I personally put my girlfriend into my cousin’s bed. The moment the door closed, I didn’t leave. I sat at the far end of the hallway, listening as the night fermented with ambiguous sounds, counting down to the start of their judgment. Tyler has been divorced for three years, yet he still receives a hefty monthly alimony from his ex-wife, living a life of luxury and indulgence. One day he’s dating a model, the next he’s wooing a college girl. He’s always busy with his conquests. Recently, he set his sights on my girlfriend of six months, Skyler. I wasn’t surprised that he discovered her so quickly. My mom had come to my rented apartment to pick up some things and happened to meet her. My mom’s biggest flaw in life is her constant need to compare herself to others, consumed by envy. Tyler had married well, and even after the divorce, he still had an endless supply of alimony. Add to that my Aunt Lydia’s relentless bragging in front of my mom. It had become my mom’s life mission for me to marry someone even better than Tyler’s ex-wife. My lack of progress in this area had become her constant worry. I met Skyler at a bar. I spotted her in the crowd and it took me over six months to finally win her over. She was younger than Tyler’s ex-wife, prettier, and even wealthier. Wasn’t this exactly what my mom wanted? She immediately announced it in our family group text, even sending out a cash gift via Venmo to celebrate my impending marriage. When I saw this, I could only respond with a waving hand emoji. “It’s not that serious, everyone. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” My mom immediately fired back with a photo in the group text. “With looks like this and carrying a bag like that, you’re not serious? Give me a break!” Tyler chimed in: “Wow, where did our Ethan find such a gem? Do I need to check her out for you?” I didn’t respond, but I knew that whether I liked it or not, he would try anyway. However, this time I was well prepared.
On the first day of our relationship, I told Skyler, “I have a very handsome and smooth-talking cousin who likes to add my girlfriends on Snapchat. If he tries to add you, please don’t accept.” Skyler jokingly asked, “Afraid I’ll fall for him?” I chuckled softly and said, “I’m afraid you’ll fall for his charm and get your heart broken. Let’s just say none of my exes ended well after getting involved with him.” She hugged me and cooed, “Well, I definitely won’t. I’m yours for life, Ethan.” With my warning, when Tyler first tried to add her, she consistently refused. She even complained to me several times: “Your cousin Tyler is really persistent. He’s tried to add me with over ten different Snapchat accounts.” I kissed her cheek in approval and said, “You must stand firm. Don’t let his player act get to you.” Her fingers didn’t stop as she rejected another friend request from a new account. Then she turned to me and said: “My parents want to have dinner with you. They say we’ve been dating for six months, and you still haven’t shown your face. They’re really excited to meet you after everything I’ve told them.” I paused for a moment, stroked her head, and said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. I’m quite busy these days. After this quarter is over, I’ll treat your parents to dinner.” “You don’t need to treat them! They’d be over the moon just to see you. We’ll eat at my family’s hotel!” Perhaps frustrated by his inability to add Skyler on Snapchat, Tyler became impatient and suggested coming to stay at my rented apartment for a while. Of course, I wouldn’t agree, but my mom was eager to show off the new apartment Skyler had gotten for me. She couldn’t wait to give him the address. So when I returned from work, I found Skyler and Tyler sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, scrolling through their phones. Skyler pulled me into the bedroom, clearly annoyed, and said, “I really didn’t engage with him. How did he end up at our place?” I shrugged it off, “My mom probably gave him the address. He’s just like that. Just ignore him and he’ll go away.” She swore she hadn’t encouraged him. I felt a bit uneasy, my mind replaying the image of them sitting on the sofa. Surely Skyler wouldn’t fall for him so quickly, right? It had taken me six grueling months to win her over. She couldn’t possibly be won over in just one evening, could she? I was still anxious, partly due to my lack of self-confidence, and partly because I wasn’t sure how long Skyler could resist.
