Chapter 1

As soon as I finished speaking, the door to the ward slammed open. Silas Tate and Edgar Linden, missing for the past week, walked in one after another.

"What's this about a marriage of convenience?" They were fuming, clearly having overheard me talking to Dad.

I didn't bother explaining. "None of your business."

I grabbed my stuff and was ready to leave, but they blocked me.

Silas, always quick to speak his mind, snapped, "Cecilia, what's going on with you? You're the one who said you didn't want a marriage for the family's sake. We went out of our way to back you, offended your parents, and threw away our futures just to stay with you, and now, you're changing your mind?"

He gave me an earful.

Edgar, who was always gentle with me, stayed silent as Silas went off.

"Stop being quiet! You're making us look like the bad guys! You need to explain yourself!"

I glanced at Edgar, but he immediately looked away.

Things like this used to happen all the time.

Silas had a short fuse and would start yelling the second something ticked him off, but Edgar would always jump in, calling him out for being rude. Silas would quickly back down and apologize to me.

This time, Edgar said nothing, and Silas wasn't backing down.

I took a deep breath. "Why should I explain myself? Who I marry is my call.

"Move. You're in the way."

The ward went dead silent.

Silas was left stunned while Edgar looked down at me. "Cecilia, you're not still mad about the day we gave those clothes to Lise, are you? Are you just trying to rile us up?"

My breath caught in my throat. I came close to dying on that mountain from hypothermia, and after they got me to the hospital, I was knocked out for three days before I finally came around.

And somehow, Silas boiled it down to me being mad about them giving Lisette Locke their clothes.

Before I could even get a word out, Silas barked, "It was just a few clothes! Come on. We'll buy you a hundred, a thousand if that'll make you happy!"

He grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the door. Still recovering and weak, my face instantly went white.

"Silas, let go!" Edgar spoke up out of nowhere.

I thought he'd lay into Silas like he always did to defend me, but instead, he took out a small box from behind him.

"You know how hard Lise's life has been. Imagine how heartbroken she would've been if we hadn't looked out for her back then. Look at you now—you're fine. Don't make such a big thing out of it. We've never forgotten your birthday. We got this cake for you."

I opened the box and found a sad-looking cake. It seemed like something that had been sitting in the fridge forever and was put on sale—even the fruit on top had lost its color.

It was just a day ago that I saw the photos Lisette posted. Edgar and Silas were beaming, handing her a huge homemade cake, with 22 gift boxes behind them—one for each of her birthdays over the past 22 years.

I felt dead inside.

I shrugged off Silas' hand and brushed off Edgar's cake. "Thanks for remembering my birthday. I appreciate it."

They always remembered I was allergic to cream. Every year, they'd bake me a giant fruitcake without any cream. But they seemed to forget about it after a few birthdays with Lisette.

Just then, Silas' phone rang.

He answered it, then glanced at Edgar. "Lise says she's dealing with period cramps…"