Category: English

Year two of our secret marriage, and I somehow ended up infiltrating a private Telegram group dedicated to stalking my husband. The chat was currently scrolling at breakneck speed: [$1,000 bounty for Wesley Kallan’s private flight itinerary tomorrow! Who has a plug?] I lurked in the digital shadows for a good half hour, watching the frantic messages pile up. It was a hive of obsessive, borderline-feral fans whose sole purpose in life was tracking, photographing, and cornering the man I was married to. Leaning back against the velvet cushions of my empty living room, I toggled over to my iMessage and held down the microphone button. [Mr. A-List, which flight are you taking to New York tomorrow morning again?] His reply came a minute later. [Delta 9527. Why? Finally willing to come to LAX and see your actual husband off?] I copied the flight number and dropped it into the Telegram chat. Sixty seconds later, a thousand dollars hit my Venmo. 1 [Bounty paid. Don’t ghost us on the gate and seating area, you coward.] The notification that popped up on my screen dripped with entitlement. The sender’s handle was StardustWes. She was the admin of this two-hundred-member stalker syndicate. I stared at her profile picture—a girl in a bright red jacket—my thumb hovering over the glass. [Guess our ‘insider’ is a one-trick pony. The nerve to charge for scraps.] When I didn’t reply immediately, the admin’s texts turned venomous. The rest of the group swarmed like sharks smelling blood. [Seriously. Take our money and run, hope you get hit by a bus.] [Watch this be a burner account run by Wesley’s pathetic, secret hag of a wife.] [Ugh, don’t make me puke. That old, washed-up bitch taking up space probably doesn’t even get to see Wes’s face. She’s just a placeholder.] [I heard she’s some ugly corporate suit who trapped him into marriage with Hollywood studio money. Wes is just enduring it for his career.] [Honestly, I pray she gets in a car crash so the spot opens up.] I watched the words scroll past, a sharp, twisting ache taking root in my stomach. Two years of marriage. Outside these walls, Wesley Kallan was a blindingly bright superstar, a cinematic darling. Inside, I was a ghost. A woman who didn’t even deserve a name. For the sake of his flawless trajectory, we had never taken a single public photo together. And now, his deranged fans were casually wishing for my death in a group chat, and I couldn’t even defend myself. If I fired back, my carefully constructed persona as an airport insider would shatter. I took a slow, rattling breath, pressing down the tremor in my fingertips, and typed. [Keep your hair on. Verifying the layout now.] Switching apps, I opened Wesley’s pinned contact. A black square for a profile picture. Two years. He flew to every corner of the earth while I guarded a sprawling, echoing mansion in the Hollywood Hills. He genuinely believed that sending a daily “landed” text and depositing an exorbitant allowance into my account constituted a marriage. But I was starting to forget the physical temperature of his skin. I copied the rest of the flight data and flipped back to Telegram. [DL9527. First Class, Seat 2A.] A new Venmo notification pinged. [Good girl.] The admin sent another thousand. I clicked ‘Accept’ with a blank face. The digital chime of the deposit sounded impossibly loud in the hollow silence of the house. [Who’s going to LAX tomorrow? Remember to get tight shots of his face.] The admin began delegating. [Me! Me! I’m gonna try to rip off that cursed protection amulet that old witch gave him.] [Yes! Shred it. Wes should only wear the jewelry we buy him.] I stared at that sentence until the words blurred, a cold numbness seeping into my chest. That amulet was a hand-carved grounding stone I had driven ten hours into the Arizona desert to get for him from a Navajo artisan, praying for his safety after a stunt went wrong on set. Wesley had worn it flush against his collarbone ever since. Now, these girls were crowdsourcing a plan to destroy it. My phone vibrated in my palm. A text from Wesley. [Wheels up at 6:30 AM. If you can actually wake up that early, I’ll have the driver swing by the house to get you.] I stared at the glowing blue bubble for a long time. Then, very slowly, I typed: [Too tired. Can’t make it. Be safe.] After it delivered, I placed the phone face down on the sofa and closed my eyes. In the suffocating dark, I could already picture the absolute chaos of the airport ambush waiting for him tomorrow. I lost track of time, drifting in a numb haze, until the sudden chime of the front gate intercom shattered the silence. I snapped my eyes open, looking at the digital clock on the mantle. 5:00 AM. I walked over to the security monitor. “Who is it?” The screen was pitch black. No visual. But the voice that filtered through the speaker made my blood freeze in my veins. “It’s me.” 2 The voice was rough, laced with a heavy, gravelly exhaustion. “Open the gate, Camille.” I stood paralyzed for two agonizing seconds before slamming my palm onto the release button. The heavy iron locks clicked open. He walked in bringing the chill of the California dawn with him. He was hidden beneath a black baseball cap and a face mask, a grease-stained brown paper bag dangling from his fingers. “Aren’t you supposed to be flying to New York this morning? Why are you back here?” He pulled off the mask and tossed the cap onto the marble entryway console. “Changed my flight.” He walked the distance between us and held the paper bag out to me. “Those almond croissants from that tiny French place in Venice Beach. Still warm.” I didn’t take it. My eyes were fixed on the heavy, bruised shadows beneath his eyes. “Are you out of your mind? You drove all the way back up the hills at five in the morning just to drop off a pastry?” A faint, tired smile touched his lips. He reached out, his hand brushing through my hair. “It was on the way.” Venice Beach to the Hollywood Hills, while he was supposed to be at LAX. In no universe was that on the way. I stepped back, dodging his touch, and took the bag. My fingers accidentally grazed the back of his hand. It was ice cold. “Eat them before they get cold,” he murmured, turning on his heel and heading toward the master bath. I stood rooted to the spot, watching the broad line of his shoulders disappear behind the frosted glass door. The water turned on. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened Telegram. The chat was an absolute war zone. [What the hell is going on?! The VIP terminal is completely empty!] [Where is the insider?! Get out here and explain! How dare you sell us fake intel!] The admin, StardustWes, dropped a barrage of furious emojis. [Refund us right now, or I swear to God I’ll hire someone to track your IP and dox you to the whole internet!] [You messed with the wrong crowd, bitch. You’re dead.] I scrolled through the manic tags and death threats, a dark, cynical smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. Wesley changed his flight without telling a single soul—not even me. His stalkers caught nothing but air, and naturally, my head was on the chopping block. I didn’t refund the money. I didn’t type a single word. The shower shut off. Wesley walked out in sweatpants and a faded vintage tee, vigorously drying his dripping hair with a towel. He stopped, his gaze falling on the untouched paper bag sitting on the kitchen island. “Why aren’t you eating?” “Lost my appetite,” I said, my voice deadpan. He paused, lowering the towel, and walked slowly toward me. He studied my face, his brow furrowing. “Are you in a bad mood?” I tilted my head up, meeting his gaze head-on. “Wesley, we’ve been married for almost two years. Do you honestly think we still look like husband and wife?” His jaw tightened. He tossed the damp towel onto a barstool. “I’ve been slammed with production lately, Camille. Once we wrap this shoot, I promise, I’ll take you to Iceland. We’ll go see the Northern Lights.” Another empty check. Another hollow promise. Every single time I tried to breach the wall between us, he used a vacation as a band-aid to push the conversation down the road. I pushed off the counter. “Don’t bother. I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed.” I turned toward the hallway. A hand locked around my wrist, stopping me dead. His voice dropped an octave, heavy with a sudden, suffocating pressure. “What is actually going on with you?” I ripped my arm out of his grip. “Nothing. I just feel like you’re a million miles away. You’re so far away that I don’t even know what city you’re going to wake up in tomorrow.” A flicker of something—guilt? frustration?—passed through his eyes. “I thought you understood the nature of my work.” I stared at him, enunciating every single word. “I do understand. Which is exactly why I never ask. Because when I do, all I get is a perfectly curated PR lie.” I turned, walked into the guest bedroom, and locked the door behind me. I was violently jolted awake by the machine-gun vibration of my phone against the nightstand. I squinted at the screen. Telegram. The notifications read 999+. [Found him! The insider wasn’t lying about the flight, Wesley just changed his schedule last minute!] [A paparazzi account just posted pictures of him landing at O’Hare in Chicago last night!] The admin’s tone did a complete 180. [Omg Insider babes, I’m so sorry we doubted you! Do you have Wes’s itinerary for Chicago?!] [Paying $5,000 right now for the name of his hotel in Chicago!] I stared at the bounty. My thumb hovered over the keyboard. Landing in Chicago last night? He had walked through my front door at five o’clock this morning. It was physically impossible. I minimized Telegram and opened Twitter. #WesleyChicago was trending at number eight. I clicked the hashtag. The blurry paparazzi shots showed a man in a black baseball cap and a face mask. The height, the build, the posture—it was a flawless imitation. But I knew my husband’s shoulders. I knew the way he walked. It wasn’t him. Wesley Kallan was deploying body doubles as decoys to shake his stalkers. And the real Wesley? He was currently asleep in the master bedroom, thirty feet away from me. A cold, bitter laugh escaped my throat. I switched back to the stalker chat. [$5,000 is insulting. Make it $10,000.] The admin replied instantly. [Deal. Send the location!] I leaned back against the headboard, listening to the muffled sounds of footsteps in the hallway. He was up. I opened Wesley’s text thread. [Mr. A-List, which hotel are you resting your head at in Chicago right now?] 3 I stared at the screen, my pulse thrumming a slow, heavy beat against my ribs. Through the drywall, the footsteps paused. A heavy, breathless minute ticked by before the typing bubble appeared. [The one the studio booked. Why the sudden interrogation? Checking up on me?] His tone was perfectly engineered—that familiar, indulgent tease he used to deflect. I didn’t take the bait. My thumbs flew across the glass. [Which hotel did the studio book, Wesley?] This time, the reply was immediate. [The Park Hyatt. Why are you asking? Thinking of flying out to surprise me on set?] I stared at the words Park Hyatt. A venomous spike of pure resentment shot through me. He lied with such breathtaking ease. He was in the next room, breathing the same air as me, and he could still fabricate a location two thousand miles away without missing a beat. To protect his untouchable brand, he kept his armor on, even against the woman he married. I didn’t call him out. Instead, I copied the words Park Hyatt Chicago and dropped them straight into the Telegram chat. [$10,000. Pleasure doing business.]

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After I got married, my wife and I always slept in separate rooms. At first, I asked her if she could move into the master bedroom. She refused me without hesitation. “No need. Caleb would mind.” “If it weren’t for you back then, we wouldn’t have ended up like this. Let’s just leave it this way.” Caleb was her first love. I froze in place and, after a long while, finally said okay. Later, I thought that this marriage was only there to help my family get through a cash flow crisis and, by the way, solve the thorny lawsuit her company was dealing with. It was just a matter of each of us getting what we needed. Once it was done, we would naturally go our separate ways. After that, I never brought it up again. For the next three years, she took him with her to every event she attended. Family dinners, company parties, even my dad’s birthday, he was the one standing beside her. Everyone kept guessing who the real man of the house was. Now it was finally clear. Everything that needed to be solved had been solved. It was time for me to leave.

I sat in my study and read through the divorce agreement from beginning to end once more. Black and white, clear and orderly. In the property division section, I didn’t take a single thing. This house, which I had owned before the marriage, went to her, the car went to her, and the company shares had nothing to do with me. All I needed to take was my own savings. I signed my name on the agreement. Ethan Carter. Three years ago, I had still been full of hope that even if this marriage started with利益, maybe I could make it work. I was really stupid back then. I put the agreement into a file folder and set it on the table. Then I took out my phone and opened the chat with her. “Come home early today. I have something I want to talk to you about.” Then about two minutes later, one word popped up beside her avatar. “Okay.” I turned off my phone and threw it onto the sofa. I turned around and went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. The kitchen was huge, with a side-by-side fridge, a built-in oven, and German-imported cookware, all arranged neatly. But I hardly ever used it. When we first got married, I tried cooking a few times, thinking she could eat something hot when she got home. The first dish I made was braised ribs. She took one bite and said it was okay. Then she answered a call and left, saying Caleb had something going on. The second time I made sauerkraut fish, she didn’t come home at all. The third time I made a full table of dishes, busy from four in the afternoon until seven at night. She did come back, but Caleb was behind her. The two of them walked in laughing and talking. When she saw the full table of dishes, she froze for a second and then said, “We already had plans. We’re going out to eat.” Caleb stood behind her, tilting his head at me, and said with a smile, “You worked hard.” I still feel a sour ache in my stomach whenever I think about that smile now. After that, I never cooked again. At seven that night, she still hadn’t come home. At eight, still not home. At nine, my phone rang. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a message from her. “Something came up with Caleb, so I’ll be back later. Go to sleep first. No need to wait up for me.” I stared at that message for a long time. “Go to sleep first. No need to wait up for me.” I heard that sentence for three years. Every time it was like this, and every time it was Caleb. Something was always going on with him, and she was always the one who had to go take care of it. Once Caleb said he wanted cake from that shop on the west side of the city, and she drove forty minutes to buy it, took it to his apartment, and only came home after he finished eating. By then it was already one in the morning. I asked her, “Did you eat dinner?” She said, “I ate over at Caleb’s place.” Then she took a shower and went into the study. I should have understood then. But I didn’t. I always thought that since we were married, we should at least give each other some time. Maybe after enough time passed, she would realize I wasn’t that bad. Maybe if I did enough, she would be willing to look back at this family. Now that I think about it, if a person doesn’t have a place in your heart at all, then no matter how well you do, it’s all useless. She wouldn’t like you just because you were outstanding. She would only feel that your excellence had nothing to do with her. I didn’t reply to her message. Before, I would always reply with a simple okay to show I understood. Sometimes I would even add a line saying then be careful, to make myself look generous and considerate. But today, I didn’t want to reply. Anyway, in a few days, I wouldn’t even be receiving her messages anymore.

