"I couldn't find you at the restaurant. I was going out of my mind!"

Oliver played it like a man undone by love, stroking my hair, hot tears sliding down his face.

I pried his hand away and tried to go back to sleep. That was when he noticed the bare band of pale skin on my ring finger. The engagement ring was gone.

"Mel, what happened? We promised we'd wear those rings our whole lives. How could you lose it and not even tell me?"

I forced up a small smile. "It was too cold, so I came back early."

"I lost the ring by accident. It's such a small thing, it didn't seem worth mentioning."

I'd been out in the cold wind too long these past few days, and now I couldn't stop coughing.

"Mel, are you all right?"

Oliver pressed his palm to my forehead and was already on the phone to the best hospital in the city.

"Every one of your doctors is to be there today. If anything happens to Mel, that's on you."

I waved a hand and said I'd just gotten chilled, nothing serious. He insisted on taking me in for a full examination anyway.

"Don't worry. I'll make you well again."

"As for the ring, once you're better we'll fly to Switzerland for the jewelry auction. Whatever piece you want, it's yours."

By six in the morning, the tests confirmed I was fine, and only then did Oliver relax.

"Mel, thank God you're okay. If something happened to you, if you left me, I wouldn't want to live either."

He stroked my forehead carefully, checking my temperature over and over. Seeing how pale I looked, he offered to cook for me himself.

The man who never so much as lifted a finger at home carried bags of groceries off toward the little kitchen off the ward.

I watched his back as he bustled around, and it all felt hazy and false.

I checked the calendar. Two more days and I could leave. My body was fine now, and I planned to go back on my own.

I pulled on my coat and stepped out of the ward. Regina was coming straight toward me. She didn't notice me, though. She just turned and slipped into one of the side rooms.

Something felt off, so I followed. Before I even got close, I heard Regina's voice, sweet and simpering.

"So devoted to Melanie. I've never had you cook for me with your own hands."

Regina teased her fingers under Oliver's chin, a little jealousy in her tone.

"Mel had a coughing fit. I was worried about her."

"Today I'm giving her my full attention. If there's nothing important, don't bother me."

Regina snatched the cooking utensils out of his hand and hurled the soup he'd just finished to the floor.

"What's that supposed to mean? So you're choosing her?"

She made a show of leaving, then flung a lab report out of her bag. "Then me and the baby in my belly will never come back."

Oliver looked startled at first. Then he read the report carefully, his brow smoothing out, and he was so overcome he lifted Regina off her feet and spun her in a circle.

"Something this big, and you're only telling me now?"

"I only came in for tests this morning because of the morning sickness. The doctor said I'm three months along, that I need to rest properly."

"Last night we were really careless. The baby isn't stable yet. I'm scared..."

Oliver held Regina in his arms, looking down at the report with satisfaction, telling her over and over not to worry.

"Don't be afraid. I'll get every doctor here to check again right now. Our baby is going to be perfectly safe."

Regina nodded, pleased, and leaned in close to kiss him.

Oliver caught the scent of his favorite perfume and pressed himself hard against her. His eyes clouded with want as he bent his head and softly circled his arm around her neck.

Their kiss was hot and lingering. Regina ran both hands over his arms, lost in it.

Through the gap in the door I watched the two of them without an inch between them, the news that Regina was pregnant turning over and over in my head.

She was actually pregnant. Ten years ago Oliver had insisted he never wanted children, that he only wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

His single-mindedness had once moved me. Now it just struck me as absurd. I recorded the two of them and got ready to leave.

They were making so much noise, still oblivious to the utensils clattering on the floor, that the sound drew a crowd, until a young nurse finally came in.

"Mr. Gilbert, is there anything you need? Miss Henson has been waiting for you at the door this whole time."

Their lingering kiss broke off, and they both saw me behind the door.

I had no interest in playing along, and turned to go, but she called out to stop me.

Without a shred of guilt, she cried out, "Mel, what are you doing here? What a coincidence."

Oliver hurriedly hid the report behind his back, his hands going right back to the soup he was making for me.

I asked back, calm, "Regina, why are you at the hospital too?"

"I came to see you, of course. You're my best friend. I was worried about you."

