Jessie Sterling opened her social media feed and immediately saw Keith Reese's latest post.
A nine-photo grid.
The caption for the photos was just two words—
Alumni Association.
Keith Reese was an alumnus of Julian Grant's from Harvard University, and Jessie Sterling quickly spotted Julian among the nine photos.
He wasn't hard to find. The fourth photo Keith Reese posted was of just Julian Grant and Arya Thorne together.
Even the outfit Julian was wearing was the one she had personally picked out for him before he left that morning.
Jessie Sterling looked at Julian in the photo and couldn't help but wonder, 'Does he ever smile that happily when he's with me?'
She couldn't remember him ever doing so.
Jessie Sterling and Keith Reese had many mutual friends, most of whom were Julian Grant's classmates or colleagues in Washington.
"Arya and Julian look so perfect together in this photo. They really were the best-looking couple at the school dances back in the day. Looking at this now, it feels like we're all still in college."
"The golden couple, you're not kidding. Arya is still so beautiful. No wonder Julian changed his mind! He'd said he wasn't coming to the reunion, but it turns out it's because the lovely Arya is in Washington for work."
Jessie wanted to read more of the comments from their "mutual friends," but when she refreshed the page, Keith Reese's post was gone.
'It probably wasn't deleted.'
'He must have realized he hadn't excluded me from the post.'
A notification popped up on her phone.
It was another birthday wish from a friend or relative. Aside from Julian, almost everyone in her life had sent their congratulations.
Two weeks ago, Julian had personally promised he would be home to celebrate her birthday with her today.
Looking at the flood of birthday messages on her phone, a faint smile touched Jessie's slightly pale face.
She had already received plenty of surprise gifts at home today. Like the birthday messages on her phone, they were piling up, but the most important one was still missing.
'If that social media post she'd stumbled upon also counted as a "surprise gift,"' Jessie thought, 'then it was certainly a surprising one.'
In the evening, when it was time for dinner, Jessie took the cake she had made that afternoon out of the refrigerator.
She sent Julian a message.
[Jessie: Where are you? Are you done with work?]
He didn't reply right away.
That night, before getting into bed, Jessie glanced at her phone. Her message to Julian from that afternoon still had no reply.
Wearing a misty-blue silk nightgown, Jessie sat on the bed and called Julian.
The phone rang several times before he finally picked up.
"Hello?"
Jessie could tell from his voice that Julian was already a bit drunk. She pursed her lips. "Where are you?"
Julian pressed his brow. "In the car." Then, as if remembering something, he added, "I'm running late tonight. You should get some sleep. Don't wait up for me."
Jessie was about to say something else when she heard a familiar female voice from the other end of the line—
"Julian, what are you doing? Who are you talking to?"
Jessie cursed how good phone microphones were these days, allowing her to hear Arya Thorne's voice with perfect clarity.
Her hand holding the phone tightened involuntarily.
A moment later, after Julian had apparently placated the person beside him and the whining female voice disappeared, Jessie spoke again. "Is that Arya Thorne?" she asked.
The man on the other end of the line fell silent for a moment before finally answering.
"Yes."
"She's in your car?"
"Yeah. She had too much to drink, so I'm taking her back to her hotel," Julian explained, adding, "We ran into each other at a banquet today."
He didn't explain that it was an alumni reunion.
An alumni reunion that included Arya Thorne.
Jessie looked up and saw her reflection in the nearby floor-to-ceiling window.
The room behind her was vast and empty, just like her heart—so hollow that a passing breeze might echo within it.
"And what are you to her?" Jessie couldn't help but ask. 'Why is my husband taking a single woman back to her hotel this late at night? Especially when that woman is his first love.'
His response was silence.
Jessie hung up.
Later that night, she lay alone in the two-meter-wide bed, feeling a little cold.
She had never planned to live abroad long-term, but she had followed Julian here because his work was overseas.
Other than Julian, she had no family in this country.
She had always thought that for childhood sweethearts like her and Julian, growing old together would be the most natural thing in the world.
Jessie clutched the silk of her nightgown at her chest. She wanted to cry, but the birthday girl was supposed to be happy.
In the end, Jessie fell asleep with a frown on her face.
In the haze of sleep, she felt a heavy weight pressing down on her, like a mountain.
Heavy, alcohol-laced breaths ghosted across her neck. The weight made it hard to breathe, and Jessie's eyes flew open in the darkness.
Julian was braced on his hands above her. His famously charming eyes seemed to glitter even in the pitch-black room.