked.

I said coldly, "Don't bother. I plan to do some work out tonight."

"Nora, stop sulking! I know you're still angry but enough is enough. How many years have you been out of school? You’re lucky if you occasionally land a bit part. Why can’t you be more realistic like Karen and get a stable job? Do you still naively believe you’ll become a big star?” he asked.

“I’m not sulking. I just want to focus on my work.” I calmly hung up the phone after that.

At this crucial moment, I didn’t want to waste a single second on Bart. It was not the right time to break up with him yet. I couldn’t let him affect my emotions.

However, I would never expect that later that night Bart drove to my studio and waited downstairs.