He Favored Her as "Family", I Left

Chapter 3

"Hello? Is anyone home? This package requires a signature."

The birthday gift I'd bought for Sharon arrived.

"One second."

Sharon didn't answer my call. So I called Wyatt instead.

The phone rang once. Then someone hurriedly declined it.

Left with no choice, I opened the security camera app to see what was happening in the apartment.

The moment the live feed loaded, I saw Wyatt stretched out on the couch. His eyes were closed. His face was flushed with drunkenness.

Sharon was kneeling in front of him. Her fingertips slowly traced from his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose... Until they rested lightly on his lips.

Then she leaned closer and closer.

I could clearly see Wyatt's hand tightening around his pants. His fingers clenched harder and harder.

My own fingers hovered over the microphone button for several seconds.

Finally, I pressed it.

"Sharon."

She shot to her feet like a startled rabbit. Then she looked straight into the security camera, panic all over her face.

"Viola! I... I was just worried he'd catch a cold sleeping here. His jacket was underneath him, and I was trying to pull it out so I could cover him with it. Please don't overthink it! Wyatt is family to me. Just like you are. We're all family. Nothing could ever happen between us."

My voice came out hoarse. "I was actually calling to tell you... Your birthday gift is outside, waiting for you to sign."

She forced a smile. "Oh... really? Thanks, Viola."

After she left to answer the door, I didn't close the camera feed.

Wyatt slowly opened his eyes. His face was full of restrained pain and struggle.

"Viola... What exactly do you want from me? I already told you, I'm not leaving you. I'm going to marry you and give you a home. I already proposed to you. Why can't you even let me have this for one second?"

A sharp pain pierced my chest. I tasted blood in my mouth where I'd bitten the inside of my cheek.

Wyatt had never been especially attentive. The only thing that kept me believing he truly loved me was how desperately he wanted to marry me.

When we'd both gotten sick, I still dragged myself out of bed to cook for him. His eyes had turned red.

He ate in silence, tears falling into his rice. "I'll marry you someday, Viola."

When we were interns, money had been so tight that I stayed up night after night calculating expenses. One night, he reached for me in his sleep. His arms found nothing but empty sheets.

Still half asleep, he came over, wrapped me in a hug from behind, and whispered, "I wish I could marry you right now."

Even yesterday, on my 24th birthday, beneath a sky bursting with fireworks, he'd said those same words again.

"Viola, marry me."

But he'd forgotten. Yesterday, for the very first time, I answered him with silence.

"Haven't you already had it once?" My voice trembled.

"Do you need me to remind you? Yesterday. My birthday. Behind the restaurant. You and Sha..."

"Enough!" Wyatt suddenly shouted, cutting me off before I could finish.

Right then, the airport announcement echoed through the terminal.

"Dear passengers, check-in is now open for flights to Kingsford."

Wyatt let out a long sigh. "Viola, nothing happened between Sharon and me. And nothing ever will. We both love you. When you come back, we'll get married. Okay?"

I swallowed the sob rising in my throat. But tears still slipped silently down my face.

I thought, 'Too late, Wyatt.'

The confidential project in Kingsford was only supposed to last three years.

But I already knew. I would never come back.