A Night of Secrets

Maybe the answer would be “You don’t need to know that.”

No, it definitely would.

“Are you going to keep my secret?”

The reply that came back was nothing like what I expected.

The darkness hid our faces from each other, yet I could still sense exactly where our eyes were pointed.

They were probably aimed straight at one another.

“I’ll keep your secret.”

I answered as if swearing a solemn oath.

The room stayed perfectly quiet.

Maybe that kind of promise wasn’t enough? I hurried to add another guarantee.

“I swear on every single one of my grades.”

A soft chuckle drifted from the darkness.

“That’s more trustworthy than any oath I’ve ever heard.”

Then silence settled over us again. I waited patiently, willing to stay quiet until Joy was ready to speak.

After several hesitant pauses, she finally opened her mouth.

“My… older brother.”

It was an utterly shocking statement.

So the Carter family, supposedly blessed with only a daughter, had an illegitimate son?

“It’s complicated. You probably wouldn’t understand. Someone like you.”

The words “someone like you” didn’t sound mocking or accusatory. If anything, it felt like she was lowering herself.

“What exactly is ‘someone like me’?”

“It means you have parents who actually listen when you talk.”

“They didn’t listen to you, did they? Your parents.”

Instead of correcting her assumptions about me, I focused on her situation.

“They never listen to me, and they never tell me their side of things either. They claim everything is for my sake, but really they just can’t find pretty words to wrap up their own ugliness.”

I heard Joy swallow hard. She had spat the words out in anger, but now seemed to regret criticizing her parents even a little.

“My promise is absolute.”

I reminded her of the vow I had just given, wanting to offer even the smallest bit of comfort.

“Yeah, I know.”

Encouraged by my words, Joy kept going.

“Right. But who would believe it? That this refined, cultured couple couldn’t have children of their own, so they borrowed the body of a housekeeper who was already raising a son alone just to get one daughter.”

I had to clap a hand over my mouth.

“And when that housekeeper fell in love with the child she carried for ten months and tried to run away, saying she couldn’t hand him over to her employers, they beat her and threw her out.”

“Carter.”

“I felt something was off ever since I was little. But no one would tell me what it was.”

Her voice had grown so faint it seemed ready to disappear, yet every word carried the pain that had haunted her entire life.

“My parents must have thought I’d be ashamed if I ever learned the truth. They’re still working hard to keep the secret.”

“But you found out anyway.”

“Yes… I found out.”

A hint of tears colored her voice.

“I was happy.”

It sounded like she was unveiling her most precious treasure.

“I was really happy. The fact that my ‘mom’ had decided to take me away no matter what was just so… foolish.”

There was no way a lone housekeeper could have taken a child from the Carter couple.

She had probably known that better than anyone.

Yet she had still made up her mind to try. It was foolish.

And heartbreakingly beautiful.

“She truly loved you. From the moment she carried you, all the way through.”

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

“She’s a brave woman.”

“Even though she ultimately failed.”

Once she learned she had a real mother, Joy hired someone to track her down and eventually found her.

But living under her parents’ roof made visiting nearly impossible.

Any strange behavior would immediately earn her a shadow of “worried” watchers.

And that would only bring trouble to her real mother.

“So when I came here, I thought it was a blessing. I could finally go see her.”

“I understand.”

I answered immediately, the sincerity ringing clear in my voice.

After all, I was also desperately searching for the nanny who had loved me as a child.

Just imagining the moment I finally found her and went to meet her was enough to make my heart feel like it would burst.

“Weren’t you nervous when you actually went to see her?”

My voice now carried even deeper interest.

“Of course I was. I even thought about grabbing my cold roommate and asking her to help me pick the perfect first line. Even though you answered ‘I’m busy with assignments’ when I called you.”

“…Ah.”

I dug through old memories. There had been a time like that early in the semester. I had been so fiercely focused back then that nothing around me even registered.

Of course, that had still been true until just last week.

“I’m sorry. I was awful.”

“Good that you know.”

“Still, tell me. I want to hear it. What was it like when you first met your mother?”

Joy shared a little more.

How her mother had recognized her instantly and pulled her into a hug, how her health wasn’t good these days so she visited whenever she could, and other stories like that.

Her excited voice was wonderful to listen to.

“Talking like this… it really feels like we’re actual roommates.”

Joy fell silent at that. We had been talking nonstop, so even this short quiet felt strangely awkward.

It was odd. Sharing silence with her used to feel so natural.

Just one night of trading our deepest truths had changed everything.

“…Yeah.”

The answer came after a long pause. Then Joy turned over to face the opposite wall.

“We should sleep now.”

I wanted to say “Good night,” but I didn’t have the courage.

The room filled once more with awkward silence.

Friday morning.

I began my last morning at school.

I pulled on the uniform I had grown used to over the past few months and opened the window. Snow had fallen overnight, turning the whole world white. It was far too dazzling a sight for the morning I was supposed to leave.

How romantic.

I left the curtains closed for Joy, who was still asleep. Ever since the night we had fled from the mannequin ghost together, the two of us had maintained a surprisingly decent relationship.

That didn’t mean we had any more lively conversations like that night, though.

This was my problem again.

I would be leaving school soon, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell Joy the truth about it.

It was tied to my own secret, after all.

Still, I thought I should at least let her know I was dropping out, so I left a short letter on her desk.

The content was painfully thin. I couldn’t write any of the countless other things I wanted to say. It felt like the lies would only keep growing.

…See you again someday, Joy.

She was the young lady of the Carter family, so our paths would surely cross again.

Even then, we would probably never speak of that one warm night we had shared.

To her, I would only ever be Evey Underwood—a momentary roommate who could never be found again.

“Goodbye.”

I left the room as Underwood.

And immediately ran into another dorm student standing right in front of me.

If it had been anyone else, I would have ignored them or offered a half-hearted greeting and kept walking. But the person standing there made that impossible.

Cyrus Quinton.

If I left school like this, he was the boy who would become my future husband with the same certainty as the sun rising tomorrow morning.

It was honestly horrifying. I felt my face twist into a sullen expression without meaning to.

Quinton’s brows furrowed slightly when he saw it. At least that much was clear—we definitely disliked each other.

“Hi, Quinton. If it’s not too much trouble,”

I stepped closer and greeted him.

“Could you tell me your good points?”

I decided to borrow a little adult wisdom.

If something couldn’t be avoided, I might as well try to view it positively. Like saying the glass is half full.

He seemed to think for a moment before answering.

“I don’t really have any.”

It looked like there wasn’t a single drop left in my glass after all.

“Thanks for the information. So why were you standing here? You weren’t waiting for me, were you?”

“I was waiting for you.”