Autumn had been home for almost an hour before she finally got a reply from Zachary. “No need. Kristen’s pretty unstable right now. We’ll talk later.” Autumn knew he wouldn’t ask. Right now, he was too busy taking care of injured Kristen to worry about some gift box, even though it would only take him one second to ask. Zachary stayed gone for two whole days without sending a single message. Autumn didn’t reach out to him like she normally would. She just stayed home and quietly went through her phone and cloud storage, deleting every photo and video of her and Zachary. When she finished, she called a doctor and booked the earliest abortion appointment available. Since she’d already decided to leave, she didn’t want anything tying her to Zachary anymore. She turned off her phone and planned to shower and go to bed early so she’d be ready for tomorrow’s procedure. She’d just finished blow-drying her hair when Zachary suddenly walked through the door. He came over with a frown and held up flowers and a cake. “Heading to bed already? Today’s our wedding anniversary. You forgot?” Autumn stood there frozen. She really had forgotten, but she never expected Zachary would actually remember. He put the flowers in her arms and ruffled her hair. “Good thing I didn’t forget. Look, I got your favorite lychee rose cake.” She couldn’t help the bitter smile that crossed her face. Zachary was always like this, making you feel loved when he didn’t actually love you at all. During the three years since she’d married him, Autumn never complained about his awful mood swings after the accident left him disabled. She stayed by his side day and night, encouraging him and taking care of everything he needed. Slowly, Zachary started actually noticing her, and his attitude changed in small but meaningful ways. He began remembering her birthday and the things she liked. He’d make her soup during her period and stay up with her when she got sick. The day Zachary finally stood up again, he’d been so excited that he pulled Autumn into his arms and promised he’d never let her down. Not in this life, not ever. That night, they crossed the line and ended up in bed together. Zachary lost all control and made love to her until morning. Afterwards, he was the one who brought up having an actual wedding ceremony to make things official. For a moment, Autumn actually thought Zachary might be falling in love with her. Then came the day she found out she was pregnant. She was so happy, so excited to tell him the news, but she couldn’t get through to his phone no matter how many times she called. Disappointed, she ended up at the hospital by herself, and that was where she ran into Kristen by pure chance. Kristen was sobbing her heart out, clinging desperately to Zachary, who was supposed to be working late at the office. She wouldn’t let go no matter what. A vein bulged on Zachary’s forehead as he angrily shoved her away. “Kristen! We broke up a long time ago. Stop grabbing at me and let go!” Kristen’s voice came out raw and broken. “That’s impossible! You rented out the entire amusement park for my birthday just yesterday, and now you’re saying we’re done? I don’t believe you!” She threw herself at him again and wrapped her arms around his waist in a death grip. “I don’t understand. I just went to sleep, and when I woke up, my boyfriend was married to my sister! Tell me this is all fake. Please tell me none of this is real!” Zachary pushed her away again, but his voice came out strained. “It’s real. All of it. I’m married now, and my wife is Autumn, not you.” Kristen completely fell apart. She grabbed a fruit knife from the table and pressed it against her own throat. “Then what’s the point of me being alive?” Pain flashed across Zachary’s face. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, over and over, until he finally gave in. He stopped fighting and let Kristen collapse against him, crying like her world had ended. The pregnancy test slipped from Autumn’s fingers and fell to the floor. Her gut told her she was about to lose Zachary for good. Even after three years of marriage, even after all those intimate moments they’d shared, the second Kristen showed up, Autumn became nothing more than a placeholder. Happiness that was stolen was never meant to last. She looked down at the cake with “Happy 3rd Anniversary” written across it in frosting, and all she felt was how pathetic it all was. Zachary lit the candles and reached out his hand with a gentle smile. “Autumn, let’s make a wish together.” Autumn nodded and was about to stand up and place her hand in his when his phone rang. He hesitated for just a second before answering it. Autumn already knew who was calling, so she quietly pulled her hand back and sat down again. She figured he probably wasn’t going to eat any of this cake today. Sure enough, as soon as Zachary hung up, he quickly said “Something came up at work” and rushed out the door. Autumn watched him leave, and a bitter smile crossed her face that never reached her eyes. She stood up and blew out the candles herself. “Happy divorce to me.” In the darkness, she took a bite of the cake. It tasted awful, sickeningly sweet and heavy. She threw the whole thing in the trash. From now on, she wasn’t going to eat cake anymore. And she wasn’t going to love Zachary anymore either.