The caption read: "Taking off on a spur-of-the-moment trip with the best brother in the whole world! Wives are like clothes, brothers are like limbs. Thanks to a certain someone for being so understanding~ heart you!"

Plenty of people had liked it, all mutual friends.

Someone had commented underneath: "Huh? So where's your brother's wife, Peggy? She didn't make a scene about this?"

Victoria had replied with an innocent little emoji: "No idea~ maybe she's working overtime."

I scrolled past the post, my face giving nothing away, and closed the app.

Another message came in from Brendan.

"Did you see Victoria's post? She wants to hit 999 likes as a little challenge. Peggy, go give her a like too."

I didn't respond.

Five minutes later, Brendan sent a few more.

"Why aren't you answering? Did you fall asleep?"

"Okay, well, get some rest tonight."

"I'm not there to pour your water and soak your feet for you, so remember to run yourself some hot water and take care of yourself."

"Love you, wifey."

He even tacked on a cute little cartoon sticker at the end.

I just found it laughable.

In the past, I never had the heart to let him down. Every message he sent, I answered without fail.

But this time, not only did I not bother to reply.

I went straight to his pinned chat and unpinned it, then tossed my phone aside and went to shower.

After all, tomorrow I'd be touching down in Bali by helicopter.

Off to a trip that was mine and mine alone.

As for whether anyone would pour my water and soak my feet, that had always been a trivial little thing that didn't matter.

Just as I burrowed under the covers, my phone buzzed again.

This time it was Katherine James, my father's assistant.

"Peggy, the helicopter route's been approved. We take off from the city at ten tomorrow morning, expected to land at Denpasar Airport in Bali around four in the afternoon."

"The pilot is Bryan. He's flown this route several times, so you can rest easy."

I replied, "Good."

Not even five minutes later, Katherine sent another.

"The boss asked me to check with you, are you serious about pulling the investment? Over eighty million is already in Mr. Harding's project. If you withdraw now, the upfront capital might…"

"Pull it."

I replied with just two words.

My father's call came through right after.

"Peggy, what's going on?"

"I was in meetings all day, didn't get the chance to ask you. The investment was doing perfectly fine, so why pull it out of nowhere?"

Two years ago, when Brendan's cross-border e-commerce venture hit a cash crunch.

I was the one who went to my father for the funding.

At the time, my father didn't want to do it. He said Brendan was unreliable, the kind of man who started strong and fizzled out, not someone cut out for anything big.

That flat refusal, to his face, made Brendan's eyes go red as he said:

"Peggy, your father looks down on me. That's fine. I'll earn this investment on my own merit and bring the company back from the dead."

He turned and walked out, throwing himself into the schmoozing, working contacts even to the point of bleeding ulcers, all to reel in investors.

It was me, aching for him, who went to my father again and again to put in a word for Brendan.

I said how hard it was for someone just starting out, and asked my father to give him a hand for his son-in-law's sake.

My father couldn't win against me, and he couldn't stand to see me cry.

With a sigh, he put in eighty million under the identity of a mysterious investor, on the condition that Brendan had to show real results within three years, or there'd be no follow-up funding.

After that, Brendan was unstoppable.

The returns rolled in like a snowball, growing bigger and bigger.

Just last month, Brendan urgently needed to scale up operations and came asking for another three hundred million.

My father agreed to that too.

But now…

I lifted my head and looked out at the lonely moon beyond the window. Right at this moment, Brendan was off in Bali with Victoria, watching the sea. Or maybe clinking glasses, laughing the night away.

Whether he lived free and easy or crawled through the wreckage of his own life, what did it have to do with me anymore?

"It's nothing serious," I said. "I just don't want to keep the money in."

The line went quiet for a few seconds.

"If you say pull out, then we pull out."

"But sweetheart, did someone hurt you?"

"No." I smiled a little. "I just want to clear my head in Bali. Lend me the helicopter and I'll handle the rest myself."

"A helicopter? If you wanted the stars out of the sky, your dad would climb up and grab them for you."

He sighed. "But Peggy, I have to be straight with you. That Brendan kid, I never thought much of him from the start. You insisted on marrying him, and I couldn't stop you."

"But if he's really done something to wrong you, you tell your dad..."

"I know."

After I hung up, I sat on the cold bed, lost in thought.

The truth was, I'd been to every city around Bali, more times than I could count.

Only Bali itself I'd never set foot in.

It was a dreamlike island, romantic enough that I'd kept it untouched, never daring to go.

Telling myself that one day I'd go there with the person I truly loved.

So the year we married, I booked our honeymoon for Bali.

But that year Brendan never made it, because Victoria had surgery and he was busy taking care of the Delgado parents.

Watching my face fall, he coaxed me with all his patience.

"Peggy, Mr. and Mrs. Delgado did so much for me before. They even paid my way through college."

"Now their daughter's sick. I can't just turn my back on her. I have to help out a little, at least. I hope you'll understand."