I put my phone on the table and picked up the remote to change the channel. A variety show was playing on TV, with a few celebrities on stage joking around and laughing extra loudly. I leaned back on the sofa and suddenly thought the whole scene was absurd. I was sitting in this two-thousand-square-foot house, clinging to a marriage in name only, waiting for a woman who would never put me in her heart to come home. And she was with her first love. Openly with him, and confidently so. Because when we got married, she had made it very clear: if it weren’t for you back then, we wouldn’t have ended up like this. What she meant was that I had broken her and Caleb apart. I had stepped in and forced them to separate. I had used my family’s influence and that lawsuit to harden the bind that tied her to a marriage certificate. But what was the truth? The truth was that my dad’s company had run into a cash flow breakdown and urgently needed a large sum of money to keep things moving. And her family’s company had gotten tangled up in a troublesome lawsuit that needed my family’s connections to smooth over. The elders from both families sat down for a meal and settled the marriage. No one asked me if I wanted to get married. And no one asked her if she was willing to marry. But in everyone else’s eyes, this was a fair deal. Her family put in money, my family put in connections, and each side got what it needed. Only Caleb became the sacrifice in this deal. She probably thought I had stolen his place, that I had turned him from the legitimate boyfriend into a first love that had to stay in the dark. So she gave all her guilt to Caleb and left all her coldness for me. On our wedding night, she drank a lot and was helped into the bedroom. I helped her out of her dress, and she suddenly grabbed my wrist with frightening strength. “Ethan Carter.” She said my full name, her voice hoarse. “You know exactly what this marriage is about. I don’t love you, and I never will. If you know what’s good for you, just go to work and stay out of the way. We’ll stay out of each other’s business.” Then she let go of my hand and staggered into the guest room. From then on, we kept sleeping in separate rooms. She slept in the guest room, and I slept in the master bedroom. I suddenly remembered that in three years, she had only walked into this master bedroom twice. The first time was on our wedding night, when she came in to say all that. The second time was last year, when I had a fever that shot up to 103.1, and my whole body was dazed and heavy. The housekeeper called her, and she came back two hours later, stood at the bedroom door, looked at me once, and then told the housekeeper to take me to the hospital. She left again after that. She said there was an important party on Caleb’s side, and she had to be there. She didn’t come home again that night. When I woke up at seven the next morning, I looked at my phone and there was no message at all. After washing up, I went downstairs, and the housekeeper was already preparing breakfast. When she saw me coming down alone, she opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only asked, “Sir, what would you like to eat today?” “Plain congee is fine.” I sat down at the dining table, and my phone screen lit up. It was a message from her. “Caleb got drunk last night, so I stayed at his place to take care of him. I have a meeting this morning, so I won’t be coming back.” I put down my phone and took a sip of the plain porridge. “Housekeeper, help me buy a few more cardboard boxes these next couple of days.” She froze for a moment. “Sir, are you moving?” “Yeah. I’m moving in a few days.” She opened her mouth, apparently wanting to ask something, but when she saw my expression, she swallowed it back. In these three years, she had been in this house and seen everything clearly. She understood everything. “Okay, sir.”

She answered and turned back to the kitchen. After I finished the porridge, I went upstairs and changed clothes. I had an appointment with a realtor today to look at apartments, and I had to find a new place to stay before I moved out of this house. I hadn’t asked for any property in the divorce agreement, but that didn’t mean I was broke. I had savings from before the marriage. Even though I hadn’t worked these past three years, the Lane family deposited twenty thousand dollars a month into my card as living expenses. I hadn’t spent much of it, so I had saved more than half. Altogether, it was enough for me to rent a decent apartment and get by for a year or so without any problem. As for the future, I would deal with that later. The realtor was a young guy wearing glasses, and he spoke very fast. He showed me a two-bedroom apartment on the east side of the city, not far from downtown, in a pretty decent complex. “Mr. Carter, this place gets amazing natural light. The landlord just renovated it, and all the furniture and appliances are brand new. The monthly rent is six thousand five hundred. What do you think?” I stood on the balcony and looked around. The view was open, and I could see the park in the distance. The apartment wasn’t big, but it was enough for one person. Most importantly, there was nothing here that reminded me of Nora Lane. “Fine. I’ll take this one.” The realtor clearly didn’t expect me to make up my mind so quickly. He froze for a second, then smiled so hard his whole face lit up. “Great, great. I’ll contact the landlord right away and get the lease signed!” I signed a one-year lease and paid the deposit and rent. When I came out with the key, the sunlight was great, warm on my body. I stood by the roadside, looking at the key in my hand, and suddenly felt lighter. When I got home that afternoon, the housekeeper had already bought a few cardboard boxes and set them in the living room. I was about to go upstairs and start packing the walk-in closet when I heard movement at the door. I didn’t turn around, but I had a vague feeling about what was coming. Sure enough, the next second, a familiar voice sounded behind me. “Well, look who’s home.” I turned around. Caleb Brooks was standing at the door. When he saw the boxes in my hand, his eyes stayed on me for a second. “Are you packing?” I didn’t answer his question, only asked calmly, “What are you doing here?” “Nora Lane brought me here.” “My lease ended over there, and I haven’t found a new place yet. She said I could stay here first, as long as I want.” I just nodded and said, “Oh.” Caleb clearly hadn’t expected that reaction. His smile froze for a moment. “You don’t mind, do you?” He tilted his head at me. “Honestly, I think it’s a little inconvenient too, but Nora insisted I come. She said…” “Since she told you to come, then stay.” I cut him off. “There are plenty of rooms here anyway.” He pressed his lips together and walked over to the sofa to sit down. “You really are generous.” “You were generous enough to marry her back then, and now you’re generous enough to let me move in.” I looked at him and suddenly found it a little funny. I didn’t answer him and turned to go upstairs. Caleb probably felt ignored, because his voice got louder. “Ethan Carter, I’m talking to you.” I stopped and looked back at him. “I heard you.” “But you’re not here to chat with me, so why waste both our time?” “I still have things to pack.” Caleb stood up, and the smile on his face was completely gone. “You’re leaving?” he blurted out, disbelief in his voice. “If not?” “Stay here and be your third wheel?”

Caleb was completely stunned. I turned and went upstairs, leaving him standing alone in the living room. I opened the closet and started taking out my clothes one by one. Over the past three years, I hadn’t accumulated that much. Nora Lane had never gone on a trip with me, and she had never given me anything. No wedding anniversaries, no birthdays, no Valentine’s Day. Now that I thought about it, it was really ridiculous. I folded the last coat and put it into a cardboard box, just about to seal it up, when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw a message from Nora Lane. “I have a dinner engagement tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner. Caleb just moved in, help him get settled in the guest room.” I put the phone down and kept packing. By evening, I had almost finished clearing out the walk-in closet and the study. When I went downstairs, Caleb was sitting on the sofa in the living room drinking coffee. When he heard me, he looked up and his gaze landed on the divorce agreement folder in my hand. “What is that?” I didn’t answer. I put the folder on the table, then sat down on the single sofa across from him. Caleb stared at the folder for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a laugh. “Divorce papers?” I said nothing, which counted as confirmation. His eyes lit up. That kind of brightness wasn’t surprise. It was excitement. “You’re really getting divorced from her?” “Yeah.” “When?” “Once she gets home, I’ll talk to her.” “This marriage was always just about each of us getting what we needed.” “Now that it’s done, it’s better for everyone to end it sooner.” He stared at me for a long time, his expression complicated. “Ethan Carter.” He suddenly lowered his voice. “Do you really not like her, or are you just pretending?” That question made me freeze for a second. Did I not like her? Three years ago, when we first got married, I had still been full of hope. That woman was beautiful, accomplished, and she shone whenever she stood in a crowd. I thought that as long as I was good enough, thoughtful enough, and considerate enough, one day she would see me. But very quickly, I stopped expecting anything. “It doesn’t matter anymore.” I answered Caleb. “Whether I liked her or not, it’s all in the past.” At nine that night, Nora Lane came home. At first, she looked at Caleb Brooks sitting on the sofa, and her eyes softened a little. “Caleb, are you getting used to it?” Caleb smiled at her, his voice sweet enough to make my teeth ache. “It’s pretty good.” Only then did Nora turn her gaze to me. Her eyes passed over me and landed on the file folder on the table, then moved to the cardboard boxes behind me. Her brow furrowed slightly. “What’s with those boxes?” I stood up from the sofa, picked up the file folder from the table, and handed it to her. “Nora, let’s talk.” She didn’t take the folder, only looked at me with a hint of confusion in her eyes. “What is this?” “Divorce papers.”

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I had Alzheimer’s disease. My son Albert said that instead of dragging on like this, half-dead and half-alive, I might as well die and be free. My mind had always been foggy, but Albert’s words pierced through me and jolted me awake. How could I bear to be a burden to Albert, the child I had loved with my whole life? Albert, my greatest wish as your mother is for you to be healthy and happy. If I have become your burden, then I will go… But why are you crying like that? My mind could not tell east from west, north from south, let alone day from night. Most of the time, I could not even clearly remember who I was, and only a few hazy sensations and sounds remained. But today, my senses seemed to be shattered awake by the foul stench of urine after I wet my pants. That filthy feeling, wet and sticky, mixed with a sharp ammonia smell, yanked me out of the haze. My son Albert was crouching in front of me, using a warm towel to wipe the stains on my thighs little by little. His movements were gentle and careful, so gentle that even someone half-dead like me felt warmth. But his brows were twisted into two tight knots, as if they were about to snap. Albert was thirty-five this year, and he was the greatest pride of my life. Back then, when he was born, his cries were loud and strong, and I hoped he would make something of himself. He really did not let me down, getting into a good college, landing a good job, and marrying a kind wife. But what about the Albert in front of me now? His hair was a mess, his eye sockets were sunken like two bottomless pits, and his stubble looked sharp enough to stab someone. His whole body looked like a cabbage wilted by frost, even its leaves curled and yellowed. It was all because I dragged him down. I opened my mouth, but only a strange “haah, haah” sound came from my throat, like a dying fish. I wanted to say “I’m sorry,” and I wanted to tell him that I should not have gotten this sick and should not have caused him so much trouble. But those words, and all the guilt surging in my heart, were stuck in my throat, and not a single one could come out. My daughter-in-law Elise stood nearby and handed over a clean pair of pants. There were also two huge dark circles under her eyes, and exhaustion showed clearly in her voice: “Albert, maybe… we should send Mom to a care home.” “You haven’t had one full night of sleep in almost two weeks, and your body will break down if this keeps going.” Albert said nothing, but his hands suddenly paused. With that pause, the despair he had kept bottled up for too long crashed through the dam of reason like a flash flood. He suddenly threw the towel in his hand into the basin, sending water splashing everywhere, and cold droplets splattered all over my face. “A care home? You make it sound so easy!” “Do you know how much that costs every month? Am I supposed to keep working or not?!” That voice carried despair, collapse, and the madness of someone forced to the edge of a cliff. He did not look at Elise, nor did he look at me. He only stared hard at the stain on the floor that had been soaked by the splashed water, the floor I had dirtied. Then I heard that sentence. He said, “Mom is dragging on like this, half-dead and half-alive, so she might as well leave sooner!” “For her and for us, it would be a release!” “Release…” It made my heart suddenly stab with pain. I looked at my Albert, who once clung tightly to my leg and cried to stop me from leaving when I went out to buy groceries. I looked at my Albert, who once lay beside my bed and fed me porridge spoonful by spoonful when I was sick with a fever. Now, he was hoping I would die. I had become the price of release. I did not cry or make a scene, and only took advantage of the moment when he and Elise began arguing about the care home. Silently, like an ant crushed underfoot, I moved toward the door little by little. I put on those old leather shoes with worn-out toes, the pair Albert had bought for me, saying they were comfortable for older people. I had to leave. I could not be his burden anymore. This family could only be released without me.

I left, sneaking out of the home I had lived in my whole life like a thief. The door at home was not shut tight, and Elise’s suppressed sobs and Albert’s heavy breathing drifted out from the living room. I did not dare look back, because I was afraid that if I looked back and saw Albert chasing after me, my heart would soften and I would not be able to bear leaving. The sky outside was gray, pressing down so hard that people could hardly breathe. The wind scraped across my face like knives, cutting my skin again and again, and cutting the heart that had just been pierced by a blade. I was cold, but that cold was nothing compared to the chill in my heart. People on the street looked at me strangely, as if they were looking at a lunatic. I lowered my head, stuffed my hands into the pockets of my worn cotton coat, and touched a hard, square little thing. It was the photo of Albert as a child that I had secretly hidden away. In the photo, he was grinning with a toothless mouth, smiling like a little sun, and his curved eyes were brighter than the stars in the sky. Back then, he was so tiny, and he could not be away from me for even one minute. I raised him, watched him go to school, start working, and get married. I thought my mission was complete, and I could hold grandchildren in peace and enjoy a little happiness. But I had grown old and gotten sick, and in turn, I had become his child… A troublesome, filthy child who would never grow up. I walked aimlessly, my legs as heavy as if they were filled with lead and as unsteady as if I were stepping on cotton, each step so heavy yet so hollow. When I reached an intersection, the red light came on, and all the cars stopped. I saw a little boy across the road, wearing a red coat and holding a doughnut, feeding it to his mother. That pink color, under the gray sky, looked like a dancing flame, instantly lighting up a corner deep in my memory. Suddenly, I really wanted to eat a doughnut. When he was little, Albert loved them most too. Every time I got paid, I would buy one for him. He always let me take the first bite. That sweet taste could warm me from my mouth all the way to my heart, and it was the most luxurious sweetness in those poor days. My legs would not listen to me, and I walked straight toward the other side of the road. I wanted to ask that little boy whether doughnuts still tasted the same as they used to. “Beep—!” The piercing honk was so sharp it seemed like it would tear my eardrums apart. I turned my head and saw only a blinding beam of white light, like the gates of hell opening, and like judgment descending from heaven. Then my body became light. The world went quiet. I floated up, like a weightless feather, and like a wisp of smoke, rising lightly into the sky. I looked down and saw a shriveled, skinny old woman lying in a pool of blood. Her hair was gray and thin, her cotton coat hung loose on her body, and she was still tightly clutching a yellowed photo in her hand. Even I was shocked, because that was… me? I was dead. But I did not feel released, nor did I feel light. There was only one thought in my heart, like a beast trapped in a cage, screaming wildly— Albert! If Albert could not find me, he would go crazy with worry! He had only just said those words about letting me be released, and now that I had left, what would he think? He would hate himself for the rest of his life! I could not let him do that! But where was Albert, and where was my home? I could not remember… I began to recall, desperately searching through my mind for memories. I saw it. I saw a little child spread his chubby arms and toddle toward me unsteadily. That was Albert when he was only one year old. Every step he took felt like he was stepping on the tip of my heart. “Albert, come here, come to me,” I said as I crouched on the ground and opened my arms. He grinned with his toothless mouth, giggling as he threw himself into my arms. That small, warm body carried a milky scent, and it was the best smell I had ever known in my life. Holding him was like holding my entire world. The image shifted, and I stood at the gate of an elementary school, while six-year-old Albert clutched the corner of my shirt and refused to let go. “Mom, I don’t want to go to school, I want to go home with you.” He cried so hard that the whole world seemed to shake, with snot and tears smeared all over his face. My heart was sour and soft, but I still hardened myself and pried his fingers away one by one. “Be good, Albert. You need school to have a future, and I’ll come pick you up tonight.” I watched him carry the brand-new backpack I had sewn by hand, looking back every few steps as he walked into the school gate, until that tiny figure disappeared around the corner. I stood there for a long time, feeling empty inside. Back then, I already knew that one day, my child would walk toward a distant place where I would not be. The only thing I could do was pack his bags properly for him. The river of memory kept surging forward. It was that sweltering summer, and Albert was about to take his exam. He wrote furiously in his room, while I sweated heavily in the kitchen. I made his favorite braised beef ribs and baked lobster with cheese in different ways, afraid he would not get enough nourishment. Outside the exam site, I stood under the blazing sun, anxiously looking around in the crowd. What I clenched in my palm was not just sweat, but all my hopes for his future. I hoped he would fly high and far, yet I was afraid the wind would be too strong and break his wings. When he held his acceptance letter and rushed to me excitedly, shouting, “Mom, I’m going to college!” I smiled and smiled, and then tears fell.

