understood. But he shouldn’t have said that to
Liam. We’d argued. He’d called me a hysterical
shrew. I’d told him he didn’t deserve to be a
father.
He’d laughed coldly. “You think I wanted to be
his father?”
Rage had surged through me. I’d slapped him.
He’d shoved me, sending me sprawling into a
pile of broken glass. My hand had bled
profusely. He’d walked away without a word.
I’d thought Liam was at school. He’d been
hiding, watching. He’d cleaned my wounds, his
small face crumpled with tears. “Mommy, I
don’t want a kitten anymore… I don’t want one
at all.”
Liam had never asked for much. I wanted to
give him this, at least. I’d bought a small, white
kitten, so soft and gentle, barely making a
sound. Liam had adored it, naming it Snowball.
<
David hadn’t come home for days. When he
finally returned, he’d thrown Snowball outside.
Liam had pretended not to care, but I’d found
his pillow wet with tears the next morning.
I wandered into a pet store, wanting to look at
the kittens for Liam’s sake. They were all
different colors, some playful, some lazy. One
small, white kitten batted at the glass, its fur
pure white except for a black smudge on its
ear. I recognized it instantly. Snowball. He was
bigger now, his face rounder. When we first got
him, he’d been so small, fitting easily in Liam’s
hands. The day David threw him out, Liam
hadn’t said a word, but his pillow had been
soaked with tears.
Seeing Snowball was like seeing Liam again.
Overcome with emotion, I tapped on the glass,
startling the store clerk. I pointed at the kitten,
babbling that it was mine. He thought I was
crazy, trying to push me out of the store.
<
But it wasn’t Liam who came to collect
Snowball. It was Sarah.
88
She walked into the store, our eyes meeting.
She glanced at the kitten. “Chloe… do you like Bella?”
The kitten was brought out. I watched as Sarah
held Liam’s cat, cuddling it close.
“Our Bella is so sweet. Do you want to pet her?”
Bella. His name wasn’t Snowball anymore. But it was him. I knew it.
I lunged for the cat, startling Sarah. She backed
away. “Chloe, what are you doing? Stealing
things again, are we?”
“That’s Liam’s cat! Not yours!” I cried, my voice
cracking with grief and anger. The pain in my
stomach intensified.
88
David gave her to me. How is she yours? You had him for years. Isn’t that enough? Now you
want to steal a cat too?”
David. He’d given Liam’s cat to Sarah.
How could he? Even if he hated me, Liam was
innocent.
When had it started, this pattern of David giving my things to Sarah? It must have begun with his birthday.
After Sarah appeared, David’s eyes had followed her everywhere. She was everything I wasn’t: bright, confident, seemingly made for him. He’d been upset on his birthday, waiting for a gift from her that never came. He’d sat on
the steps, staring at the moon, his young face
etched with disappointment.
“Chloe,” he’d murmured. “Do you think she
forgot my birthday?”
く
2:53
“Chloe,” he’d murmured. “Do you think she
forgot my birthday?”
He meant Sarah.
(88)
Hiding my own sadness, I’d given him the watch
I’d bought with my hard–earned money. “Maybe she’s just busy,” I’d said, trying to sound cheerful. “Here. This is for you.”
He’d taken it without even looking.
The next day, he’d picked me up from school.
Sarah was with him, wearing my watch. It had
happened again and again after that. My driver, reassigned by David to chauffeur Sarah. My
design sketches, given to Sarah for a
competition. And then, the scholarship to study
abroad.
David had stood before me, his face devoid of
guilt. “Chloe, Sarah needs this more than you
<
guilt. “Chloe, Sarah needs this more than you
- do. She’s talented. She shouldn’t waste her
potential.”
That same day, my mother had been diagnosed
with terminal stomach cancer. Her dying wish
had been for David to take me abroad. Sarah
had even stolen that from her.
I’d cried all night, unsure whether I was
mourning the lost opportunity, my dying mother,
or David’s cruelty.
I hadn’t been a mother then. I hadn’t understood
the power of a child’s tears, how they could
drive a gentle, unassuming woman like my
mother to such desperate measures.
The night before David and Sarah were
supposed to leave, I’d ended up in his bed. I
understood my mother’s reasoning. She was
afraid David would marry Sarah, afraid I’d have
no place in the Bailey family, afraid I’d be left
པཅད་ ཅ[v བ°++༦ པསཔ]པ
<
2:53
alone after she was gone.
88
If I’d known the wine was drugged, I wouldn’t
have drunk it. But David hadn’t believed me.
He’d pinned me down, his fingers digging into
my throat. “You were with Ethan, weren’t you? And now you’re in my bed? What’s the meaning
of this?”
“I didn’t know,” I’d whispered, terrified.
He’d laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. His grip
tightened. “You and your mother… you’re both
leeches.”
- 9.
In my mother’s final days, I’d confronted her,
my face still bearing the marks of David’s
anger. “What… what was your relationship with
Mr. Bailey?” I’d demanded.
Her face had paled, the oxygen mask fogging
<
2:53
87
with each shallow breath. “Who… who told you
that?”
“David.” Tears streamed down my face. “He
said if you couldn’t be Mrs. Bailey, then I would
be.”
She’d shaken her head weakly.
“Mom,” I’d sobbed. “What am I going to do?”
That was the last thing I said to her, the last
time I saw her alive. In my dreams, I knelt
before her grave, apologizing, only to feel a
small, warm hand on mine, smelling faintly of
baby powder. Liam. But then his hand turned
cold, his body stiffening in my arms. I’d woken
up screaming, “Someone… someone help my
child!”
No one could help him. I’d watched him die in
my arms.
<
2:53
87
Later, I learned that my mother and Mr. Bailey
had almost been together. But she’d fallen ill,
and learning of my feelings for David, she’d
wanted to give us a chance.
But by then, Sarah had entered the picture.
My mother had sacrificed her reputation for me,
playing the villain to secure my future. But I’d
failed her. I’d lost my marriage, my child, and
now I was dying of the same disease that had
taken her.
Waiting was excruciating. It had always been
like this in this house, waiting for David to come
home. But now, even half an hour felt like an
eternity. My life was slipping away. Would I
even make it to Christmas? Liam had always
loved Christmas.
This year’s Christmas present was Snowball. I’d
come here for him, to see David one last time.
2:53
87
come nere Tor nim, to see David one last time.
- 10.
David arrived as I waited downstairs, my face
ashen. He frowned, his voice surprisingly gentle.
“Why aren’t you resting? You look terrible. Is your stomach still bothering you?”
It wasn’t just my stomach. It was cancer. Incurable.
I dodged his hand as he reached for my
forehead. “It’s fine. I just wanted to ask… did
you give Snowball to Sarah?”
“Who’s Snowball?” He didn’t even remember
Liam’s cat’s name. He’d given him away,
renamed him Bella.
I couldn’t laugh, couldn’t cry. I simply stated,
“Liam’s cat. He belonged to Liam.”
David’s expression was unreadable He reached
