The zipper slid to my waist, and the silk dress fell around my legs, exposing the old scar there—the one I got when I crashed my bike rushing to buy him fever medicine back when he’d lost his memory.
Ryan’s gaze dropped to the scar, and the cigarette trembled slightly between his fingers.
I unbuttoned the top of my blouse. My collarbone, once kissed countless times by him, was revealed. His friends’ breathing grew heavier. I was down to my last piece of clothing when Ryan suddenly rushed forward, yanking a cashmere coat off the sofa and wrapping it tightly around me. His voice shook with anger. “Enough! Evelyn, stop it! You’re shaming me!”
“Shaming you?” I shoved him back, the coat slipping off one shoulder. “Back when you said you loved me, wasn’t that shameful too?”
His lips parted, but no words came.
Ryan had the mansion doors locked. Wrapped in his coat, I sat frozen in a corner.
In a haze, I remembered a winter years ago, when I had the flu. He’d stayed by my bed, making hot cocoa, even warming my feet in his arms. He said, “Evelyn, I know you’re afraid of the cold. Every winter, I’ll keep your feet warm.”
But just three months ago, after I miscarried and lay in the hospital weak and shivering from blood loss, Ryan dragged me out to a ski resort because Sophia wanted to ski. I stumbled again and again on the slopes, my body breaking down further, leaving me in constant pain every time the weather turned cold.
“Evelyn, what are you daydreaming about?” Sophia strolled over with a glass of red wine, “accidentally” spilling it over me. “Oops, sorry! But it doesn’t matter, Ryan bought that coat anyway. If it’s dirty, he’ll just buy you another one.”
Her words had barely left her lips when she suddenly shrieked, clutching her neck. “My diamond necklace! The one Ryan gave me! It was here just now—I only stepped into the restroom, and now it’s gone!”
The room fell silent.
Sophia’s eyes swept toward me, full of provocation. “Just now, only Evelyn was packing her suitcase. Did you sneak it in while no one was looking? After all, with your brother needing money for surgery, you must be desperate.”
“I didn’t take it!” I shot to my feet.
“Who would believe you?” Jason chimed in instantly. “You’ve been after Ryan’s money from the start. Now that you’re leaving, of course you’d want one last score! Search her suitcase!”