"Regina came specially to help me. She knows what you like. We were just talking about what to cook for you."

Oliver stepped in to smooth it over, but the guilt in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Regina picked up his line and started comforting me. "Mel, you have to take good care of yourself. It's a good thing you're not pregnant, or you'd really be suffering."

A cold laugh rose in me. Their acting was so smooth and natural it fooled everyone around them, and the young nurses kept casting envious glances their way.

Regina put on a caring face and moved to help me up. As she leaned in close, the tattoo of Oliver's English name by her collarbone slipped into view, as if by accident.

I threw off her hand and went back to the ward alone.

"This is all Melanie's fault. Oliver, I hadn't had my fill yet."

Regina cupped his chin and the small of his back, teasing at his lips. His shirt was already half off, his frame taller and more striking for it.

Oliver's eyes were hazy as he kissed his way down her body. Only when his hand found the gentle swell of her belly did he push her back, holding himself in check.

"Pregnant, and still tempting me like this. I'll satisfy you this once. Wait for me in the usual place, like a good girl."

"Don't come looking for me anymore. Melanie almost caught us today."

Regina said, impatient, that of course she'd never find out.

"I just wanted you to stay with me. The baby and I both missed you." She burrowed into his arms, coaxing.

One wall away, I heard every word of it. As the heavy footsteps drew closer, I lay back down and pretended to be asleep.

"Mel, I'm really sorry. Something urgent came up at the company, I'll have to travel for a while…"

When Oliver got no answer and saw I was asleep, his mood lightened considerably.

Behind him, Regina mocked, "Look at that complexion, that scrawny figure. If I were a man I wouldn't want her either. Not a patch on me."

Oliver shut the door softly and left with his arm around Regina. Through the gap in the door I watched their backs recede. This was probably the last time I'd ever see them, for the rest of my life.

On my way out of the hospital, I found Regina's lab report on the floor. I'd long given up on Oliver, so looking at it left me strangely calm.

That night, not a single message from him. I finished packing to leave and kept only one box behind.

It was full of the love letters Oliver had written me and the photos from our wedding, every one of them long since yellowed.

At midnight, a message came from an unknown number, with a photo attached.

'Jealous? Oliver's reward to me. I doubt you've ever laid eyes on anything this expensive in your life.'

'Barely pregnant and already spoiling me this much. I'm nothing like a certain unlucky woman. If you're smart, you'll divorce quietly and step aside. Don't make things hard for Oliver.'

In the photo was a round-trip ticket to Switzerland, and on her hand a ring, round and enormous. It was the largest raw-stone diamond in the world, the one the news had reported sold at auction just five minutes ago.

I remembered Oliver's promise to take me to Switzerland to buy a brand-new diamond ring. Now it belonged to someone else.

The glow of the phone screen lit the bare mark on my right ring finger where a ring used to sit. I didn't reply, blocked the number, and went back to packing.

A full day and night, and nothing from Oliver. He used to call to say he was safe if a trip ran even two hours long. But I didn't care about that anymore.

Night fell, and the day had finally come. Once I was in the car, I looked at the place I'd lived for ten years, then tossed the keys onto the roadside.

The roads were clear the whole way. I stared blankly at my phone screen. Soon more photos and texts came through, and just as I went to open them, a hard brake jolted me.

"This road's lively tonight. Some rich family throwing a party, maybe?" the driver muttered, rolling down his window.

I looked at the dazzling bridge ahead, packed with people singing and dancing, everyone raising a glass in celebration.

Far as it was, I could still make out the two at the very center of it all: Oliver and Regina.

The scene in front of me pulled up the memory of that noisy wedding banquet years ago. But the photos on my phone dragged me back to reality.

In them Regina was beaming, accepting Oliver's proposal as he knelt on one knee, countless lavish gifts arrayed behind her.

The wedding gown on her was a hundred times finer than the one I'd burned, the full set of high jewelry glittering in the night, friends and family all cheering the happiness of the two of them in that moment.

'Oliver insisted on putting this wedding together for me. He loves me and the baby so much. As for you, I imagine he's already forgotten you completely.'