All the hardship of my life became worth it in that moment. The final image froze at his wedding. He wore a crisp suit, and Elise stood beside him with a smile as bright as flowers. He walked up to me with a glass of wine, his eyes red: “Mom, thank you.” “Without you, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” “From now on, Elise and I will take care of you together.” I looked at him, this boy who once needed me to hold him and coax him, this boy who once needed me to hold his hand while he walked, and he had truly grown up. He had his own family and someone he wanted to protect for the rest of his life. I solemnly placed him in another woman’s hands, and my mission seemed truly complete. I smiled and drank that glass of wine, sweet and spicy, burning all the way into my heart. “Mom…” A faint murmur yanked me out of the warm memory. I floated in the cold air, watching the police tape off the scene, watching my body be covered with a white sheet. Like an invisible shadow, I floated back home. The lights at home were still on, and the door was half-closed, so I drifted lightly inside. The living room was a mess. The basin Albert and I had knocked over during the argument earlier was still tilted on the floor, and the water stains marked the floor like an ugly scar. Albert was pacing anxiously back and forth in the living room, already changed into clothes for going out, his face full of panic. Elise grabbed his arm, and her voice carried a completely different urgency from before I left: “Don’t panic yet! Maybe Mom just went downstairs to sit in the garden. Hasn’t she done that before?” “It’s so cold outside, she can’t have gone far!” “Before was before! Is it the same now?” Albert suddenly shook off her hand, his eyes bloodshot. “I just said that awful thing! She took it to heart! She must have taken it to heart!” The regret and fear in his voice pierced my soul like needles. “Then… then I’ll call Mrs. Ford downstairs and ask around first. Don’t rush out alone. We’ll split up and look, and we’ll be faster.” Elise was also frightened by his state and started frantically scrolling through her contacts. But Albert seemed not to hear her at all, grabbed the keys, and rushed out the door, his hoarse cry echoing from the stairwell: “Mom! Mom! Where are you?” I followed him, or rather, I was pulled by the huge grief and fear on him, rushing into the cold night with him. He searched like he had gone mad. The bench in the community garden where I used to love sitting in a daze was empty. At the security booth at the community entrance, the guard shook his head and said he had not seen me leave during that time. Albert was so anxious that sweat covered his forehead, and he kept describing what I was wearing to people, his words tumbling over each other. The farmers’ market I often went to had already closed for the day, leaving only messy vegetable leaves swirling in the cold wind. He stood in the middle of the empty market, looking around blankly, like a lost child. He kept muttering mechanically, “Where could she have gone? Where else could she go?” I floated behind him, looking at his helpless back, my heart aching beyond words. I wanted to tell him, Albert, stop looking, I’m right here. But the wind passed through my body and carried away all my silent calls. One hour, two hours… Time passed little by little, the night grew deeper, and the cold grew heavier. Albert’s lips had turned purple from the cold, and his steps had grown unsteady. But he was still searching, walking along every street and craning his neck to look into every dark alley. When he dragged his lead-heavy legs back home again, it was already late at night. Elise had also made every call she could make, to relatives, friends, and my old neighbors… Not one person had seen me. She sat on the sofa, holding her head in both hands, also on the edge of collapse. When she saw Albert return empty-handed, the last trace of luck in her eyes went out. “Still… nothing?” she asked, trembling. Albert did not speak, and only walked to the doorway of my room. Looking at the empty bed inside, he leaned against the doorframe and slid down little by little, like a puddle of mud. Silence, deathly silence. Suddenly, Elise stood up. Her reddened eyes stared hard at Albert, and the emotions she had suppressed all night finally erupted in that moment. “I just don’t understand! What exactly does she want? How have we wronged her?” “Just because you said one angry sentence, she runs away from home?” “Is she eight or eighteen? Doesn’t she know she’s sick?” “Doesn’t she know she could get lost or get into an accident if she goes out?!”

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On my eighth birthday, I wore the princess dress my mom had sewn for me with her own hands and made a wish under my whole family’s love. Mom held me and said I was her most precious baby. But overnight, it was like my mom had been replaced by an evil ghost. She cut off my long hair and cut up all my princess dresses. She transferred me from an expensive private school to the worst elementary school in the city. Dad asked her if she had lost her mind. Mom only said coldly, “I regret giving birth to her.” Later, my classmates cornered me in an alley and stole my allowance, and I ran home crying. But Mom did not even look at me and only pushed a bowl of cold rice in front of me. “Why are you crying? In this world, the most useless thing is tears.” I had a high fever, hugged her leg, and begged her to take me to the hospital. But she shook me off hard, went shopping with her friends, and left me at home burning up until I was barely conscious. I only wanted to know: Mom, why don’t you love me anymore?

I woke up in bed, my fever still not gone, and my whole body hurt. Dad was anxiously wiping my face with a wet towel, his eyes red. “Maria, I’m here, don’t be scared.” Yesterday, Mom left me home alone, and I burned with fever until I was barely conscious. Dad was the one who came home and found me collapsed on the floor. The door sounded, and Mom came back, carrying several shopping bags in her hands. When she saw me, she frowned. “Why are you still in bed?” Dad stood up, and the chair rocked from the motion. “Catherine, Maria has a high fever. Where did you go yesterday?” Mom casually threw the shopping bags onto the sofa. “Shopping. I bought a few pieces of clothing.” Her tone was light and careless. Dad was shaking with anger, his fists clenching and loosening. “Maria was burning up like this yesterday, and you were actually in the mood to go shopping?” Mom glanced at me, her tone impatient. “She won’t die. It’s normal for kids to get fevers.” “I’m taking her to the hospital.” Mom blocked the doorway. “What hospital? What a waste of money.” For the first time, Dad got physical with her and shoved her away hard. “Catherine, are you crazy?” Dad picked me up and rushed to the hospital. I looked back and saw Mom standing where she was, with no expression on her face. At the hospital, the doctor gave me a fever-reducing shot. Dad held me and sat in the hallway, tears falling down his face. “I’m sorry, Maria. I didn’t protect you.” I wanted to tell Dad it was not his fault, but my throat was too hoarse for me to speak. When we got home late at night, I saw a familiar pink color in the trash can by the door. It was my favorite stuffed doll, the little bunny I had slept with for three years. It had been cut to shreds by scissors, cotton bursting out of its body, and one of its eyes had been dug out. Mom stood in the living room, still holding those scissors in her hand. “You’re this old and still playing with childish things like this. How embarrassing.” But Mom, I was only eight this year. I cried and tried to pick the doll back up. Mom stepped on the doll’s face and ground her foot down hard. “Why are you crying? Only useless things cry.” I cried even harder. I missed my bunny, and I missed the mom I used to have. Dad shoved Mom away. He crouched down, wiped away my tears, and said softly. “Don’t cry, Maria. Tomorrow I’ll take you to buy a new one, one even prettier than this.” Mom crossed her arms and looked at Dad and me crouched on the floor. “Go buy it, then. Go ahead and buy it. See if I won’t throw the new one away too.” After saying that, she turned and walked into the room. I grabbed Dad’s shirt hem in fear, shook my head, and said. “Dad, let’s not buy one. I don’t want a new doll anymore.” Dad picked me up with heartache and sighed. “Okay, we won’t buy one. Mom has been in a bad mood lately.” Soon, the first day of school arrived. Dad took me to the school gate, crouched down, and said to me: “Make more friends at school and try to be happy.” I nodded hard and held my backpack tightly.

Halfway through the second class, my homeroom teacher called me out of the classroom and said Mom was waiting for me at the school gate. A small surge of hope rose in my heart. Was Mom here to pick me up, or to bring me something? I moved step by step to the school gate. When Mom saw me, she pulled me toward the principal’s office. “Process a transfer.” The principal froze, looked at me, then looked at Mom. “Ma’am, the child has just enrolled…” “I said process a transfer.” Mom’s voice was very loud, drawing other teachers over to watch. I tugged on the corner of her clothes and begged her in a small voice. “Mom, I want to go to school here. I like the teachers and classmates here.” Mom shook off my hand. I staggered and hit the file cabinet beside me. My forehead struck the corner of the cabinet, and it hurt so much that tears flowed out. Mom did not even look at me and only repeated to the principal, “Process a transfer.” The teachers around us all looked at us with strange eyes. Mom ignored everything and dragged me outside by the arm. The car drove for a long time, and when it stopped, there was a very run-down elementary school in front of me. The paint at the school gate had all peeled off, and the playground was full of potholes. “I’ve already completed the paperwork for you. From now on, you’ll keep going to school here.” Mom pointed at the shabby school gate. I hugged her leg and begged her while crying, “Mom, I don’t want to go to school here. Please.” She pushed me to the ground. My whole body fell into the muddy water at the school gate, my uniform got dirty, and my knee was scraped open. Several students passing by pointed at me and burst into laughter. “Look at that idiot!” “She’s so gross.” “Her mom doesn’t want her anymore.” I lifted my head, and through my blurry tears, I saw her back as she left. She left without looking back, leaving me sitting alone in the muddy water, crying. The students here were savage. They mocked my old uniform that had been washed pale, stole my lunch, and threw my homework notebook into puddles. I did not dare cry, and I did not dare fight back. Because Mom had said that tears were the most useless thing. I learned to endure and learned to swallow all my grievances into my stomach. That night, after Dad found out, he and Mom had a fierce argument. The vases in the house were smashed all over the floor. I hid behind my bedroom door and saw Dad angrily questioning Mom through the crack. “Catherine, how can you be so cruel?” “Do you have someone else outside? Is that why you’re torturing Maria like this?” Mom’s voice was unusually calm. “I don’t. I just regret it.” “I regret giving birth to her.” Those words stabbed into my heart like a knife. I covered my mouth and did not dare cry out loud. So I was a mistake, an existence that made her regret. I gently closed the door. I lay in bed unable to sleep, Mom’s words echoing over and over in my ears. The next morning, I sat up in bed, my eyes dry and sore. Out of habit, I fumbled around beside the bed, wanting to hug my fluffy Ayuna. But I felt nothing. It was not on the bed, and it was not under the bed. Ayuna, the kitten I had raised for two years, was gone. “Ayuna? Ayuna!” I searched the whole house, went through every cabinet, lay on the floor and looked under the bed, and shouted until my throat went hoarse. Mom walked out of the kitchen, holding a glass of water, her expression indifferent. She pointed out the window. On the lawn downstairs, a half-grown stray dog was holding a clump of white fur covered in dirt and blood in its mouth. “I’m allergic to cat hair, so I threw it down.” My mind went completely blank. I rushed to the window and saw Ayuna’s small body lying on the ground, motionless. It would never rub its fluffy head against my cheek again. It would never quietly lick away my tears when I cried again. I wanted to curse at her, but my throat was blocked, and I could not make a sound. I rushed over and swept the glass from her hand onto the floor. Mom slapped me to the ground. “Look at you. You’re attacking me over a cat?” She crouched down and looked at me irritably. “I’m telling you, in this house, anything that annoys me, I can throw out.” “That includes the people and things that make you cry, and it includes you too.” I was so scared that I did not dare cry anymore, and I did not dare make trouble anymore. That night, after Dad came home, he saw my swollen red eyes and pulled me into his arms. He wrapped me tightly in his arms, and the force felt like he was searching for something to hold him up. He let out a long sigh, as if he had made some important decision. “From now on, I will always be by your side.”

On Christmas Day, the school organized a performance show, and my teacher chose me to be the host. I jumped up with joy. After I got home, I kept the news carefully hidden. I only practiced secretly in front of the mirror when no one was around. “Dear teachers, dear classmates, hello, everyone…” I practiced again and again. I thought that as long as I performed well enough, as long as I was outstanding enough and became Mom’s pride. Then maybe Mom would not throw me away like she threw away Ayuna, and maybe she would love me again. On the day of the show, I stood onstage in my school uniform. Dad had specially asked for leave to come watch my performance, and he sat in the first row. He made a cheering gesture at me, and my heart felt warm. When it was my turn to announce the next performance. “Next, please enjoy the dance…” I saw Mom carrying a white plastic bucket in her hand, walking toward me step by step. I froze, not understanding what she was going to do. “Mom?” I called tentatively. She did not answer me. Under the eyes of all the teachers and students in the school, she walked up to me and raised the bucket in her hand. A bucket of ice water poured down from the top of my head. My hair stuck to my face, my vision blurred, and my whole body was soaked. Whispers rose from below the stage. “Look at her. She looks so stupid!” “What is her mom doing? That’s so weird! Why would she treat Maria like that?” Mom’s voice rang out. “Your hosting is a complete mess. Go home and be embarrassing there.” Dad rushed onto the stage and took off his suit jacket to wrap me up. He held me very tightly, and I could feel his body trembling. “Catherine, are you even human?” Dad carried me through the chaotic crowd. The teachers and school leaders tried to come forward, but Dad’s icy gaze forced them back. He stuffed me into the car and did not glance at Mom as she chased after us. When we got home, Dad brought up divorce. “I’m taking Maria with me.” He flung a document out of his briefcase and slammed it onto the coffee table, a divorce agreement. That document made Mom’s body shake violently. But she quickly straightened her back, her face cold. “Fine. Take her away.” “I won’t pay a cent in child support.” She picked up a pen and signed the divorce agreement. I saw that the hand holding the pen was shaking badly, almost unable to hold onto it. After signing, she threw the pen down, turned around, and rushed into the bathroom. Immediately after, I heard the sound of vomiting from inside. The tiny bit of satisfaction that had risen in my heart because of her signature was shattered by that vomiting sound. I wanted to go forward and check on her, but my feet felt nailed to the floor.

