My girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend attempted suicide, and ever since, whenever he felt unwell, she would drop everything and rush to his side, leaving me behind. Faced with my objections, Chloe snapped: “He was beaten raw, all bruised and battered, and his mental state is incredibly fragile. What’s wrong with cutting him some slack?” To win his affection, Chloe gave him my brand-new luxury watch, worth over five figures, to wear. She let him browse my walk-in closet for clothes, and even stole my bank card to fund his spending sprees. Worse, to ‘heal’ her ex, she secretly got intimate with him behind my back. When I caught them red-handed, Chloe brushed it off, utterly unfazed: “Noah was just too tense, Ryan. I was merely helping him release some stress.” Later, I fully indulged her ‘compassion’ for her ex, and happily married the woman I could never let go of. That’s when Chloe lost her mind. I came home early, only to walk in on my girlfriend, Chloe Miller, and her ex, Noah, tangled up in my bed. Noah was the first to spot me, standing in the doorway, my face dark as thunder. His face flushed with terror; he pushed Chloe away, tumbling off the bed and shrinking into a corner. He clutched himself, burying his head in his arms, muttering to himself: “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, don’t hit me, don’t hit me, boo-hoo…” Chloe, who moments before had been enjoying herself, snapped back to reality and immediately rushed to comfort Noah. “Noah, it’s okay, no one blames you. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” “Ah, don’t bite your arm again, you’re hurting yourself. Please, stop.” What could a woman’s strength do against a man’s? Watching Noah self-harm, Chloe stood up, ran over, and without a word, slapped me across the face. She screamed at me: “Ryan, what the hell is wrong with you? Weren’t you supposed to be at work today? Why are you back already? Look what you’ve done to Noah! You scared him half to death. Go apologize to him, now!” I stood my ground. She couldn’t drag me anywhere. From the moment I walked in, a furious rage had been building, and seeing her attitude now, there was no way I was holding back. “I apologize? Shouldn’t you be the one explaining things to me? You’re my girlfriend, living in my house, you brought your ex back here, and then I walk in on you two doing something so disgusting. And you expect me to apologize to *him*? Are you serious?” Chloe, however, thought *I* was being unreasonable. She lectured me: “What’s your problem, Ryan? I’ve told you countless times, Noah was kidnapped and tortured for days. He came back almost completely broken. He’s only just started to feel a little better, and I simply saw he was too stressed out. I was helping him relax. What more is there to explain?” I laughed, a bitter, humorless sound. I raised my hand and slapped Chloe across the face, disappointment heavy in my voice: “Chloe Miller, you utterly disgust me.” Noah suddenly rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Chloe, shielding her behind him. His eyes, red-rimmed, stared at me, his voice choked with tears and a trembling sob. “Ryan, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have touched Chloe, but I was so scared. Scared of being locked up again. It was Chloe who patiently guided me, gave me warmth, helped me accept a new life, I… I… ugh…” I kicked him hard in the stomach, spat on the floor, and glared at the sickening pair. “Disgusting. I never want to see either of you again. Get out of my house before I come back.” Furious, I slammed the door shut and called my best friend. “Leo, come out for a drink with me.” At the bar, I downed glass after glass. My phone vibrated endlessly in my pocket. I picked it up. It was Chloe. “Ryan, please don’t be mad at me, okay? I’ll send Noah away. He won’t stay at our place anymore. I know you care, but I can’t help it, his mental state…” I didn’t want to hear another word about Noah. I hit the red button and chugged straight from the bottle. Leo snatched the bottle from my hand, his face etched with worry. “What happened, man? What did Chloe do to get you this worked up? I haven’t seen you this out of control in ages. You walked in and already drank a whole case of beer. You’re scaring me.”