"Besides, it's only a trip to Bali, right? We can go anytime. I promise I'll take you next time, okay?"

At least his attitude was decent, and a few words were all it took to smooth me over.

So I agreed to the next year.

But the next year, the same thing, derailed because Victoria got kidnapped by criminals.

Brendan said, eyes rimmed red.

"Victoria's safety matters more."

"A lifetime is so long. Does it really matter when we go to Bali?"

So, it fell through again.

The third year, Brendan finally gave in and agreed.

I thought I could finally take a trip with him, just the two of us.

But then Victoria said she wanted to come.

And he dropped me.

Went off with his "girl buddy" instead.

Why bother?

Cheapening myself like that for some hollow, illusory love.

See? Even without a man, I made it to Bali on my own anyway.

The next morning, I was just heading to my father's private airfield.

When Brendan sent another video.

It was from the night before, at a hotel near Bali, Brendan holding his phone, filming the ocean at night.

Victoria's voice came through, crystal clear.

"Wow! It's gorgeous! Brendan, hurry, get it, get it! And get me in the shot too..."

Brendan laughed. "Got it, got it. Keep your voice down, everyone around us is staring."

"Let them stare. I came out to have fun with my best buddy. It's not against the law."

The camera jolted, catching Victoria in a soaked long dress, walking toward him with a smile.

Then it cut off.

Right after, Brendan sent a text.

"Morning, Peggy. Sharing the Bali night view with you."

"Victoria picked this hotel. It's really beautiful. We should stay here next time."

Looking at that line, I suddenly let out a small laugh.

There wouldn't be a next time.

At ten past four in the afternoon, the helicopter touched down on the VIP pad at Bali's Denpasar Airport.

The ground crew was already waiting, ready to help Bryan Chavez and me through immigration.

Bryan asked me, "Miss Gilbert, which hotel are you staying at? I'll drop you off."

"That won't be necessary."

I kept my tone polite. "I'll just grab a cab. Find somewhere to rest. I'll let you know when I'm ready to head back."

Bryan didn't push it.

I stepped out of the airport, and the warm, humid air rolled over me.

Coconut trees, palm fronds, local women with frangipani tucked behind their ears, and that scent of freedom hanging in the air.

Everything was exactly the way I'd imagined it.

I pulled out my phone, turned on my location, and searched for hotels nearby.

That was when a startled voice came from behind me.

"Peggy?"

"What are you doing in Bali?"

Seeing me show up in Bali too, the two of them, strolling arm in arm up from the shore, stopped dead in their tracks.

Brendan recovered first and let out a couple of laughs.

"Peggy, I didn't realize you were this clingy. Booking a ticket the next day just to chase after me. Fine, go get this stuff sorted out first."

He tossed the tent straight at me, telling me to go pitch it.

I stayed where I was, not moving an inch.

"You've got it wrong."

"I just happened to come to Bali."

I wasn't traveling with them, and I hadn't come looking for them.

When I turned and started walking toward another tent that was already set up,

Brendan's face darkened at once, and he came striding toward me.

"Peggy, so I didn't buy your ticket yesterday, big deal. You showed up in Bali anyway, didn't you? What's with the attitude?"

"I just asked you to pitch a tent. Is that really worth that cold, sour face?"

I lifted my eyes coldly.

Before I could say a word, Victoria rushed in to play peacemaker.

"Oh, come on, Peggy, you're here now, so don't be mad."

She said it with a grin. "Brendan and I made a promise back in college. The two of us were going to take a trip to Bali together someday!"

"Don't go getting jealous just because I'm a woman. We're really just buddies, nothing more."

As she spoke, she reached out and patted Brendan's shoulder. "See? Your wife still cares about you. She came chasing all the way out here, didn't she?"

Brendan said nothing, but the expression on his face softened a little.

He glanced at me, his tone gentler than before.

"All right, you're here, that's what matters. Get the tent up first. I'll take Victoria for a walk along the beach and be back soon."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Brendan."

He looked back, surprised. "What is it?"

"I said I didn't chase after you."

I said it word by word. "I came to Bali because I've wanted to come for three years."

"Not because you happened to be here."

"As for that tent of yours, whoever wants to pitch it can pitch it. Don't come bothering me."

The air went quiet for a few seconds.

Victoria bit down on her straw, glancing from me to Brendan, the smile slipping off her face.

Brendan stared at me for a long moment, then suddenly let out a laugh.

"Sure."

He nodded, an indescribable irritation in his voice.

"You didn't chase after me. You just happened to show up in Bali today, happened to end up on this exact beach, happened to run into us. Peggy, do you really think I'd buy that?"

His tone was laced with mockery, but I only answered flatly.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you."

I turned to leave. Brendan glanced around, his gaze landing on the space behind me.

"Where's your luggage?"

Brendan frowned. "You came to Bali alone and didn't even bring a suitcase?"