Chapter 2

Nathaniel paused, brows furrowing. “Genny, what are you talking about? The thing with Lainey will end in a month. I’m just pretending to be her boyfriend.” He reached out a hand to touch Genevieve’s face. “You’re the one I love.”

Genevieve tilted her head, dodging his hand. She pulled the quilt up and lay down. “I need to rest.”

Nathaniel’s hand poised in the air. After a while, he sighed and walked out.

As the door closed, Genevieve opened her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks soundlessly.

She used her last strength to get out of bed and dragged a dusty box out from the deep end of her closet.

Genevieve stayed up all night to reorganize her trinkets with Nathaniel.

The movie tickets on their first date. Gifts from Nathaniel. Photos they took on trips..

At dawn, Genevieve lit a brazier in the backyard.

“What are you doing?!”

Elaine ran over and gave Genevieve a hard shove.

The brazier tumbled over. Sparks of the burning coals landed on Genevieve’s arms, leaving red marks on her fair skin.

Genevieve winced in pain. Before she could recover, Elaine lunged at her. “If you don’t want me to move in, just say the words. Why are you burning my stuff?”

“What’s going on?” The noise attracted Nathaniel. When he showed up, he instantly pulled Elaine behind him. “Are you hurt?”

“Nate, Genny doesn’t like me here, so she burns my things!” Elaine pointed at the burning remnants, her eyes red as if she was heartbroken.

Nathaniel looked at Genevieve for the first time since he arrived, his gaze filled with disappointment. “Genny, we owe Lainey so much. She’s going to donate her kidney to you. How could you?”

Genevieve felt her heart had been squeezed by an invisible hand. The pain was suffocating

She crouched down, picked out a small piece of a photo from the ashes, and held it in front of the two. “Look at this. I’m burning my memories with Nathaniel. These aren’t your things.”

The photo was taken last winter. Nathaniel was wrapping a scarf around her. Genevieve’s nose was red due to the cold, but her eyes were full of joy.

Nathaniel’s body stiffened. “What makes you want to burn them?”

“They’re molded.” With red–rimmed eyes, Genevieve threw the photo into the brazier. “So, I decided to burn them all.”

“That’s not right, Genny. These are our memories!” Nathaniel’s voice was tight. “We said we were going to watch them when we were old…”

Genevieve stared at him silently, taking in the anxiety on his face and the pity in his eyes.

How laughable. Nathaniel still believed they had a future.

Didn’t he realize that she was dying….

Genevieve opened her mouth to say something, but Elaine disrupted her by leaning weakly on Nathaniel’s shoulder.

“Nate, my hand hurts…”

Nathaniel dropped Genevieve’s hand right away and held Elaine’s hand up nervously. “How did you get hurt? Let’s go inside. I’ll tend to it.”

Wrapping an arm around Elaine, Nathaniel walked her back into the house, not sparing a glance at Genevieve.

Genevieve returned to her room by herself and took out a first–aid kit.

She poured alcohol on the cotton and pressed it to her burns. The pain almost made her pass out, yet it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pain in her heart.

Back in the days, Nathaniel would fuss over Genevieve and drag her to the infirmary even though it was only a paper cut. But earlier, he had completely ignored the serious burns on Genevieve.

Genevieve closed her eyes. Tears that had been kept in bay finally rolled down and landed on her burns, making the pain worse.

For the next two days, Elaine upgraded her action, not leaving Nathaniel’s side at all

In the living room, she pouted and ordered Nathaniel to feed her the shrimps. On the couch, she demanded that Nathaniel cuddle with her as they watched a movie.

Every time Genevieve passed them, Elaine would smile and ask, “Genny, you promised. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all” was Genevieve’s default reply.

As her health was getting worse day by day, Genevieve decided to go out and take a picture for her funeral before she was too weak to walk.

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