Dad packed our luggage. Two suitcases stood in the entryway. He crouched down. “Maria, we’re leaving tomorrow.” I nodded, but for some reason, panic stirred in my heart. Late at night, I woke up thirsty and went downstairs to drink water. I saw Mom sitting alone in the living room, completely still. I ignored her and walked toward the kitchen. After I filled the glass, I turned around and prepared to go upstairs. “You’re not allowed to leave.” Mom spoke in a hoarse voice. I pretended not to hear and kept walking upstairs. Rapid footsteps sounded behind me, and Mom grabbed my arm. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere!” I struggled desperately and cried out for Dad. “Mom, let go of me. You’re hurting me!” She grabbed me even harder and threw me to the side. My knee hit the corner of the coffee table, sending a sharp pain through me. During the struggle, something flew out of her pocket. It rolled to my feet, and it was a silver pendant with a glowing screen. On it was a red number that kept jumping. [Life Value: 59] While she was not paying attention, I picked up the pendant in one grab and clutched it tightly in my palm. “Listen to me carefully.” Mom grabbed my hair and forced me to lift my head and look at her. “Your dad wants to take you away, right? The two of you think I’m dead, right?” I shook my head while crying. “I didn’t. I didn’t think that.” She let go, and I fell heavily to the floor. “You didn’t? Then why are you leaving me?” Mom crouched down and pinched my face. “Do you think I’m a failure as a mom? Do you hate me?” I did not dare speak. Her grip grew tighter and tighter. “Talk!” “It hurts, Mom. It hurts.” I was in so much pain that I could only squeeze out a few words. She suddenly let go and turned to rush into the kitchen. When she came back out, there was a stick in her hand. “You want to leave, right? Then I’ll break your legs first.” She raised the stick and swung it down at my legs. I screamed in fear and rolled to the side. The stick hit the coffee table, making a huge sound. Dad woke up in shock and rushed downstairs in his pajamas, and when he saw this scene, his eyes turned red. “Catherine, you’re crazy.” He lunged over to snatch the stick from Mom’s hand, and the two of them started wrestling. Mom cried and screamed. “She can’t leave me. I gave birth to her. If she leaves, she’ll die. What right does she have to leave with you?” Dad snatched the stick away and threw it aside. He picked me up and checked my injuries. “Maria, are you okay? Where does it hurt?” I pointed to my bleeding knee and my face that had been pinched red. Dad’s expression became very ugly. “Catherine, do you still have even a little bit of what a mother should be?” Mom collapsed onto the floor, her hair disheveled. “I just want her to stay. I just won’t let her leave.” “She is my daughter, and I have the final say.” Dad carried me upstairs. “We’re already divorced. Tomorrow morning, we’re moving out.” Mom screamed behind us. “Try leaving. If you leave, Maria really will die.” Dad did not take her words to heart. After we returned to the room, Dad treated my wounds, and his hands were shaking. “I’m sorry, Maria. Tomorrow we’ll go stay at a hotel first.” My heart felt both chaotic and empty, and I did not know whether I should feel sad or scared. After Dad left, I locked the door, lay against it, and listened for movement outside. The living room was very quiet, so Mom must have gone back to her room. I opened my palm, and the number on the pendant had become 60. My eyes widened, and I could not believe it. What was this thing? Why did the number increase when Mom hit me?

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The plan I had spent half a year perfecting finally won over the wedding contract for the top celebrity. That directly turned our struggling company into a huge overnight success. Right after the wedding ended, I collapsed from days of pulling all-nighters and was carried into the hospital. On my hospital bed, my boss, Harrison, came to see me personally. His tone was gentle. “Victoria, I heard your parents aren’t in the best health. How about this? We won’t give you the commission for that $10,000 wedding contract.” “When your parents pass away in the future, the company will throw you a $20,000 funeral for free. Think of it as a perk.” As he finished, he looked like he was showing off his generosity, squinting as he waited for me to thank him over and over. I froze on the hospital bed, completely stunned. On my first day back at the company after being discharged, Harrison urgently called me into his office. “Victoria, get started on a new proposal right now!” “The top celebrity Samantha’s victory party has to have the highest-tier budget!” “This kind of big-name deal, you have to land it! We absolutely cannot let any other wedding company steal our spotlight!” I idly twirled the lollipop I’d just unwrapped between my fingers and looked up casually. “A wedding? Sorry, but I only know how to plan funerals.”

Harrison slammed his hand on the desk and shouted at me. “Victoria! You’re the company’s head planner. Planning wedding proposals is your job!” I met his eyes and said firmly, every word landing hard. “Harrison, when have I ever slacked off on my actual work?” “The wedding for celebrity Samantha had over thirty companies fighting over it.” “I drank with her agent until I was throwing up blood, and I revised the proposal to version eighteen before it was finally approved.” “For half a year, I slept less than three hours a day, and on the wedding day I passed out right backstage from exhaustion. You know all of this better than anyone.” Harrison’s face darkened. “Are you saying that to take credit? That’s all work you were supposed to do anyway!” My voice stayed steady. “Harrison, I finished everything that was mine to do, and I nearly gave up half my life doing it.” “Shouldn’t the $10,000 commission for that wedding contract belong to me too?” His eyes rolled, and his tone softened. “Samantha’s wedding had very high costs. There was basically no profit.” “You need to think bigger and put the company first. Don’t get hung up on a little gain or loss.” Before Harrison could finish, my eyes flicked to the payroll slip he had just signed. My salary: $2,000 base pay. Chloe, the new hire: $8,000 base pay + $10,000 wedding commission. A wave of anger rose in me that I could not hold back. I stood up and pointed at the payroll slip. “Chloe hasn’t even planned a single event since joining the company. Why does she get the $10,000 commission?” At that, Harrison hurriedly covered the payroll slip, then quickly lifted his water cup and took a sip to hide his guilty conscience. “Chloe is an art talent we finally managed to poach from France!” “Victoria, you’re a company veteran. Don’t be so petty. There’s no need to fight a new hire over this.” Just then, Harrison’s phone rang, and the caller ID clearly showed: ‘Honey, Chloe’. Only then did I understand that Harrison and Chloe were secretly a couple. No wonder he always favored her so much, why she walked into the company and immediately got a base salary far above mine, and why he gave all that $10,000 commission that should have been mine to this newcomer. After Harrison answered, Chloe’s excited voice came through the speaker. “Baby! Samantha’s wedding setup went viral online after the wedding. Everyone’s calling it the gold standard for weddings!” “She’s also holding a celebration party for her big win, and she’s handing that over to our company too!” Harrison’s eyes lit up, and he looked overjoyed. Deliberately right in front of me, he raised his voice. “Chloe, Samantha brings her own traffic and attention. This celebration party is yours, fully in your hands!” “Once it’s done, you’ll be the hottest planner in the industry!” A coy “Love you~” came from the other end of the call. After hanging up, he leaned back in his chair, smug. “Victoria, you don’t need to handle celebrity Samantha’s celebration party anymore. The company already landed it.” “There’s also a wedding for the billionaire’s son here. Get the proposal done as soon as possible.” “If you don’t do it, then get out. The company doesn’t need a planner like you!” Because of the celebrity wedding I had planned, the company had blown up, and Harrison had straightened his back too. He was like a completely different person. Before, when the company was so bad off it was close to shutting down, he had practically begged me to land Samantha’s contract, saying it was the company’s last lifeline. I had poured my heart into it and focused all my energy on the proposal, pulling countless all-nighters before I finally forced my way through that hard nut to crack. Right then I clenched my fists and stayed silent. He waved his hand impatiently. “Enough, enough. Don’t just stand there. Get out there and work!” “When your parents’ funeral comes around, the company will cover the whole thing! Is that enough for you?” I let out a cold laugh and slapped my resignation letter onto the desk. “Save that for yourself. I quit.”

Back at my desk, I packed my things and got ready to leave. Chloe suddenly rushed over and snatched my laptop away. My face went cold. “That’s my personal property. Give it back.” She ignored me and started flipping through the laptop, lifting her brows with a sneer. “I’m short on inspiration for my celebration party proposal, so I’ll borrow your computer and see if I can get some ideas.” “There are private things on there. I’m not lending it to you.” I reached for it, but she nimbly dodged backward. Two male planners beside her immediately stepped in front of me and said with obvious disdain, “Victoria, Samantha’s wedding is the company’s top priority. It’s just your computer. Why are you being so stingy?” “Yeah, have a bigger picture. Borrowing it won’t cost you a chunk of flesh!” Chloe wore a smug smile and casually opened my chat box, then deliberately turned the screen toward everyone. “Victoria isn’t supposed to be so busy she doesn’t even have time to sleep?” “So she’s busy flirting with Howard! Everyone, come look. They’re talking so hot and heavy!” A few coworkers immediately crowded around, pointing at the laptop. “Wow, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Victoria looks pure on the outside, but she chats with her boyfriend so openly. She’s really pretty freaky.” “No wonder she’s so good at wedding proposals. Turns out she’s been head over heels for a guy, and she’s just using her love-brain to find inspiration?” “Whoa, she’s hidden it well! I knew it. How else could she have landed Samantha’s contract? She must have slept her way into it through the agent.” As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of laughter broke out across the office. I was shaking with anger, my fingertips trembling. Clenching my teeth, I took out my phone, opened the video recorder, pointed the camera at the crowd, and said coldly, “Keep talking! Every bit of slander and every private invasion you do today, I’ll record all of it and hand it over to the police!” The crowd instantly went quiet, one by one slinking away and shrinking back to their desks. From the corner, one of the planners I had personally trained muttered in a low voice, “Tch, can’t even take a joke. What a petty person.” “Acting so high and mighty. And now she’s using the police to scare people.” When Chloe heard that, she turned to me with a standard fake smile on her face. “Victoria, we’re all coworkers who see each other all the time. It’s just a joke. Was it really necessary to record video?” “If people hear about this, they’ll say you’re petty and cold.” Another coworker immediately chimed in, their voice not loud but sharp enough to sting. “Exactly! Chloe’s way more thoughtful than Victoria as our head planner. I’ve been sick of Victoria acting so superior for ages!” My chest felt like it was stuffed with fire. Normally, all the wedding proposals my coworkers made had to be reviewed by me before being sent to the clients in the end. To be responsible for a couple’s once-in-a-lifetime wedding, and also to help my coworkers grow into strong planners, I had always been strict with my reviews, never daring to be careless for a second. But to them, that responsibility had become nitpicking, and over time they had built up a stomach full of complaints. Chloe had only been at the company a few days, and she had dragged coworkers off after work to drink all night without caring about the wedding timeline for the client. The next day, everyone showed up late together and delayed important work. She said a few soft words to Harrison in his office, and the whole thing was brushed aside as if nothing happened. So everyone stood on her side and treated her like a savior. I stared coldly at Chloe. “Give me the computer back.” She was startled by the chill in my eyes, but in the next second the corner of her mouth curled into a provocative smile. Then, Chloe deliberately loosened her hand. Crash! The laptop slammed hard onto the floor. I looked at the laptop with the shattered screen, and slowly smiled.

I pulled up my phone payment code and shoved it in front of Chloe. “$1,200. Scan it and pay up.” Her eyes flickered, and she hurriedly covered her hand while changing the subject, putting on a show of frowning. “Your computer hit me, and my hand hurts!” The coworkers followed along and started jeering. “Victoria, look at you. You injured her hand, so hurry up and apologize!” I ignored them and pushed the payment code even closer. “Cut the crap. Scan it. Pay me.” Chloe’s face flushed red, and she argued back with her neck stiff. “Your crappy computer should have been thrown out ages ago. And you still want $1,200? Who do you think you’re fooling? Do you think I’m some sucker?” Amid the arguing, Harrison came out of his office and shielded Chloe behind him. “Victoria, aren’t you resigning?” “You’re still making a scene and bullying coworkers before you leave. What exactly are you trying to do?” I lifted my eyes and looked straight at Harrison. “Chloe went through my private computer without permission, then deliberately smashed it. Either she pays, or I call the police.” Chloe hid behind Harrison a little more, looking like she had been deeply wronged. “Victoria was terrifying just now. She scared me, and my hand got hurt too…” Harrison frowned deeply and looked at me with scorn. “Victoria, I think you’re really obsessed with money!” “It’s just a little thing between coworkers, and the first thing out of your mouth is payment or the police. Is it really that serious?” “If you dare to make trouble here today, then when you join your next company, I’ll personally tell them everything truthfully. Let’s see which company would still dare to hire you!” Just then, my phone vibrated, and a message from my boyfriend Howard popped up. “The new studio is already rented! ‘Victoria Wedding Planning Studio’ will be officially open soon!” Seeing that message, my heart finally settled down completely. Harrison had only one obsession in his whole life: making his wedding company number one in the country. But now, his biggest rival had appeared. Seeing that I still hadn’t said anything after a long time, Chloe thought Harrison’s threat had scared me. She deliberately acted generous and gave him a look. “Harrison, since Victoria did contribute a little to the company before, how about letting her stay on as my assistant to run errands? I don’t mind.” Harrison understood what she meant and picked up the thread. “Victoria, I’ll give you a chance.” “If you can go sign the wedding contract for the billionaire’s eldest son, the company can barely keep you. Otherwise, pack your things and get out now!” “Without the company platform, you’re nothing!” Looking at his arrogant face, I had no patience left. “Harrison, when the company first started, there were only three of us.” “I handled everything myself, from signing clients to design to execution, and I kept it going little by little until now.” “I had feelings for this place, so I kept giving in again and again. But now I don’t want to give in anymore. The $10,000 commission and the computer compensation are both what I deserve.” I took half a step forward and stared at his evasive eyes, word by word. “Do you really have to make this so ugly that we can’t part on good terms?”