Leo’s questions and concern became an outlet for my rage. The alcohol loosened my tongue, and all the frustrations I’d bottled up just came spilling out. I grabbed Leo, pouring out my heart. “You know, when I was pursuing Chloe, I knew she had insecurities. I gave her every single dime of my salary, keeping only five hundred dollars for myself. For three years, I wouldn’t even buy a shirt over a hundred bucks, but I gladly let her use my money to buy designer bags worth thousands.” “Her brother was a complete deadbeat – no degree, no skills, just good at wasting his parents’ money and talking big. To stop Chloe from being bled dry by her mom to support her brother, I hustled countless connections, pulled every string I could just to get that deadbeat a cushy office job.” “When her parents were sick in the hospital, I was the one who hired nurses while I was at work. After work, I tirelessly cooked meals and personally looked after them. Chloe didn’t have to lift a finger; I handled everything.” “Now, I’m financially free. I haven’t changed, I don’t smoke, I drink responsibly, I have no bad habits. I bought a house and a car. She feels bad her ex was scammed and beaten up – I get it. But how dare she push her luck? Letting him live in my house was bad enough, but then taking my clothes and luxury watches, my prized possessions that she *knew* were important to me, and giving them to him without my permission?” “Hah, you know what? Every time I wanted to get angry, she’d just bat her eyelashes and I’d melt. I’d tell myself she was just too kind. But it was my endless forgiveness that led to me walking in on them, tangled in *my* bed, today.” “And after I caught them, she demanded *I* apologize to him!!!” “Why the hell should I!!!” *CRASH!* I slammed the bottle down, shattering it on the floor. Alcohol splashed out, wetting everything within a foot. Looking at the mess, it felt just like my life lately. Chaotic and ruined. The manager, Mike, heard the commotion and came over. To avoid further trouble, Leo quickly explained: “My friend just broke up with his girlfriend, he’s having a rough time. I’ll cover all the damages, sorry about that.” Mike was understanding and arranged a private booth for us. Once Leo had heard the full story, he vented alongside me. Then, he suddenly yelled. “Holy crap, Ryan! Chloe just posted something. It’s messed up, look!” I snatched his phone. Chloe had posted a selfie of her and Noah kissing under fireworks. \[*Your life is brilliant, and I’ll be here to guide you through this darkness.*] I realized she had blocked me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I smashed the phone against the wall. My chest heaved violently, a lump in my throat almost choking me. That night, I drank until my stomach bled. In a haze, I heard Leo calling Chloe. “Ryan’s in the hospital from drinking too much. Are you seriously not going to come see him?” There was a hint of worry on her end, but not much. “What? Ryan went drinking again? Well, you take good care of him. I can’t leave right now, there’s a patient here I need to attend to constantly.” Leo scoffed: “Patient? More like your little lover clinging to you, unwilling to let you go. You two are squatting in Ryan’s house, taking over his things, sleeping in his bed, and now he’s this heartbroken, you can’t even be bothered to come see him? That’s just sick.” After Leo hung up, I heard a heavy crash and Chloe’s shriek on the other end, then the call disconnected. I drifted into unconsciousness.
In my dream, I was back to when Chloe and I first got together. Back then, we were inseparable. There was a time when I was laid off and my salary cut, and the money Chloe had was almost gone. It was her, secretly taking out loans to keep us afloat, getting us through those days when we were practically starving, living on cheap instant ramen and bland rice. She firmly believed I could make a comeback, encouraging me every day to get back on my feet. And because of her constant encouragement, I persevered. Later, I paid off her loans, and our lives steadily improved. I was even secretly planning to propose to her. But then Noah suddenly reappeared, shattering all my plans. At first, she brought Noah to our home, letting him wear my clothes, use my things. I tolerated it all, because Chloe would say: “Don’t forget, you had your dark period too. You know how hard it is to find light if no one’s there to guide you.” But my tolerance only made them bolder. Hah, they actually slept together right in front of me. Was that part of ‘finding the light’ too? Back then, I was so worried about dragging Chloe down, I never even touched her. The dream grew increasingly painful. Suddenly, a commotion woke me, followed by someone hitting my chest. The pain jolted me awake, and the first thing I saw was Chloe’s red, puffy eyes. She angrily accused me. “Ryan, you want to get drunk, fine, but how dare you let your friend provoke Noah? He’s in the hospital now, he’s already suffering so much, why would you go out of your way to torment him? Tell me!” A flurry of slaps rained down on my head and body. My head throbbed from last night’s drinking. Impatiently, I pushed Chloe away. “Enough, Chloe. If you’re so worried about your Noah, then from today on, we’re over. I’m blocking you everywhere, we’re done. I’m sick of this.” The moment my words fell, Chloe instantly quieted. She panicked, her eyes filling with hurt. “You… you want to break up with me?” “Yes!!” “Hah, that’s impossible. We love each other so much, how could you be so cruel as to break up with me? I don’t believe it.” Right in front of her, I pulled out my phone, unlocked it, found her contact, and blocked her with a single tap. Then I went into my photo gallery. I deleted every single photo of us together. To prove I was serious, I even went into the trash folder and permanently deleted every last one. My voice was flat as I said: “Chloe Miller, there is no ‘us’ anymore.” Chloe snatched my phone, trying to unblock herself, only to find I’d changed my password. She urgently questioned me: “How could you change the password? You said you’d always be transparent with me!” “Ryan, please don’t be like this, okay? I promise you, I won’t bring Noah home again, and I won’t do anything inappropriate with him. I won’t make you angry again, please don’t do this.” Just moments ago, wasn’t she accusing me of bullying her Noah? What was she trying to say now? I stared into her eyes, asking seriously: “Then can you promise to never contact him again? Send him to a psychiatric hospital; they have professional staff. I’ll cover the costs.” Chloe didn’t even consider it, blurting out: “Noah can’t function without me. Anything else, I can promise you.” As soon as she finished speaking, her phone rang. She answered, then rushed out of the hospital room without a backward glance. Watching her go, my heart was utterly deflated.
