My Sister’s ‘Secret Boyfriend’ Was My Fiance Chapter 01
My younger sister was hopelessly obsessed with her boyfriend. She was willing to spend twenty-five straight hours in transit just to celebrate his birthday with him.
She looked at me and shook her head.
“Nora, you don’t understand. I’m never the one who gets to celebrate his birthday with him.”
“This time, I want to be there and celebrate with him in person.”
Seeing how determined she was, I didn’t try to talk her out of it again.
When I told my boyfriend about her plan, he scoffed over the phone.
“She’s flying overseas just to celebrate her boyfriend’s birthday? Is there something wrong with her?”
“Leave her alone. Let her go. There’s no getting through to someone that obsessed.”
The night after I saw my sister off at the airport, her latest Instagram post appeared in my feed.
It was a single photo of a man from behind, captioned simply, [Happy birthday.]
But the moment I saw it, I froze.
The scar at the nape of the man’s neck was identical to Graham Hale’s. Even the ring on his finger was the same design as mine.
That was when I realized Lila Bennett and I had the same boyfriend.
She had traveled all that way to celebrate Graham’s birthday.
…
I stared at the photo for a long time, checking it over and over. There was no mistaking him. It was Graham.
And today was his birthday.
He had told me there was no point in celebrating while he was away. We could always make up for it when he came back.
He had not skipped his birthday after all. He already had someone there to celebrate with him.
That someone was my own sister.
I wasn’t going to let it slide.
I took a screenshot and sent it to Graham.
After what felt like forever, my phone lit up.
The message was not from Graham. It was from Lila.
Lila: [Nora, I made it! I’m with my boyfriend now, celebrating his birthday~]
She sent me a photo with the cake in the center. A man’s right hand had accidentally made it into the frame.
The ring on his ring finger was even clearer this time.
Graham had been assigned overseas for a year. Before he left, he had proposed to me and promised we would get married when he came back.
But now, there was no reason to wait.
There wasn’t going to be a wedding.
I stared at my conversation with Lila without replying. I had no idea what I was supposed to say.
Was I supposed to ask why she had gotten involved with her own sister’s fiancé?
I had always known Lila had feelings for someone.
I just had not known who it was.
For the past year, she had flown overseas two or three times a month, saying she was trying to get him to give her a chance.
Whenever I brought it up with Graham, he would give a derisive snort and say, “She’s obsessed. Only someone that stupid would chase a man all the way overseas.”
He had always been impatient with Lila.
That was why I had never suspected anything. It had never occurred to me that the city she kept flying to was the same city where Graham was based, or that the man she liked happened to share Graham’s birthday.
It certainly had never occurred to me that Graham and Lila might be together.
My phone screen lit up.
This time, the message was from Graham.
Graham: [What are you implying?]
He was not admitting that he was the man in the photo.
I lowered my eyes and typed a reply.
Me: [Isn’t that you in her Instagram post?]