'He's worked so hard these past few days. If I weren't pregnant I'd have rewarded him properly. The next time you see him will be at the divorce. If you still want to keep any face, crawl out of the Gilbert house on your own. Oliver already treats me as the woman of the Gilbert house.'

This time I finally replied: 'Congratulations. Your wish is about to come true.'

The driver started to turn off and go around. Just as I was about to close the window, my eyes met Oliver's for a second.

I didn't care. But Oliver froze, went blank where he stood, the music around him suddenly grating in his ears.

The next second, my phone rang. It was Oliver.

“Mel, where are you? It's been so long, I miss you. Once I'm home, let's leave for Switzerland together.”

　　“Is your illness better? While I was away on business, I went through every place around here and found the gentlest, most effective medicine, and your favorite dessert too...”

　　I listened to Oliver's voicemails, so caring and just a little anxious, and said nothing back.

　　The driver watched my calm face in the rearview mirror and teased, “You're a lucky woman, miss. A partner that thoughtful.”

　　I smiled and let it go. The car finally left that bright, crowded bridge behind, and through the glass I looked out at all the glittering excess. None of it had anything to do with me now.

　　Oliver's calls kept coming, one after another. I quietly powered off the phone and threw it hard onto the roadside.

　　I reached the airport without trouble. My parents had been waiting a long while. After so many years apart, the moment my mother saw me she rushed forward and pulled me into her arms.

　　“Mel, it's been so long. I've missed you day and night these past few days. Have you been taking care of yourself out there?”

　　As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, brimming with ache for me.

　　“I'm fine. Everything's fine.”

　　My father took my luggage, just as overjoyed. Then he noticed the wide bruises across the hand holding my bag, and asked me anxiously what had happened.

　　“No need to put on a brave face in front of us. Mel, what really happened to you?”

　　With them asking again and again, I told them plainly what I'd been through all this time.

　　“It's all behind me now. After today, it's a new life.” I said it as calmly as if I were telling someone else's story.

　　But the worry on my parents' faces was beyond hiding, and my father clenched his teeth, his fists tight.

　　“Don't worry, Mel. Your mother and I will make sure they're properly ‘repaid’ for everything they've done these years.”

　　“We couldn't be at ease sending you off to the research institute alone. This is my protégé, Xander Winston. From now on, whatever you need, just leave it to him.”

　　Only then did I notice the unfamiliar man behind my parents. He was tall, his features clean and even, but his eyes held a rare clarity and sincerity.

　　Xander took my luggage, and together we boarded the plane bound for the research institute.

　　Night fell. On the other side of the city, Oliver stared at the thirty-some missed calls and countless unanswered messages on his phone, uneasy.

　　He kept telling himself he must have seen it wrong just now, that those eyes couldn't have been mine.

　　There was no reason for me to be out there in the middle of the night. I had to be at home resting, that was why I wasn't picking up.

　　But the calls in Oliver's hand showed no sign of stopping, and watching him fret like this, Regina's fine mood curdled into nothing but jealousy.

　　She was the leading lady tonight, and yet his heart was still somewhere else, on someone else.

　　She almost snatched the phone from his hand, but then she thought of that reply I'd sent, and the smugness rose in her again, a smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

　　Before long she would be the mistress of the Gilbert house. Ten years, and her dream was finally about to come true.

　　The wedding went on. The crowd's excitement was stoked to its peak, and the ceremony reached the moment everyone had been waiting for: the vows.

　　Even now Oliver was preoccupied, still thinking about those eyes. Everyone listened in silence as the two of them made their vows, and then, all at once, a phone rang.

　　Oliver's eyes lit up in an instant, ready to step down and chase after the sound, but Regina would never let him have his way. She held both his hands, tugged her lips into a smile, and gazed at him with a face full of sincerity.

　　“The wedding isn't over yet. Where are you going, Oliver? You promised me the grandest wedding.”

　　“I think our child will look forward to seeing the footage of their parents' wedding someday too.”

　　At the mention of the child, Oliver's steps faltered, and in the end he gave it up.

　　It wasn't until the wedding ended that Oliver realized the butler had called him dozens of times.

　　The call connected, and a second later came the frantic voices of the butler and the servants.

　　“Mr. Gilbert, you finally picked up! Miss Henson is gone! She's vanished!”