Back To His 18, I’m Not His Love

Chapter 6

Sylvia's POV:

A warning bell rang in my head, and the fear of being exposed crashed over me like a wave.

Bianca hurried off, leaving Adrian staring at the slip of paper in his hand. He looked up at me with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

"Why did she give me another account?"

The winter night was bitterly cold, yet I was drenched in a nervous sweat. "...Probably an alt account. You can just ask her when you get home, right?"

Adrian tucked the paper away. "Fine, we'll deal with it later."

He reached for his backpack out of habit, but the motion pulled at his wound and he winced.

I instinctively moved to grab it for him, but he shook me off coldly. "Sylvia, you and I aren't okay yet. Don't act like nothing happened."

With that, he switched hands, slung the bag over his other shoulder, and walked away.

I don't remember how I got home. All I remember is that the wind cut deeper than any night before.

Back in my room, I turned on the computer. Messaging app was flooded with messages from Adrian.

Adrian: Bianca, are you home?

Adrian: Should I add that other account too?

Adrian: I can't find it when I search though. Did you write it down wrong because you were in a hurry?

Reading that last message, some of the chill finally lifted from my body.

Bianca was too proud, too accustomed to being pursued. Even if she'd given out an account and Adrian never added it, she would never lower herself to ask why.

So my cover was safe for now.

I steadied myself, then typed a reply: I must have written it wrong.

The moment I hit send, a video call request from Adrian popped up.

My heart lurched, and in a panic I fired off another message: Sorry, it's not a good time right now.

After a long pause, Adrian sent back a simple "okay" along with a cute emoticon.

At the same time, his virtual pet on my desktop bounced over and planted a kiss on my virtual pet's face.

I let out a breath, staring blankly at the two little pets nuzzling each other on screen.

Every day when I opened my computer, those two virtual pets were inseparable, clinging to each other just like Adrian and I had been after we were married.

But now I understood more clearly than ever that all of it had been a lie.

After a long while, I stood up and tore the December 15th page off the calendar.

A loud knocking erupted at the door.

At this hour, it could only be Adrian.

I switched off the monitor and went to answer.

Adrian was leaning against the doorframe, a glass jar in one hand. He tugged at his hair with a slightly awkward expression. "Sylvia, do you want to make up?"

My eyes went wide.

"Make up?"

He'd been giving me the cold shoulder barely an hour ago. I'd already resigned myself to drifting through these final dozen days in this timeline without resolution.

I held my emotions in check and nodded carefully.

Adrian immediately shoved the glass jar into my hands.

"The day after tomorrow is Bianca's birthday. I want to give her a one-of-a-kind present. Fill this jar with a hundred fireflies for me, and I'll make up with you."

His words hit me like a bucket of ice water, cold straight through to the bone.

Setting aside the fact that he only wanted to reconcile for Bianca's sake, where on earth was I supposed to find fireflies in the dead of winter?

But Adrian didn't give me a chance to refuse. He patted my shoulder, said "I'll be waiting," and disappeared back into his apartment, the door clicking shut behind him.

Cold wind howled through the corridor.

I stood there holding the jar, still warm from his palm, while the rest of me went numb.

Two days passed. Snow drifted from the night sky.

After evening study hall ended, the school grounds were deserted.

I hid behind a tree, occasionally breathing warm air onto my frozen hands.

Before long, I spotted Adrian leading Bianca toward the clearing.

Bianca's expression was taut with impatience. "What is this about? I still have homework to finish."

Adrian showed none of the irritation he always wore around me. His voice was gentle. "Bianca, it's your birthday. I have a special gift for you."

That was my cue. I pulled the glass jar from inside my coat and unscrewed the lid.

Every single firefly inside had been caught by me during a trip I'd taken out to the countryside hills, skipping school to find them.

They poured out into the air, tiny points of golden light scattering among the trees, weaving and flickering through the branches like a painting from a dream.

I watched Bianca freeze in place. She said nothing, but wonder shone in her eyes.

Adrian seized the moment while Bianca wasn't looking, quietly shifting his position until, under the dim lamplight, their shadows seemed to lean into each other.

Watching them, my eyes stung, and memories rushed back like a tide.

Decades from now, fireflies would become rare. But the day after Adrian and I signed our marriage certificate, he came home with dozens of them.

We turned off all the lights and let their glow fill the room like scattered stars.

That night, Adrian nestled against me, pressing soft kisses to my cheek.

"A belated gift," he murmured. "Do you like it?"

I did.

Even now, knowing I had only ever been a stand-in for Bianca, I still loved it.

I watched him standing there, experiencing the first flush of young love, and a quiet, peaceful smile found its way to my lips.

This wasn't Adrian's birthday gift to Bianca.

It was the romance I was giving back to him.