“Victoria, you don’t know what’s good for you!” “The company trained you. Landing a celebrity wedding was because you got to ride on the company’s coattails, and now you’re turning around and biting the hand that fed you by demanding money?” Harrison pointed at me and snapped harshly. “Which rule says that $10,000 should be yours? What right do you have to ask for it?” “I’m the boss. I give it to whoever I want!” His shameless attitude actually made me laugh. Realizing that talking to him any more was useless, I directly took out my phone and called the police. At a glance from Harrison, two coworkers immediately moved in to snatch my phone. In the struggle, the receptionist hurried over. “Stuart, Samantha’s agent, is here!” As soon as the words were out, a stylish man pushed the door open and walked in. His gaze swept lightly over Harrison without stopping, then he went straight to me. “Victoria, Samantha only approves your celebration party proposal. She asked me to come handle the details.” Harrison knew that Samantha, as a celebrity, couldn’t show up herself, and her agent was basically the same as her. He immediately put on a full smile and stepped forward, shoving me aside with some force. “Stuart, perfect timing!” “For Ms. Samantha’s celebration party, our company has a much better planner. We guarantee she’ll be satisfied!” As he spoke, he pulled Chloe forward. “This is our company’s new head planner. She just came back from studying in France. Her taste and creativity are ten times better than Victoria’s!” Stuart frowned. “No need. I came specifically to find Victoria.” Harrison’s face stiffened, and he put on a pained, righteous look while hiding a blade in his words. “Stuart, to be honest, even though Victoria is an employee of my company, I have to tell you the truth. All of her designs and proposals were copied from Chloe!” As soon as those words came out, the entire office went silent. His shameless twisting of the truth was honestly ridiculous. I smiled slightly. “I copied her? I’ve been in the industry for five years. She’s only been at the company for three months. What exactly would I be copying from her?” Chloe stepped out at the right time, lifting her chin with total confidence. “Your previous proposals were all copied from other people!” “The reason Ms. Samantha’s wedding setup was so stunning had nothing to do with you. It was all my creativity!” “Those French-style props at the wedding, from the flowers to the decor pieces, all came from my ideas!” She picked up a tablet and quickly handed it to Stuart. “Stuart, look! These are all my design sketches from then. Victoria just followed my ideas to make the proposal!” I glanced at the design sketches on her tablet and recognized them at once as the original drafts I had drawn myself. No wonder she had wanted to smash my computer before. She had already stolen the drawings for herself. A few coworkers immediately crowded in to back her up, sounding so certain it was as if it were true. “I saw Victoria sneaking around in Planner Xu’s computer with my own eyes!” “Exactly! She always had me help find other people’s proposals to copy. Since she was my superior, I never dared say anything, even though I was furious!” “She doesn’t have any real skill. It’s all about stealing other people’s ideas!” Amid the rising chorus of accusations, Harrison sighed and shook his head in a show of sorrow. “Victoria, you’re not fit to be a planner if all you can do is copy!” “From this moment on, you’re no longer an employee of our company!” Then he turned to Stuart with a flattering smile. “Stuart, don’t be fooled by her! What kind of person is fit to plan Ms. Samantha’s celebration party?” “Chloe is the one with real ability. She’ll definitely satisfy Ms. Samantha!” Stuart gave a smile that was hard to read. His gaze landed on me, and the moment our eyes met, we both understood each other without saying a word. “I’ve known Victoria since we were kids. No one knows her skills and character better than I do.” “To be honest, your company landed this celebrity wedding because of Victoria too.” “Since she’s no longer your employee, then there’s no need for us to keep talking.” “Whichever wedding company Victoria goes to, I’ll cooperate with that one. I’ll wait for her word. I’m busy, so I’m leaving first.” After Stuart left, the office fell into a dead silence. Harrison was the first to react, forcing out a smile with all his might. “Victoria, Ms. Samantha’s celebration party still needs you to handle it.” I tilted my head and looked at him. “Didn’t I say it already? I only know how to plan funerals.” “Oh, right. You smashed my computer and stole my design drafts. Copyright infringement. I wonder how many years that gets?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “452719”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster

The day before college started, my online boyfriend told me he had lost a bet. I was the prize. Before I could even process what was happening, he dragged me into a Snapchat group chat with over a hundred people. The group announcement had just been updated: “Congrats to Ethan on winning his brand-new, 220-pound girlfriend!” Right after that, my sophomore year photo was dumped into the chat. In the photo, I was wearing an oversized, baggy hoodie, so heavy you couldn’t even see my neck. The group chat instantly exploded. “Holy shit, that’s not a girlfriend. That’s a straight-up whale.” “A bet’s a bet. Ethan has to complete the couple’s challenge with her tomorrow.” Soon, someone set up a betting pool. They were wagering on whether I’d actually dare to show up tomorrow night. My online boyfriend put down a thousand dollars, betting that I wouldn’t show. The guy named Ethan didn’t say a single word. Instead, the campus queen suddenly tagged me: “Chloe, you’ll definitely be there tomorrow night, right?” I stared at the endless stream of mocking messages in the chat and laughed. None of them knew. For this long-awaited first meeting, I had worked my ass off to go from 220 pounds down to 130. And none of them knew that over the past two months, I had been asked for my Snapchat in public more times than in the first eighteen years of my life combined. I quietly put down five hundred dollars on the bet, betting that I would show up right on time. Then, amidst everyone’s wild cheering, I sent a single text. “A bet’s a bet. See you there.”

I stared at the group announcement for a solid ten seconds. “Congrats to Ethan on winning his brand-new, 220-pound girlfriend!” With over a hundred people in the chat, the messages were flying by fast. “Zach took a massive loss on this one.” “A loss? He got rid of a fat girl. That’s a massive win, bro.” “@Ethan, Ethan, come out and give us your victory speech!” Then, a photo was dropped into the chat. It was taken during my sophomore year sports day. Back then, I weighed nearly 220 pounds. My clothes were bursting at the seams as I sat on the last row of the bleachers, keeping my head down while eating a bagel. The person who took it was clearly far away. But no matter how blurry it was, there was no hiding how shockingly heavy I used to be. The person who posted it was none other than my online boyfriend. Zach. Just a minute ago, he was still sweet-talking me in our private Snapchat DMs. “Babe, it’s just a joke among friends.” “I just lost a game and sent your Snapchat to Ethan. It’s just for a silly couple’s challenge. Don’t take it seriously.” I didn’t reply. The group chat was laughing its head off. “Damn, with that size, Ethan’s going to need to rent a U-Haul to pick her up tomorrow, right?” “What’s the couple’s challenge again? A bridal carry? Is Ethan trying to end up in the ER with a broken spine?” “Maybe they should change it to ‘heavy lifting.’ Might be easier.” Zach sent a facepalm emoji. “Go easy on her, guys. Don’t make her cry.” He pretended to defend me, but in reality, he was just trampling my dignity even harder. My fingers turned cold. We had been dating online for eleven months. When he had insomnia, I stayed up all night playing Valorant with him. When he lost his games, I comforted him from midnight until dawn. When he was stressed before the final exams, I recorded voice notes every day to cheer him on. I even put Coastal State University as my first choice on my college application. Because he had told me. “Chloe, let’s go to the same college.” “When the semester starts, I’ll bring a huge bouquet of flowers to meet you.” And now, the day before college started, he had treated me like a cheap poker chip and lost me to someone else. Soon, someone set up a betting link in the group. “Will Chloe show up at the freshman mixer tomorrow night?” The pot kept growing. The amount of money betting that I wouldn’t dare to show had already passed three thousand dollars. Zach immediately put down a thousand. “She won’t show.” “She’s super shy. She cries if you even raise your voice at her.” I finally laughed out loud. So, he knew I would cry. Yet, he still brought over a hundred people to watch me break down. Just then, a new message popped up in the chat. Serena: “Guys, don’t talk about Chloe like that. Being a bit chubby is totally fine, as long as she has a good heart.” She was the undisputed campus queen of our freshman class. Just two days ago, she had posted a set of beach photos on her Instagram.  She tagged me. “Chloe, you’ll be there tomorrow night, right?” It looked like she was trying to help me out. But then she immediately added another line. “Everyone really doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t feel insecure about your looks.” The group chat instantly filled with praises of “Our campus queen is so kind-hearted.” I didn’t rush to reply. Instead, I clicked the betting link. Five hundred dollars. Betting that I would show up on time. The group went dead silent for two seconds, followed by a screen full of question marks. Zach privately messaged me. “Are you crazy?” “They have brutal mouths. Why are you coming?” I looked at myself in the mirror. My long hair fell over my shoulders, and my waist was so tiny it looked like it could be held with one hand. The features that had been buried under baby fat in high school were now sharp, striking, and almost intimidatingly beautiful. Over the past two months, whether I was at the mall, the subway, or the gym, I had been asked for my Snapchat twenty-seven times. A talent scout had even cornered me for half an hour, begging me to shoot a commercial. Zach knew absolutely none of this. Because I had wanted to save the best version of myself for the day we finally met in person. But now? He didn’t deserve this surprise. I wiped away the single tear that hadn’t even had the chance to fall, and replied to the group with four words. “A bet’s a bet.”

The next second, Zach called me. I ignored it. He called three more times before finally sending a barrage of voice notes. “Chloe, can you please stop throwing a tantrum?” “That’s just how the game works. I lost, so you temporarily become Ethan’s partner. It’s over after three simple challenges tomorrow night.” “We’re all classmates here. Don’t make me look bad.” I was so angry I laughed. He gave me away like a piece of property, and now he was blaming me for making him look bad. I opened the shared group file. The so-called “couple’s challenges” consisted of three things: First, feeding each other cake in public. Second, holding hands for a photo and posting it to the main freshman group. Third, the guy had to carry the girl in a bridal carry for ten seconds. Some people in the chat were already mocking Ethan. “Who came up with the third one? That’s straight-up attempted murder!” “Even Ethan at 6’2″ can’t lift 220 pounds, right?” “It’s fine. He only lost a game, at worst he’ll just lose a spine.” The guy named Ethan hadn’t said a single word from beginning to end. His profile picture was just a black screen, and his Instagram was completely empty. But everyone in the chat seemed to respect him, or fear him. They were vicious when mocking me, but when they tagged him, they only joked around lightly. No one actually dared to push him. Just as I was about to close the app, my best friend Maddie FaceTimed me. The moment she picked up, she went off. “Chloe! Is Zach’s brain in his ass?!” “Losing his girlfriend in a game? What is he playing, hot potato?” I was startled. “How do you know?” “Screenshots of that group chat have already spread to our high school alumni group!” Maddie was pacing back and forth on the screen, practically fuming. “I’ve already memorized that guy’s name. When school starts, I’m putting a trash bag over his head, and you can keep watch.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Seeing that I could still laugh, she felt even worse for me. “What are you going to do? Just post a picture of yourself right now and slap them all in the face?” “No.” “Why not?” I opened my closet, my eyes scanning the dresses hanging inside. “Pictures are boring.” They could say it was photoshopped, stolen, or fake. As long as they didn’t want to admit it, they’d find a hundred excuses. I wanted them to see me in person. With their own eyes. And regret it. Maddie caught on instantly, her eyes lighting up. “You’re actually going?” “Of course. I already put five hundred dollars down.” “Hell yes, you’re going!” She slammed her desk. “Not only are you going, you’re going to look so gorgeous they’ll collectively lose their minds.” “Zach bet a thousand dollars that you wouldn’t dare, right? Let’s take his money first, then watch him get humiliated.” Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock on my door. My mom came in with a plate of sliced fruit. She paused when she saw the dress laid out on my bed. “A party tomorrow?” “Yeah.” She hesitated for a few seconds before asking gently, “Are you meeting that boy you met online?” I went silent. For Zach, I had spent a whole year losing weight. At my worst, I ate only a few lettuce leaves a day. I was so hungry at night that my stomach cramped, and I had to sleep clutching a hot water bottle. Later, when my medical check-up showed issues, a nutritionist forced me to stop the extreme dieting. Only then did I start proper carb control and strength training. 220 pounds. 180 pounds. 140 pounds. And finally, 110 pounds. My mom had helped me exchange clothes through seven different sizes. She had also seen me stand on the scale countless times, my eyes red but too afraid to cry. She knew how much I had been looking forward to tomorrow. But she didn’t know that my anticipation had already turned to ashes. My mom set the fruit plate down. Before leaving, she gently stroked my hair. “Chloe, no matter what anyone else says, and whether you are thin or not, you are always my beautiful baby girl.” The moment the door closed, my nose stung with tears. But then, my phone buzzed. In the group chat, Ethan had finally appeared. He didn’t acknowledge any of the teasing. He only sent one short sentence. “She is not a prize.” The group chat instantly went quiet. A few seconds later, he tagged me. “If you don’t want to come tomorrow, you don’t have to.” Zach immediately popped up. “Ethan, it’s just a game. Don’t be a buzzkill.” Ethan didn’t reply to him. I stared at that sentence, “She is not a prize,” and for the first time, I clicked on his profile. For some reason, this guy felt a little familiar.

