Chapter 6

I still remember how, after our engagement party ended, Joseph left his phone with me for safekeeping. The password was my birthday, and I was pinned at the top of all his social media. But in a folder that should only have work documents, there was suddenly a short, three-second voice message. I tapped it, and a woman's sweet voice said, "Honey, I miss you." The smile froze on my lips, and my entire body went cold. Outside, fireworks continued to go off, and the celebrations were loud. But at that moment, it was like I had gone deaf. Everything around me seemed to fade away. All I could hear, again and again, was that sentence. The timestamp showed that it was sent a week ago at 6:00 pm. That day had been an off day. Joseph and I had been shopping at the supermarket when we passed by the baby section. I had teased him, "Joseph, would you be happy if you became a dad right now?" He had been looking at his phone as he told me he would be happy. I asked him, "What do you think