"Do you want a brother or a sister?" Marian Eaton asked.

    Fermin ced his hand on her belly and thought for a moment. "A sister."

    Marianughed, "Smart boy, knowing it''s a girl before she''s even born."

    Bert walked over, concerned about her health.

    Marian asked, "What should we name your sister?"

    "Liza." Fermin crouched down, pressing his ear to Marian''s belly.

    He closed his eyes and whispered, "She''s my long-awaited little sister."

    His thoughts drifted back to the present.

    Fermin remembered the warmth of that dream, but he also knew how cruel reality

    was.

    He hadn''t been lost in that dream because there were more important things to take care of.

    He smiled at the sleeping Liza, carefully removed the face mask, and tossed it into the trash.

    Before leaving, he left themp on. Liza couldn''t sleep well inplete darkness.

    Outside the room, his smile faded, reced by his usual coldness.

    The maid stood nervously by the door.

    "Keep an eye on Liza. Don''t let her run off."

    "Yes, sir."

    Fermin turned and walked toward the dark end of the hallway.

    The next step of their n was going to be fun.

    The next day, a series of medical records surfaced online.

    The headline read, [Marion, heir of the Houston family, was diagnosed with a congenital mental disorder.]

    The story shot to the top of trending topics, along with tags like #Marriage Scam and #The Houston-Frazier Wedding Was a Massive Hoax.

    People started analyzing footage from Marion and Debra''s wedding. They broke down his micro-expressions, iming they were proof of his congenital emotional detachment. Every reaction he made was an unconscious habit.

    Some started to specte why Marion had chosen to marry Debra.

    From their first encounter to their grand, fairy-tale wedding seemed to be all an borate scam.

    By noon, the news had spread like wildfire. People in both Seamar City and overseas were talking about it.

    Erica and Randy kept calling Debra, and so did Oscar and Theda.

    She didn''t answer any. As night fell, she still hadn''t left her room.

    Marion was leaning against the doorframe. The ground around him was littered with cigarette butts. He looked more wrecked than he ever had.

    His voice was hoarse, choked with something like desperation. "Debra, please open the door."

    Debra sat by her bed, staring at her phone. The screen lit up again and again with iing calls.

    It was strange that she was not surprised by the news at all.

    ''Is it a scam? No. Does he love me? No,'' she thought to herself.

    By the normal definition of love, Marion wasn''t even capable of it.

    Everything he did was nothing more than learned responses.

    He was a masterful liar trying to mimic love, while in truth, he had never felt a thing.

    Now all those moments of happiness were shattered into pieces.

    Debra''s phone buzzed again.

    This time, it was Michael.