Zach and I had met on Valorant. Back then, I was a high school senior and weighed 220 pounds. The guys in my class nicknamed me “the linebacker.” The girls didn’t join in on the name-calling, but they would lower their voices and giggle whenever I walked past. Once, during gym class, we had to run the 800 meters. I finished last, panting so hard I almost fainted. The boy I had a crush on stood at the finish line, taking two steps back in disgust. “Don’t fall on me.” “It’ll feel like an earthquake. Who’s gonna catch you?” The whole class burst into laughter. That night, I hid in the game, not wanting to say a word. Zach was the one who added me. After hearing my voice, he kept asking. “Your voice is so sweet. Are you sure you’re not a voice actress?” After that, we became regular gaming partners. He would turn on his mic and defend me when random teammates flamed me. “It’s just a game. Why are you screaming at a girl?” He would also talk to me when I was feeling down. “Who says being chubby isn’t cute? I think it’s adorable.” “Chloe, I don’t care what you look like. I like you.” I believed him. Because of his words, for the very first time, I felt like I was worthy of being loved. Until six months ago, when he accidentally found my old Instagram account linked to my gaming profile. It had my high school name and my real face. From that day on, he became visibly cold. We went from dozens of texts a day to just a dry “good morning” and “good night.” I asked him what was wrong. He said he was stressed about college applications. Looking back, it wasn’t stress at all. He had just seen my photos. But he didn’t break up with me right away. Because I could carry him in games, help him with notes, and comfort him whenever he had an emotional breakdown. He just didn’t want to lose a convenient emotional trash can. So he dragged it out until the day before college started, using a stupid drinking game to casually throw me to someone else. My phone rang again. This time, I picked up. Zach’s voice was filled with annoyance. “What are you doing, playing good cop with Ethan in the group chat?” “He stood up for me. How is that playing good cop?” “Would a guy like Ethan stand up for a girl for no reason?” Zach sneered. “Don’t think just because you have a cute voice, you can actually hook him. Ethan’s standards are way higher than mine. You’ll just humiliate yourself if you go.” I stayed quiet for two seconds. “So, you think I’m not good enough for you?” “That’s not what I meant.” “Then why did you bet a thousand dollars that I wouldn’t dare to show up?” He choked on his words. After a brief pause, he spoke in a frustrated tone. “Fine, you want the truth? Here it is.” “Chloe, I already know what you look like.” “We were fine online, but we’re not a match in real life.” “And don’t blame me. It’s just human nature for guys to like pretty girls.” “I haven’t blocked you yet, which is already me being nice.” I gripped my phone, the lingering pain in my chest finally turning entirely cold. “Well, thank you then. You’re so polite.” Zach didn’t catch the sarcasm in my voice, and his tone softened slightly. “Just don’t come tomorrow. I’ll Venmo you the five hundred dollars back.” “Serena is going to be there. Standing next to her will only make you look more pathetic.” I asked slowly, “Are you guys close?” The other end of the line went dead silent. “Don’t overthink it. We’re just friends.” I smiled. It looked like tomorrow’s party was going to be even more interesting than I thought.

On the day of the mixer, I slept in until noon. My phone already had over 99 unread messages. The group chat was busy discussing the seating arrangements for tonight. Someone had intentionally posted a photo of a heavy-duty, reinforced chair. “We should save this one for Chloe. Normal chairs might not hold up.” “So thoughtful. You deserve an award for being the MVP.” Zach was also in the chat. “She’s not coming, guys. Don’t bother.” Serena: “Guys, don’t talk about Chloe like that. What if she actually shows up? Promise me we won’t laugh at her.” The more she tried to “defend” me, the harder they laughed. I didn’t say anything and just went to get ready. Maddie showed up at my house at 2:00 PM, carrying two massive makeup cases. “Today, I’m giving you a makeup look that will absolutely destroy men’s souls!” After curling my hair, she pulled a black slip dress from my closet. The cut of the dress was extremely simple, hugging my waist tightly and showing off my delicate collarbones and shoulders. When I walked out in it, Maddie literally stared at me for half a minute. Then, she clutched her heart. “Oh my god.” “What?” “If I were a guy, I’d gladly go to jail for you today.” I laughed at her antics. But she grabbed me and spun me around, looking more and more excited. “Serena’s sweet, innocent girl look works when she’s alone.” “But standing next to you? She’ll look like she’s just a background extra.” “Be nice.” “I’m just being objective.” At 5:00 PM, someone suddenly posted a video of the party venue. In the center of the table sat a large white cake. Written on it in red frosting was: Welcome, 220-lbs Girlfriend! Harsh laughter echoed in the background of the video. A guy with a buzzcut yelled at the camera: “Chloe! If you don’t show up soon, we’re going to do the couple’s challenges for you!” Zach was sitting on the couch. He glanced at the camera and smirked. “I told you, she doesn’t have the guts.” “She didn’t even dare to FaceTime me before. You really expect her to show up in person?” Serena gave him a playful shove. “Don’t talk about Chloe like that.” I closed the video. Maddie snatched her car keys, furious. “Let’s go. If I don’t slap their faces raw today, my name isn’t Maddie.” Just as we headed out, my phone buzzed with a friend request. The message read: Ethan. I accepted, and Ethan messaged me almost immediately. “I’m sorry. This whole thing started because of a game I was in. I’ll handle it.” “Do you need me to pick you up?” Staring at his apology, I felt a sudden warmth toward him. “No need, I’m already on my way.” “Also, I’ll cooperate with the challenges tonight.” The screen showed Typing… for a long time. Finally, he sent. “Don’t force yourself.” Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of the hotel. Maddie wanted to come up with me, but her mom called with an urgent emergency. Before leaving, she grabbed my hand. “Call me the second anything goes wrong. If anyone tries to mess with you, I’ll drag them on the university forums tonight.” I nodded and got out of the car. As I walked through the lobby, the guy at the front desk stared at me. Even as I stepped into the elevator, I could still feel his eyes on me through the glass doors. The private room was at the very end of the third floor. I walked down the hallway in my heels. Even through the heavy doors, I could hear the laughter inside. “It’s six o’clock. She really didn’t show.” “Zach, that’s an easy grand in your pocket.” “I told you, with her size, she’d probably need an oxygen tank just to walk to the lobby.” “Ethan isn’t here either. Did he run away too?” Then came Zach’s casual, mocking voice. “I told her not to come.” “People like her can only live in fantasy land online. Showing up in person is just a public execution.” Serena chimed in with a sweet laugh. “Chloe probably didn’t mean to lie.” “Maybe she just really wanted to feel loved.” Another burst of laughter erupted in the room. I stood outside the door and slowly raised my hand. Just then, a deep voice sounded behind me. “Chloe?” I turned around. Under the dim hallway lights stood a tall guy in a black button-down shirt. His features were sharp, cold, and incredibly handsome. When he saw me, his face filled with visible shock. “Are you…” I smiled at him. “Ethan?” Inside the room, someone had started a countdown. “Last ten seconds. If she’s not here, the bet is closed.” “Ten.” “Nine.” “Eight.” Ethan was still staring at me. I turned back around, gripped the doorknob, and just as the countdown was about to hit zero, I gently pushed the door open.

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On the night of my boyfriend’s birthday, he made three wishes before blowing out the candles on the cake I had spent all day baking. First, he wished for Chloe Bennett to be happy every single day. Second, he wished for Chloe’s project to win the grand prize. Third, he wished for the cat they were raising together, Cookie, to grow up healthy and strong. Chloe Bennett is my best friend. I froze on the spot. Yet, the room filled with our friends erupted into cheers and laughter. Chloe blushed, giving Ethan Carter a playful, teasing shove. “Why didn’t you make a wish for Summer? She’s your actual girlfriend, you know.” Ethan smiled with absolute certainty. “Do I even need to guess her wish? It’s obviously to marry me.” The next moment, he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box. Before, I would have burst into tears and nodded frantically. But right now, I just watched as he slipped the diamond ring onto my ring finger. The band was so loose it slid right off. It was a size too big. It was exactly Chloe’s size. I let out a soft, quiet laugh. I had loved Ethan for seven years. But letting him go only took this single second.

Someone in the crowd, always eager for drama, joked. “Wait, why does that ring look like it would fit Chloe perfectly?” Chloe’s face flushed red instantly, and she hurriedly hid her hands behind her back. “Stop talking nonsense, guys.” The more she acted like this, the more awkward the atmosphere became. Another friend chimed in, laughing. “Chloe, why are you hiding your hands?” “Is it really your size?” I stood in the middle of the laughing crowd, my fingertips turning ice-cold. Chloe quickly rushed to my side and gently linked her arm through mine. “Summer, please don’t be mad.” “Ethan definitely didn’t do this on purpose.” Her voice was incredibly soft, sounding genuinely worried for me. “He always helps me carry my rings and bracelets. He probably just got our sizes mixed up.” Chloe’s eyes were red, but I caught the fleeting gleam of triumph in them. So, they were already so close. Close enough that Ethan would hold her rings and put on her bracelets. He remembered her ring size more clearly than mine. Chloe smiled and pinched my fingers. “Summer, you’re just too skinny.” “Everything is always too loose on you.” She paused, her eyes scanning my chest with a seemingly innocent look. Her tone was playful. “Just like when we go lingerie shopping, remember?” “Even the smallest cup size has gaps on you.” The room burst into laughter again. I stood there, feeling the heat rise to my face, burning with humiliation. But Ethan only gave Chloe a helpless, indulgent look. “Stop teasing Summer.” His tone sounded like a scolding. But his eyes were full of pure adoration. Someone yelled for us to cut the cake. “Alright, alright! The proposal is a success! Let’s cut the cake!” I picked up the cake knife and went to hand it to him, but Chloe’s phone buzzed with a Snapchat notification. She glanced down and immediately beamed. “Oh! The pet sitter sent a video of Cookie!” Ethan paused, instantly leaning in close to her. “Let me see.” Chloe held her phone up right in front of his face. In the video, a chubby little kitten was chasing a toy ball. Their shoulders were pressed tightly together. They were so close, as if there was never any room for a third person between them. Standing in front of the birthday cake, I felt like a pathetic, invisible joke. After a while, Ethan finally remembered to cut the cake. He took the knife from my hand, sliced the first piece, and naturally handed the plate to Chloe. “You barely ate anything earlier.” “Eat this first.” Chloe blinked, whispering, “Is this okay?” “Summer made this cake herself. She should have the first slice.” Without a second thought, Ethan shrugged. “She won’t mind.” When those words left his mouth, I realized I was too tired to even fake a smile. Over the past few years, “She won’t mind” was the phrase Ethan used the most on my behalf. When Chloe worked late and he went to pick her up, he said, “Chloe is your best friend. You won’t mind, right?” When Chloe’s project had issues and he stayed up all night helping her fix it, he said, “I’m only doing this because she’s your friend. You won’t mind, right?” When Chloe said Cookie was sick and he stayed at her apartment the whole night to watch the cat, he said, “It’s just a cat, Summer. You won’t mind, right?” But Ethan had never once asked me. Did I actually mind? Chloe took the cake, her eyes watery as she looked at me. “Summer, please don’t be mad at him.” “My blood sugar is just a little low today.” As if fearing I wouldn’t believe her, she swayed slightly. Ethan immediately caught her by the waist. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” “Sit down first.” He guided Chloe to the couch, placing the cake gently in her hands. His movements were so practiced, as if he had done this a thousand times. He didn’t ask if I was tired from standing all night. He didn’t care that I had been busy preparing this party since dawn, without eating a single bite of food. I looked down at the loose ring on my finger. It was hilariously oversized. The moment I bent my finger, it would slip off. Just like this relationship. I had tried to hold onto it so tight, so many times. But some things are just impossible to keep.

I didn’t say another word. I grabbed my coat and drove home. Shortly after I arrived, a Snapchat message from Chloe popped up. “Summer, don’t be mad.” “Ethan felt so guilty when he realized he got the wrong ring size.” “I’m with him right now, helping him pick out a new one for you!” Attached was a photo. Under the bright, luxurious lights of a jewelry store. Chloe was sitting next to Ethan, trying on a stunning diamond ring. Ethan was leaning in, looking intently at her hand. He looked like he was carefully checking if the fit was perfect. Staring at the photo, my mind drifted back to a long time ago. I remembered the first time I introduced Chloe to Ethan. She was an extrovert, and she and Ethan had bickered from the very first minute. She teased him for acting too cool, and he complained she talked too much. I sat beside them, laughing, genuinely happy that my boyfriend and my best friend got along so well. Later, when the three of us ate out, Chloe would always playfully steal food from my plate. Ethan would coldly push his own dishes toward me. “Don’t steal hers.” “Order your own if you want it.” Back then, I truly believed. The person Ethan protected would always be me. But somewhere along the way, things changed. Their bickering turned into inside jokes only they understood. Their laughter became a wall, leaving me as the awkward third wheel forced to smile along. In a relationship of three, the person who gets pushed out first is always the last to notice. Now, Ethan was buying me a new ring. Yet, he was still using Chloe’s hand to test it. They probably didn’t even realize how messed up that was. At 11 PM, a mutual friend sent me a screenshot of their group chat. Someone was advising Ethan: “Ethan, you should really go home and comfort Summer.” “The ring thing today was pretty hurtful.” Ethan replied a few minutes later. “Summer is just overreacting.” “I’m already picking out a new ring for her.” “She’ll cool down once she gets over herself.” Chloe also messaged the group. “It’s all my fault.” “Maybe I should go apologize to Summer in person tomorrow.” Ethan instantly replied: “What does this have to do with you?” “You were put in a super awkward position today too.” “She shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum in front of you.” Staring at those words, my heart didn’t ache as much as I expected. I guess it had already been broken too many times. By the time the final blow landed, I felt nothing but numbness.

