Chapter 4

“Harper.”

My friend, Chloe, came up.

I didn’t want to disturb the two people in the dorm room, so I just glanced at Chloe and continued towards my own room.

Once inside, I closed the door. Chloe, seeing my distraught expression, said, “Don’t take any of that internet stuff to heart. Those tabloid reporters just love writing about high-society drama. What do they know?”

“You know about it too? What exactly happened?”

I put down my suitcase, grabbed Chloe’s hand, and stared intently at her.

Chloe paused.

“You haven’t seen it?”

Then she pulled out her phone.

“What happened with Rain last night? The internet is claiming you, as her sister-in-law, were fighting with her over the family fortune, trying to kick out your ‘illegitimate’ sister-in-law. They’re saying you two had a huge fight at home, and you injured her, sending her to the hospital.”

The accompanying photo showed Liam carrying a post-surgery Rain out of the hospital.

The comment section was filled with hateful remarks, all condemning me and sympathizing with Rain’s ‘tragic’ ordeal.

They had done something despicable, and I was taking the blame.

I had become the malicious daughter-in-law, coveting their family fortune and assaulting their daughter.

They, on the other hand, had gained sympathy, and he, a reputation as a husband who loved his wife unconditionally.

Even my mother-in-law, Eleanor, was praised as a tolerant and generous woman.

Chloe scrolled through the comments, growing angrier with each word, and tapped on the comment box.

As my best friend, she wanted to defend me. I pressed her hand, shaking my head helplessly.

“What’s the use of clarifying on the internet? They won’t listen, and it’ll only blow this story up even more. I’ll just get dragged through the mud worse.”

I didn’t care anymore.

Chloe thought it made sense, so she put her phone in her pocket and helped me unpack my suitcase.

“Honestly, it’s nothing. Let them talk. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. They don’t know. We were roommates in college, and I know better than anyone how much Liam loved you.”

“In sophomore year, when he was pursuing you, he’d buy breakfast in a thermos early in the morning, stand beneath the girls’ dorm building from five to seven, but he never dared to wake you up.”

“In junior year, we were harassed by some thugs at a snack shop outside the school, and he fought four or five of them by himself, almost losing his life. He would’ve died for you back then. And in senior year…”

Chloe recounted Liam’s past ‘heroic deeds.’

But how could she know that the man waiting downstairs with breakfast that year was actually longing for the shadow of his sister?

I sank onto the bed, feeling helpless, my heart aching. Just then, my phone rang.

Liam!

My cold, numb fingers tapped open SnapChat.

“Harper, are you at the hospital? Get some good rest when you get there, don’t overthink things. It’s all my fault, honey. When work isn’t so busy, I’ll take you away for a break. Darling, no matter what happens, my heart for you will never change. Love you!”

Love me?

The online posts were already blowing up. Hadn’t he seen them?

Maybe he really hadn’t seen them. His eyes were only for Rain; he saw no one else.

“Oh, what did I tell you? Look, ‘darling,’ ‘love you’—if you ask me, you should cherish it. A man as rich as Liam, who’s willing to stoop to such lengths to sweet-talk you, isn’t easy to find.”

Was he sweet-talking me?

Rain was back by his side. He no longer needed me, his shadow.

But he had to maintain his image as a model husband in public, to protect the Lennox family’s reputation.

Liam, how much longer will you deceive me?

I closed SnapChat, not replying.

Not wanting Chloe to see the despair in my eyes, I simply lay down, turned over, and closed them.