Skyler didn’t stay over that night. She had another apartment in the next building and went back there. Early the next morning, she came over with breakfast. The table was laden with seven or eight dishes. Tyler saw this and smirked proudly. “Did Skyler bring so much because she knew I was here today?” “Wow, I love the soup dumplings from this place. They never do delivery. Did you go and pick them up early this morning?” Skyler glanced at him and said, “No, I forgot you were here. I actually bought less than usual. Ethan doesn’t have much of an appetite in the morning, so I buy a variety for him to choose from.” Tyler let out a long “Oh,” but his hands kept fidgeting, a sign that he was deep in thought. I figured if he was only slightly interested in Skyler before, now he was definitely determined to win her over. I squeezed Skyler’s hand unconsciously, perhaps a bit too hard. Skyler looked at me, puzzled by the pain. I quickly apologized and left the table. That evening when I got home from work, they were again sitting on opposite ends of the sofa. Skyler got up to greet me as I entered. She whispered to me, “Does Tyler not have a job? Why is he here every day? And doesn’t he have his own place? Why is he always at ours?” I looked up at her and said, “If you add him on Snapchat, he might leave you alone.” Her expression froze for a moment before she said, “I just added him. He said if I did, he’d go home tomorrow.” I simply said “Oh” and went into the bedroom. Skyler followed me in, asking if I was angry. “I just didn’t want to see him every day. I’ve already blocked him, see? I’ve even muted his notifications.” She said, pulling out her phone to show me, trying to prove her innocence. I didn’t say anything, but my disappointment must have been obvious because Skyler spent half the evening trying to cheer me up. At dinner, she kept trying to engage me in conversation and piled food onto my plate. Tyler observed this and smiled, “Skyler is very attentive, isn’t she?”
Skyler ignored him. She was busy discussing with me about the setup of a new direct-sales brand store she was working on. Tyler, hearing this, deliberately made a commotion at the dinner table. When we both looked at him, he smiled and said: “Oh my, you’re talking about something I’m quite familiar with. I got a bit excited.” He turned to the puzzled Skyler and said, “My ex-wife has a direct-sales brand that’s doing quite well. She has many resources that she could share with me. For Ethan’s sake, I could help you out.” He then went on to describe the brand in detail. I could see that Skyler was very interested. She looked at me hesitantly, then back at Tyler, and asked: “Since it’s your ex-wife’s, wouldn’t it be awkward?” “What’s awkward about it? A quick chat and everything’s solved. Just wait for my message.” This time, Skyler didn’t refuse. I knew her “mute” setting for Tyler was about to be turned off. Sure enough, when she came into the room later, she said to me, “Tyler is quite generous and connected, isn’t he?” I just looked up at her once, my eyes already half red. She immediately came over to comfort me: “I was just saying. How could I be interested in a man who’s still entangled with his ex-wife?”
Tyler left my apartment the next day, and Skyler didn’t come back for several days. She said she was out of town for work, as several direct-sales stores were opening simultaneously. During our video calls, I could sometimes see Tyler in the background. She quickly explained: “Tyler called to ask about my progress. When he heard I was in the neighboring city, he came over to check things out. This time, thanks to his help, a lot of work was saved. Even my dad praised me.” Second-generation rich kids spend their lives trying to surpass their parents, and Skyler was no exception. Especially since she was a girl. Her father and grandfather were both very successful entrepreneurs. She wasn’t bad herself, but she was always overshadowed by her family’s legacy. She had always wanted to prove herself. This time, the direct-sales stores were set up in several cities at once, fast and in good locations. Even her father and grandfather praised her at the dinner table for handling this matter beautifully. Skyler transferred $200,000 to me, saying it was to buy a gift for my cousin in my name. “I know he helped me because of you. It’s better if you give it to him. I still have some sense of boundaries.” She added, “Choose something Tyler likes. If it’s not enough, I can send more.” I took out my phone and called him. As soon as the call connected, I said: “Thanks for helping my girlfriend. She wants to send you a gift worth about $200,000. Is there anything you like? Or should I just transfer the money to you?” There was a pause on the other end, then a slightly hoarse female voice came through. “Ethan? Why is your girlfriend sending Tyler a gift?” Oh no, Tyler and his ex-wife’s contact names only differed by one letter. I had accidentally called his ex-wife, Faye. Faye, Tyler, and I were all alumni. Faye was a year ahead of us, and we’d run into each other during club activities. I had only complimented Faye once on being considerate, and the next day, Tyler started pursuing her ostentatiously. Two weeks later, they were together. After several breakups and reconciliations, they got married right after graduation. Three years into the marriage, they divorced.
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