Not long after, Ethan came home. He held a new velvet jewelry box and carefully presented it to me. “Summer, buying the wrong size was my bad.” “I got you a new one.” As he spoke, he slid the ring onto my finger. This time, it fit perfectly. But as I looked down, I noticed a tiny inscription on the inside of the band. E & C. Ethan & Chloe. Looking at those letters, a mocking laugh escaped my lips. Ethan followed my gaze, and his face instantly froze. “The jeweler must have messed up the engraving.” “Don’t overthink it.” But then, a receipt slipped out of his pocket and fluttered to the floor. I looked down. Same day. Same store. Ethan had purchased two rings. The other one was three times more expensive than the one on my finger. The truth hit me like a physical blow. This ring, engraved with his and Chloe’s initials, was never meant for me in the first place. Ethan cleared his throat, patting my head gently to soothe me. “When we actually get married, I’ll buy you another one.” Another one. Next time. Ethan always assumed my hurt feelings could just be patched up with a “next time.” My mind flashed back to our first planned vacation together. I had spent two weeks researching and making a perfect itinerary. Which beach to watch the sunset, which restaurant had the best seafood, which spots were the least crowded. But at the airport, when we went to check in, I realized. My name wasn’t on either of the tickets. Ethan had stood there in a daze for a long time before saying: “I think I got your social security number mixed up with Chloe’s when booking.” “But the tickets are non-refundable, and the hotel is booked.” “Summer, I promise I’ll take you next time.” That tropical island vacation ended up being a trip for the two of them. Chloe posted so many photos on Instagram. Sunsets, palm trees. And a candid shot of Ethan carrying her flip-flops, walking along the shore. I had stared at those photos back then, crying myself to sleep. When Ethan returned, he brought me a cheap box of chocolates bought from the airport duty-free. He told me, “Don’t be sad. I’ll definitely take you next time.” Later, a singer I had loved for years came to town for a concert. Ethan managed to grab two front-row VIP tickets. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night. But at the gate, the ticket scanner looked at the names on the mobile tickets and politely said, “These tickets are registered under Mr. Ethan Carter and Miss Chloe Bennett.” Ethan rubbed his temples in embarrassment. “I messed up again.” In the end, he and Chloe sat in the front row. After the concert, Chloe posted a photo on Instagram. She was leaning her head on Ethan’s shoulder, holding up a glowing light stick. Caption: “My favorite song, with the person who knows me best.” I had confronted Ethan about it. But he only sighed. “Summer, stop overthinking.” “Chloe is your best friend, not some stranger.” “I couldn’t just let her go to a concert alone at night, could I?” He always had his justifications. And I was always expected to be the understanding one. Thinking of this, I pulled the new ring off my finger and tossed it back into the box. I walked into the bedroom and started pulling out my suitcases. As I packed, I realized. In this apartment we shared, almost nothing truly belonged to me. The cashmere throw blanket on the couch was bought by Ethan because Chloe once complained it got cold when she came over to play. At the vanity, I found a silver bracelet in the drawer. It was my birthday gift from Ethan last year. It cost barely forty dollars, and the box was dented at the corners. He had said, “It’s the thought that counts, not the price.” But on Chloe’s birthday this year, he bought her a custom designer necklace. She had accidentally left the receipt tucked inside a book on our couch. Six thousand dollars. More than a hundred times the cost of my bracelet. Even our fridge was stuffed with low-sugar Greek yogurt and organic cherries that Chloe loved. Meanwhile, my favorite Jasmine tea had been empty for months. I had reminded Ethan to buy it multiple times. He always said, “Next time.” But “next time” never came. Ethan stood at the bedroom door, watching me fold my clothes into the suitcase. His patience finally wore thin. “How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?” “I bought you the ring.” “I apologized.” “What more do you want?” I kept my head down, zipping up my suitcase. My voice was barely a whisper. “Ethan.” “There won’t be a next time.” He slammed the door and walked out in frustration. I didn’t chase after him. On my phone, the confirmation email for my overseas transfer sat quietly in my inbox. My flight was tomorrow morning. Between Ethan and me. There would never be another “next time.”

The next morning, I went to Chloe’s apartment. I needed to get back the handmade glass photo frame I had gifted her when we were eighteen. Inside was our very first picture together. On the back, I had written in neat handwriting: “Summer and Chloe, best friends forever.” Back then, Chloe had hugged the frame and cried. She said, “Summer, I will never, ever lose you.” But when I used the spare key code to open her door, the sight inside froze me. Chloe was standing there, wearing a loose, oversized men’s dress shirt. Right below her collarbone, a faint, dark hickey was visible. I recognized that shirt. It was a limited-edition piece I had searched three different malls to find for Ethan’s birthday last year. When Chloe saw me, she seemed startled for a split second, but a smile quickly returned to her face. “Summer! What are you doing here?” She rubbed her eyes, her voice raspy with sleep. “Cookie was throwing up all night. Ethan was so worried he insisted on coming over to check on him.” “We were up until 3 AM. We’re both absolutely exhausted.” I stared at her bare legs peeking out from under the shirt, my fists clenching so hard my nails dug into my palms. She blinked, giving me a suggestive smile. “By the way, your man is in seriously good shape.” “But his abs are so hard, using them as a pillow made my neck so stiff.” My blood ran cold. I whipped my head toward the half-open bedroom door. “You slept together?” Chloe laughed, completely unbothered. “It’s not the first time.” “Whenever Cookie got sick in the middle of the night before, we’d fall asleep watching over him together.” She reached out and playfully tapped my nose. “Don’t worry, babe.” “I’ve tested him for you.” “Even sleeping next to a gorgeous girl like me, he was a perfect gentleman.” “Though his abs could use some work. You should make him hit the gym more.” Ethan leaned against the bedroom doorway, letting out a low chuckle. “Oh yeah? Then who was the one clinging to me all night?” “Saying I was softer than Cookie?” Chloe’s face flushed as she playfully threw a throw pillow at him. “Ethan! Shut up!” They laughed and bantered. Chloe moved too fast, practically stumbling right into Ethan’s chest. Her soft curves brushed against his arm. Ethan’s laughter caught in his throat. His ears turned bright red. He looked like he wanted to step back. But his hands had already instinctively caught her by the waist to steady her. Chloe seemed to notice too. Her face flushed deeper. Yet, she didn’t pull away. They stood there, wrapped in an intimate, suffocating bubble. As if they had completely forgotten I was standing right at the door. I gripped the glass frame, and a laugh bubbled up from my throat. “Chloe Bennett.” “Do you know what people call girls like you?” “A homewrecker. A willing, cheap homewrecker!” The laughter in the room stopped instantly. Chloe’s face drained of color, and tears instantly welled in her eyes. “Summer, how could you say that to me?” “Ethan is just my friend.” I curled my lip in disgust, letting out a cold sneer. “Friends don’t sleep on his abs all night.” Ethan’s face finally darkened. “Summer, that’s enough.” I looked at him, my voice trembling. “Enough?” “You two slept in the same bed, and you expect me to act like nothing happened?” Ethan frowned. “Summer, is it really necessary to be this nasty?” “Sure, Chloe is better than you in a lot of ways, but are you really that jealous? Do you have to make up disgusting rumors about us?” When those words hit me, my hand gave a violent shudder. The glass photo frame slipped from my grip, shattering into a million pieces on the hardwood floor. Our photo fell out, landing right in the middle of the sharp shards. Instinctively, I knelt down to grab it. Chloe scrambled to do the same. A sharp piece of glass sliced into both of our hands at the same time. I gasped at the sharp sting. But Ethan’s eyes instantly flew to Chloe. He practically lunged forward, grabbing her hand. “Are you okay? Why were you so careless?” “Is it deep?” Chloe sobbed, shaking her head. “I’m fine… Summer is bleeding too…” Only then did Ethan spare me a passing glance. His eyes lingered on the blood pooling in my palm for a fraction of a second before darting back to Chloe. “She can handle it herself.” “You hurt your hand. What if it leaves a scar?” Kneeling in the middle of the broken glass, even the physical pain felt dull and distant. Ethan swept Chloe up in his arms and carried her toward the door. As he passed me, his voice was cold as ice. “Summer, go home and calm down.” “When you’re ready to speak like a civilized human being, you can apologize to her.” The front door slammed shut in my face. When I got back to our apartment, I threw the photo straight into the trash. I packed my passport, credit cards, and a few clothes into my suitcase, one by one. My phone lit up with a text from Ethan. “I’m taking you to that Italian place you like tonight.” “Apologize to Chloe there, and we’ll put this behind us.” Looking at the text, I calmly shut off my phone. The sound of my suitcase zipping shut was quiet. But in that moment, I knew I was never looking back.

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I posted a wedding photo and forgot to block Julian’s first love. The next day, he auctioned off our wedding night online. When the wedding ended and I finally found Julian, he was haggling with his friends. “One million dollars for the night. Not a penny less.” “Come on, Julian. Even if Serena is still a virgin, that’s way too expensive.” “Expensive? She’s my newlywed wife. Raise the bid. It has to be higher.” Everyone burst into laughter. “But seriously, Julian, you’re not going to your own wedding night? Aren’t you afraid Serena will get mad?” “She brought this on herself by showing off in front of Melanie. It already kills me that I couldn’t marry the woman I actually love. Besides, I bought this special pill. She won’t suspect a thing.” Julian flashed a packet of white pills in his hand. My tears finally spilled over. “Julian, that Instagram post of yours auctioning off your wedding night must have gotten hundreds of likes by now, right?” Julian smirked, nodding proudly. “Pretty much.” “Aren’t you worried Serena will find out and make a scene?” “I’ll just say it was a joke. She wouldn’t dare say anything.” His friends clapped their hands, kissing his ass. “Julian, you really have her wrapped around your finger. No wonder Serena chased you so hard. But what did she do to piss you off so bad that you’re auctioning off her first night?” Julian’s chest puffed up at the compliment. “She had the nerve to show off to Melanie. Not marrying Melanie is the biggest regret of my life. If I don’t teach Serena a lesson now, she’ll think she can walk all over Melanie forever.” Julian stared down at his phone, scrolling rapidly. Suddenly, his lips curled up. “Found it!” He held up his phone. “Don’t tell me this isn’t worth it. Look at these boudoir photos Serena took. Look at those tits, look at that ass! With a body like this, is it not worth the price?” The guys whistled dirtily, cheering loudly. I wanted to rush in and rip his throat out, but my body was trembling so violently that my throat felt constricted, tight and burning with pain. Julian and I had been betrothed since we were kids. Three years ago, when the Miller family faced a massive financial crisis, Julian suddenly entered my life. It was love at first sight, and I pursued him fiercely. Soon, he became my boyfriend. When we were together, he always opened car doors for me, ordered my favorite foods before I even asked, and took care of every little detail. His attentiveness made me the envy of all my friends. Seeing how happy I was, my parents poured resources into helping the Millers. They didn’t just help them expand into the semiconductor market; they also gave them two massive corporate contracts. Naturally, our wedding was put on the schedule. But a month before the wedding, a woman named Melanie suddenly appeared at my door, claiming she was Julian’s one true love. What did Julian do back then? He knelt before me, his eyes filled with anxiety and desperation. “Serena, don’t listen to Melanie’s lies. I only love you. Just don’t let her know what we’re up to from now on, okay? It’s too much drama.” I believed him. I thought Melanie was just a delusional stalker. But now… I had posted a single photo of my wedding dress on my SnapChat, forgetting to block Melanie. That night, she posted a pathetic, tearful video on TikTok. With red-rimmed eyes and tears streaming down her face, she looked incredibly fragile and heartbroken. In the early hours of that morning, Julian’s friends carried him home, completely wasted. When I frantically asked what happened, one of his friends sneered at me and muttered, “He’s just miserable because he couldn’t marry the girl of his dreams.” At the time, I didn’t understand. Looking back, the warning signs were everywhere. Melanie was the woman in Julian’s heart. I was nothing but a tool to help the Miller family rise from the ashes. I stumbled out of the venue, the festive red decorations stinging my eyes. My parents’ words of blessing when they left kept echoing in my head. I’m sorry, Mom, Dad. I didn’t make myself happy. I chose a man who doesn’t love me. Because he didn’t love me, he didn’t care about my dignity or my feelings. He made me a laughingstock, turning what should have been the most beautiful night of my life into a pathetic joke. I walked back to our townhouse alone. Looking at the bedroom I had meticulously decorated and the silk lingerie I had carefully chosen, I covered my face as tears streamed through my fingers. Until my phone rang. “Serena, where are you?” I wiped my tears. “I’m at…” With a loud bang, the bedroom door was kicked open. “Julian. She’s here. She’s alone in the bedroom.”

Watching a dozen men flood into the room, my hand shook, and my phone clattered to the floor. I instinctively crossed my arms over my chest, backing away. “Serena, don’t be shy.” A man swaggered forward, reeking of alcohol that made me gag. When he saw the silk lingerie laid out on my bed, he picked it up with a finger, a greasy smirk stretching across his face. “Julian said we should come over and keep you company on your wedding night…” “Get out! I’m warning you… there are security cameras in this room!” I screamed, trying to sound brave. But the leader only got more excited. He plopped down on the edge of my bed, scanning me up and down. “Why are you acting so pure? Your husband literally left to sleep with another woman tonight.” “Exactly. You already took photos showing off half your tits. Who are you trying to play innocent for?” “Innocent? If she were innocent, would her own husband auction off her wedding night? I bet she’s just a desperate slut deep down…” “It’s not like that!” Tears streamed down my face. Those private photos were taken by my best friend, and I had only ever sent them to Julian. Suddenly, the man lost patience. Just as he reached out to grab me, a high-pitched laugh echoed from the doorway. “Oh my, how could I miss Julian’s big night?” It was Melanie’s voice. She walked in, seeing me surrounded by men, and smirked. My eyes immediately locked onto the fresh hickey on her collarbone. Meeting her gaze, the sheer triumph in her eyes confirmed my worst fears. Could they really…? “I’m so sorry, Serena. I’m late. My puppy was just too clingy tonight,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Julian’s wedding band… was shining on her finger. Melanie produced two glasses of champagne from somewhere, handing one to me. “Since I missed your ceremony, let me apologize with a toast.” The men roared with laughter. “Damn, Julian’s slackin’. Melanie still has the energy to come mark her territory?” “You don’t know shit. The Miller Group is going public soon. Why would Julian need the Vance family after that? Of course he’s throwing her out!” I pressed myself deeper into the corner of the bed, the image of the white pills in Julian’s hand flashing through my mind. God knows if Melanie put something in this glass. “Take it away! I’m not drinking it!” My voice raised, but it only drew more mockery. “Serena, are you seriously disrespecting me?” Melanie snatched my wrist, pulling me toward her. She leaned into my ear, whispering, “I’m so sorry, Serena. Julian already spent his wedding night with me. As for yours… did you think I drugged this glass? No, darling. You were drugged a long time ago. It was in your wedding toast with Julian.” Boom. My brain went completely numb. The memory of the wedding ceremony rushed back. “Serena, let’s drink to our future.” Julian’s deeply affectionate eyes had made me melt. Suppressing the flush on my face, I had drained the glass. He had drugged me then? “Serena?” A familiar voice called out. Julian walked in with his usual gentle smile. For once, his shirt was buttoned all the way up, but the faint purple marks peaking out from his collar told the whole story. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, my nails digging into my palms to keep me anchored. Julian sat beside me and pulled my hands away. “What are you doing? These are my friends. Don’t tell me you don’t trust us?” Suddenly, my vision began to blur. A wave of intense heat surged from my lower abdomen, making me feel desperately hot. “Whoa… Julian, is the drug finally kicking in?”

