He Forgot My Birthday for Her Anniversary Again Chapter 02
I hung up on him for the first time.
No panic. No anxiety.
Just a flat, quiet calm.
I looked at the leftover cake on the table. The ice cream had melted, slowly, the way I thought our unbreakable love had melted—bit by bit, until nothing was left.
I put my phone down and kept packing.
The next afternoon, Brady came home.
He looked guilty. His posture softened.
“I’m sorry I forgot your birthday yesterday. You wanted a car, right? I went and picked one out for you today. Think of it as a belated gift.”
I opened my mouth, but he kept going.
“Good thing Skyler reminded me. Next time you see her, thank her. She actually helped pick the car. She said you’d love it.”
So he hadn’t remembered on his own.
Someone had to remind him.
And the gift I was supposed to be grateful for—someone else had chosen it.
All I could ever say was “It’s fine.”
Accept the choices they made for me.
Brady pulled out his phone to show me pictures of the car.
“See? Skyler picked pink. Perfect for you girls…”
He swiped.
The second photo froze me.
It was Skyler. Sitting in the driver’s seat, tongue out, peace sign up.
Brady noticed me staring. “She loves selfies. Her phone died, so she borrowed mine.”
I said nothing and kept swiping.
His camera roll: three hundred twenty-three photos. One hundred twenty of them were Skyler.
Only three were of the car.
That’s when I remembered. Brady doesn’t like photos. He doesn’t like clutter on his phone.
We don’t have a single picture together.
He doesn’t even have my contact saved.
As if I’d never existed in his life.
I’d asked him once why he didn’t save my number. He said, “I have your number memorized. I could recite it in my sleep. No need to save it.”
But Skyler?
Her contact name was “Piggy Gonna Be Happy.”
And she was pinned at the top of his messages and socials. The only one.
I scrolled in silence. Brady didn’t stop me. He even smirked. “Checking up on me? Go ahead. See if I’m flirting with anyone else…”
A message popped up from “Piggy Gonna Be Happy.”
[Brady! Don’t be a jerk! You buy Paige a car and not me? I want one too! Get on it, mister!]
I lost the will to look anymore. Handed the phone back.
Brady took it. I stood up from the couch. Glanced back.
He typed: [Company’s a little tight right now. I owe you one.]
Skyler wasn’t taking no for an answer. She fired off endless crying-laughing emojis.
Brady’s eyes flickered with hesitation. Then he looked up at me.
“Paige. Your office isn’t that far from home. What if we give this car to Skyler first? I’ll get you one next time.”
