Clatter.
The whole box hit the floor.
They scattered at my feet.
Strawberry was Julia's favorite flavor.
James's hand trembled as he took mine. He forced a smile so strained it looked painful. His tone was almost pleading.
"My secretary picked those up. She must've gotten the flavor wrong. Believe me."
I pulled my hand free.
I opened my mouth to tell him straight.
You're just as disgusting as she is.
The phone on the bed buzzed violently.
Caller ID: Julia.
"The System's going to electrocute me, James, save me, only you can save me..."
James ruffled my hair.
"We'll talk when I get back."
He moved so fast I couldn't even catch the hem of his shirt.
"One minute."
My voice was stiff.
He didn't look back.
I sank to my knees on the floor.
"James, I'm pregnant."
The pain crept over me like ivy, dense and suffocating, spreading across every inch of my body.
My heart seized until I couldn't bear it.
Yes. I was starved for love.
Julia had shown up on my family's doorstep when she was three years old.
The first thing out of her mouth was that she was the Heroine.
Even my birth had been Julia's request.
She said every Heroine needed a Side Character by her side.
So I was born.
Everything she did was a task assigned by the System.
By the time I'd cried myself dry, I noticed James had sent me a video call.
I picked up.
He acted like nothing had happened.
"Hey, babe. Get some sleep."
He left the video running.
Julia was on the ground behind him, curled up as if in pain.
He knew I was insecure.
Video calls had become our nightly ritual.
My priority contacts notification lit up.
Best friend — Julia Simmons.
"Cathy, I feel so bad for you..."
A location pin.
James's office building.
The stairwell.
What were they doing in the stairwell?
I removed Julia from my priority contacts with a flick of disgust.
My hand shook.
Catherine Simmons, you pathetic fool.
Julia had demanded that everyone set her as a priority contact.
Including me.
I'd never dared refuse.
I pulled myself back to the present.
Minutes passed.
The screen on the other end went black.
No sound.
Curiosity gnawed at my chest like a swarm of ants tearing into flesh.
I followed the address she'd sent me to the office stairwell.
The entire building was dark.
"Getting bolder, aren't we? She's not even asleep yet and you couldn't wait, could you, James?"
I stepped onto the stairs.
Julia's voice burrowed into my ears.
The man's voice was low and hoarse.
"I put sleeping pills in the aromatherapy diffuser. She'll be out any minute."
The emergency light in the corridor cast my shadow against the wall.
And my face, white as paper.
That diffuser was the first gift he'd ever given me.
I had never received a gift before.
So I'd kept it on display, never opened it.
When James noticed, he bought more.
He said that way I'd have a new gift to open every single day.
My grip on the railing tightened.
I didn't dare climb any higher.
"You came here. She didn't put up a fight?"
Julia's question echoed through the empty stairwell.
It clung to me like a ghost.
"Put up a fight?"
"Of course she did."
"She wants a divorce."
"And next time, don't leave your clothes at my place. She'll cry if she sees them."
An invisible fist closed around my heart.
The pain was so sharp I could barely breathe.
"Did you agree to it?"
"James."
The sound of heavy breathing drifted closer.
The man's low, languid voice rippled through the dark.