I knew it – Noah was probably having another one of his ‘episodes,’ needing Chloe to rush to his side and play savior. The moment she walked out the door, I made up my mind. This relationship? I was done with it. Leo walked in then, looking frantic, his face filled with urgency. “Ryan, you have to see this. I just saw Noah acting really strange. He was totally panicked, and he threw this thing away. I picked it up, and check this out. You need to get yourself checked out, man.” Noah had syphilis. An HIV positive test report. He was actually sick. I’d heard stories about people coming back from places like that, often carrying infectious diseases. I’d suggested Chloe take Noah for a check-up before, but she just got angry and yelled at me. “What health problems could Noah possibly have? Don’t stress him out like that!” Back then, I was afraid of upsetting her, so I dropped it. I never imagined it would actually come to this. Now, thinking of him lying in my bed, wearing my clothes, using my things, and even Chloe herself being contaminated… Goosebumps erupted all over me, my scalp crawled, and I gagged, bile rising in my throat. I asked Leo to book me an appointment for a check-up. At the same time, I hired a professional cleaning service to remove and dispose of absolutely everything in the house. Within a day, every single thing in my house, from luxury items to furniture, was gone. Only the bare walls remained. I listed the house for sale online. Because of its prime location, viewings were quickly booked. I simply told the agent the selling price, and he handled the rest. As for Chloe and Noah, they’d already moved out after our last fight. So they had no idea I’d sold the house and scrubbed every trace of our life from it. Everything, from the largest furniture to the smallest forks, Chloe and I had carefully chosen together. Now, I just felt like it was all utterly tainted. Soon, my test results came back: negative. A huge sigh of relief escaped me. Truth be told, Chloe and I hadn’t been intimate in a long time. First, I was busy with work. Second, after Noah reappeared, she had no time for us, not even for a simple hand-hold or kiss. Chloe, you’ve made your bed. I can no longer force myself to tolerate your irrational behavior. This is the path you chose. When you discover the truth, I hope you don’t regret it. I checked myself out of the hospital and called my company to take some time off. I also mailed Chloe the matching couple’s rings we’d bought and booked a flight to the Silverwood Mountains, planning to hike and clear my head. I was halfway up the mountain when Leo called me. “Chloe’s frantically looking for you! She got the ring you mailed her, went to the hospital, found out you’d been discharged, then ran to your company, and when she couldn’t find you, she actually called the police! The cops even came to my place asking questions!” “She’s threatening me with a knife, trying to make me tell her where you are!” Leo kept complaining. “Dude! I risked my life and didn’t sell you out! I’m planning to go on a trip to avoid this mess, you’re reimbursing me!” I hadn’t expected Chloe to react so strongly, and I was worried about Leo. “I’ve transferred a hundred grand to your account,” I said. “Go have fun.” Knowing Chloe had been taken to the police station for threatening someone with a knife, and the knife confiscated, Leo was safe, so I didn’t press for details. If this were before, I would have rushed back immediately, stayed by Chloe’s side, and prevented her from doing anything reckless. Now, I felt utterly calm inside. Anyway, I was enjoying my hike, and my mood was improving. As I neared the summit, I saw a woman ahead of me trip and fall. The path was narrow, with a sheer drop beside it, and the safety railing was just a flimsy wooden pole. She hit the pole, her balance shifted backward, and just as she was about to tumble over the edge, she grabbed hold of the wooden post. I rushed over, grabbed her, and pulled her back to safety. When our eyes met, we both gasped at the same time. “Grace!” “Ryan, you…”
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