“Julian, is this really okay?” one of the men asked cautiously. Julian smirked. “Of course! The Vance family is dealing with a major corporate crisis right now. They won’t be able to recover anytime soon. Go wild, guys. I’ve got your backs…” Using the last shred of my sanity, I grabbed Julian’s sleeve, tears streaming down my face. “Julian… tell me why. Why are you doing this to me?” Why? I gave you my whole heart. Why would you do this? Julian’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed my jaw, squeezing hard. “Serena, your family has done plenty of dirty tricks. This is nothing compared to what you deserve. Get ready for a lifetime of this!” He shoved me away, and my limp body collapsed onto the mattress. Without a backward glance, Julian wrapped his arm around Melanie and walked out. Before she closed the door, Melanie turned to give me one last smug look. “Help.” I tried to wrap my arms around myself, but my limbs felt like lead. Soon, I felt completely vulnerable. I wanted to run, but someone grabbed my ankle and dragged me violently to the edge of the bed. Dozens of hands reached out. I bit down hard on my tongue, using the sharp metallic taste of blood to force a surge of adrenaline through my body. I remembered my mother had tucked a pair of vintage silver scissors under my pillow for protection. It was an old superstition of hers. The drug made me gasp for air, waves of heat warping my vision into hallucinations. I bit my tongue harder, letting blood trickle down my chin. The leader grabbed my chin and slapped me hard across the face. “You stupid bitch, quit acting like a virgin!” My fingers finally brushed against the cold metal under the pillow. “Stay back!” I pulled the scissors out, brandishing them wildly. “Oh, she’s got a toy! What, Serena? You want to play dirty? We can play,” one of them laughed, completely unfazed. I huddled into the corner, trembling. I raised the scissors, but instead of pointing them at them, I plunged them straight into my own thigh. The room went dead silent. Without giving them time to react, I stabbed myself again. The sharp pain ripped through the drug’s haze, clearing my mind completely. “You want me dead? I’ll do it myself!” Blood pooled onto the red sheets. My strength drained rapidly until the room finally went black from the blood loss.

The sharp smell of disinfectant filled my nose. When I opened my eyes and saw my mother’s familiar face, I burst into tears. “Serena, let’s move to another city,” my mother said, her eyes red and swollen as she looked at me tenderly. My father stood by the bed, his jaw clenched, but the tears in his eyes betrayed him. “That bastard! How dare he do this to you!” The memory of last night flashed through my mind, making me violently sick. But seeing my parents’ devastated faces, I forced a smile. “Okay. I’ve actually wanted to try living somewhere else. When do we leave?” “Serena…” The hospital door burst open. When Julian walked in, my father’s veins bulged. He lunged forward and slapped Julian hard across the face. “You monster! We were blind to trust you with our daughter!” Julian poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, his expression darkening. “I’m a monster? What about your family? You ruined the Miller Group, pretended to help us recover, and took our shares for free! Who’s the real monster here?” “You… who told you that lie?” Julian sneered, looking around the room. “Stop acting. Oh, by the way, Melanie is pregnant. It’s a boy. He’s going to inherit everything I own.” “You bastard! You did that to Serena, and now you’re bragging about a bastard child?!” My mother trembled with rage. I tried to move on the bed, but the motion tore at my stitches. The agony was blinding. As Julian’s words echoed in my head, I suddenly understood… “Julian, you planned all of this, didn’t you?” Julian glanced at me. “Still smart, Serena.” Melanie was an illegitimate daughter, and Julian was betrothed to me. If she got pregnant, her child would have no legal standing. But if I was ruined and made lower than her, she could step in as his legitimate wife. He got his revenge on me, and Melanie got her status. Looking at the man I had loved for three years, I felt nothing but disgust. My father suddenly grabbed a ceramic flower pot from the bedside table and threw it at Julian. Julian ducked, grabbed my father’s arm, and twisted it violently. My father let out a cry of pain. “Julian!” I screamed, trying to get up, but the pain in my thigh held me down. “Serena, do you agree to the divorce and the asset transfer?” Julian growled, tightening his grip on my father, who had just undergone major surgery a few months ago. “Fine! I agree! Just let him go!” Julian let go with a smug smile, dusting off his jacket. “That’s more like it. I guess the Vance family is broke now. Don’t worry, the hospital bill is on me. Haha.” My parents wrapped their arms around me, and the three of us wept together. I didn’t know what strings my father pulled, but by the third day, we were discharged. Two weeks later, after Julian finished playing house with Melanie, he finally remembered me. He pushed open the hospital room door, only to find an empty bed. “Where is the patient in this room?” “They checked out days ago.”

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Every year on my birthday, I wanted my boyfriend to take me to an amusement park once. He always said next time. Until the fifth year, when he finally agreed. But before we even got to the amusement park entrance, the car turned toward my best friend’s favorite escape room. “The escape room updated the theme Nina likes, so we can go to the amusement park next time.” For five years, every time Eric said he was taking me to the amusement park, the road would somehow turn toward Bella. The flavor Bella liked had to be eaten first, and the games she liked had to be experienced first. And my birthday wish to go to the amusement park with the person I loved had to be postponed indefinitely. When the escape room NPCs charged at us, I was so scared I fell. I tried to look up and call for help, but I saw that Eric had already protected Bella and run more than thirty feet away. The NPC took pity on me, pulled me up, and comforted me in a low voice. “Maybe they care more about the game experience.” I gave a bitter laugh. “But I don’t want to keep playing a three-person game with them anymore.”

I picked up the walkie-talkie and requested to leave the game. After Eric heard it, he came back looking very unhappy. “If you hadn’t held us back, we would’ve cleared it already. What are you complaining about now by trying to quit?” I didn’t answer, just looked at the blood pooling on the floor. Eric followed my gaze and finally noticed the wound on my knee. “Why were you so careless…” “Eric, I can’t solve this puzzle. Come take a look!” Eric’s words and the motion of wanting to hold me were both interrupted by Bella’s voice. “Lucy, wait for us at the entrance. Once we’re out, we’ll take you to the hospital together.” “We’re just one final room away from clearing the whole thing. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.” After saying that, he turned and ran toward Bella. But my eyes fell on his waist. The cartoon-print bag Bella loved was slung across his shoulder, and the plush rabbit hanging from it hurt my eyes every time it swung. We had been together for five years, and I had asked him countless times to help me carry my bag, but he always said it wasn’t right for a grown man to carry a girl’s bag. Over time, I stopped caring. A wave of bitterness rose in me. After a long while, I endured the pain and limped my way to the entrance. At the same time, the two of them walked out side by side. The escape room staff immediately surrounded them. “Congratulations! You’re the fastest players to escape this theme! Can you share your secret to clearing it?” Bella leaned into Eric’s arms, her face flushing slightly. “He protected me the whole time, so I could focus on solving the puzzles without worrying about the NPCs.” The girl in charge of reviewing the security footage had envy all over her tone. “Your boyfriend is really so good to you!” “When that NPC suddenly jumped out just now, his first reaction was to use his own body to shield you!” “If my boyfriend protected me like that on instinct, I’d probably be so moved I’d marry him on the spot!” Bella smiled without explaining. Eric glanced in my direction and said nothing, which counted as silent approval. I lowered my head and looked at the blood that had already dried on my calf. The interview with Eric and Bella was still going on. “You two are basically the top players here. You also set the fastest clear record for the wedding dress theme last month!” Bella leaned against Eric’s shoulder and smiled proudly. “Of course! We come here seven or eight times a month. We figured out your tricks ages ago!” “I knew there’d be a lot of chase scenes in the new theme, so I even changed into flats!” She lifted the brand-new shoes on her feet, drawing another round of admiration from the staff. I had seen those shoes before. At the beginning of the month, Eric had sent me the link and asked if they looked good. Back then, I thought they were a birthday gift for me, and I had looked forward to it for a whole month. So the surprise was for Bella, and forgetting about me was real. It felt like a huge stone had suddenly slammed into my chest, crushing the breath out of me. Maybe I should have left this three-person relationship a long time ago. My phone screen lit up, and a message from my boss appeared at the very top. “Lucy, think carefully about the transfer to headquarters. Tomorrow is the last deadline.” A month ago, my boss told me he wanted to transfer me to headquarters as a project manager, basically a promotion. But I didn’t want a long-distance relationship with Eric, so I turned it down. Now, I just wanted to get as far away from them as possible. “I’ll go.”

My boss replied very quickly. “Then take the flight tomorrow morning.” After I received the screenshot of the ticket order, I called a ride-hailing car and turned off my phone. Eric and Bella were still sharing their escape room experience with the staff. I didn’t wait anymore and walked straight out of the mall. It was rush hour, so the car wouldn’t arrive for another ten minutes. I leaned against the bus stop sign, just barely able to stay standing. Eric’s voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of urgency. “Lucy! Didn’t I tell you to wait for us at the entrance? Why did you leave on your own?” I looked at Eric and said directly, “You and Bella were playing escape room. Staying there would only slow you down.” The moment the words fell, the atmosphere turned awkward beyond belief. Bella took my hand. “Lucy, saying that makes me really sad.” “If it bothers you that Eric played the escape room with me, then I won’t play with him anymore.” I pushed her hand away and took a step back. When Eric saw my movement, his tone turned unhappy. “You insisted on leaving early, and now you’re being sarcastic about it?” Thinking of the cartoon shoulder bag on him, and thinking of how he had silently let people assume Bella was his girlfriend during the interview, my grievance surged up all at once, and even my voice started shaking. “Eric, did you forget that I’m your girlfriend?” I pointed at the bag on him. “What kind of boyfriend carries his best friend’s bag? And why didn’t you say anything when the staff said you two were boyfriend and girlfriend?” Seeing me cry, Eric sighed. “When we were playing, Bella was handling the puzzles. Carrying a bag would’ve slowed her down, so I took it.” “If I explained that she wasn’t my girlfriend, people who didn’t know the situation might misunderstand her as the other woman. Then they might attack her.” “Lucy, you and she are best friends. You wouldn’t want her to be misunderstood by other people, right?” “Right now, the most important thing is getting your injury checked at the hospital.” Not wanting Bella to be misunderstood, so I, his real girlfriend, had to swallow it. I gave a cold laugh and automatically put more distance between the two of them. “I’ll take a taxi to the hospital myself. You don’t need to worry about it.” Eric’s patience finally ran out. “Lucy, I already explained it. What are you still making a scene for?” As he spoke, he snatched my phone away, canceled my ride-hailing order, and then lifted me up in his arms and shoved me into the back seat. “Whatever it is, we’ll talk after you get your wound checked.” I pressed my lips together and said nothing. Bella naturally sat in the front passenger seat, and Eric started the car. It wasn’t until we were almost at the hospital that Bella suddenly gasped. “Buddy’s home alone! Take me back first!” Buddy was the dog she raised. Bella’s home and the hospital were in completely opposite directions. Dropping her off first and then coming back to the hospital would take at least two hours. My wound was already swollen. I couldn’t wait that long at all. Eric glanced at me. “Lucy, Buddy’s been having some separation anxiety lately. We’ll take Bella home first, then go to the hospital!” He was the one who insisted on taking me to the hospital, and now he was the one asking me to wait. My matters were always behind Bella’s, and now they even had to come after Bella’s dog. My nails dug into my palm. “Pull over! I’ll go myself!” Eric’s voice suddenly turned cold. “Lucy, I’m just asking you to wait a bit. Why are you acting up again?” Looking at the impatience in Eric’s eyes, the grievance and hurt in my heart surged out like a floodgate had been opened. I wanted to ask him whether there was still room for me in his heart. But in the end, I only gave a bitter laugh. “Pull over.” Eric’s patience was obviously worn out. He pulled the car over at the intersection. He let me open the door myself and limp out of the car.

By the time I reached the hospital, the doctor took one look at my wound and frowned deeply. “It’s already infected and full of pus inside. Why didn’t you come to the hospital earlier?” I lowered my head and apologized, feeling heavy and stifled inside. While the wound was being bandaged, my screen lit up with a birthday greeting from the bank. I never expected the first happy birthday of my twenty-fifth year to come from a bank customer service rep. When I got home, Eric was sitting on the sofa in the living room. When he saw me come back, his gaze landed on the bandaged wound on my calf. “Lucy, you owe Bella an apology.” Looking at his matter-of-fact expression, I no longer had the desire to argue with him. Besides, I still had to pack for the flight tomorrow morning. I threw the hospital report in front of him. The infected wound had been circled in red by the doctor. Eric glanced at it and his tone softened. “Sorry, Lucy. I didn’t know you were hurt this badly.” I didn’t look at him. In the end, I swept my gaze around the house. The sofa was the brown leather Bella liked, and the floor was the off-white tile Bella had picked. Even beside the bed in the bedroom, there was a massage recliner reserved for Bella. It turned out that Bella’s traces had long since filled every corner of my life with Eric. I just hadn’t noticed it all this time. Seeing that I still didn’t speak, Eric wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Lucy, I’ll definitely take you to the amusement park for your birthday next year.” I had heard this line too many times and believed it too many times, but now it no longer meant anything. I hummed in response and turned to go into the bedroom. I zipped up my second suitcase. When he saw the two suitcases beside me, his face showed confusion. “Why are you packing? Going on a business trip?” I closed the suitcase and said softly, “Seasonal cleanup.” He didn’t ask any further. “Come eat first! I even added an egg for you.” Just as he finished speaking, Eric’s phone rang. When he came back, his voice sounded unnatural. “Lucy, something came up at work. I need to go back and work overtime.” If this had happened before, I would definitely have called out such a lousy lie and asked him who he was really going to see. But now, him not being home worked perfectly for me. “Okay. Don’t keep your coworkers waiting too long.” Eric was very satisfied with my understanding. He kissed my forehead, grabbed his coat, and rushed out the door. By the time I finished packing, it was already midnight. Eric called me. “The work stuff is a little tricky. Go to sleep first. Don’t wait for me.” “I’ll take you to the hospital to change your bandage tomorrow, and I’ll have lunch with you at noon. Be good.” I hummed and hung up. The next second, he appeared in Bella’s updated post. “Suddenly wanted to go to the amusement park. Eric booked out the whole place right away and even arranged a fireworks show. Good job~” In the video, the two of them leaned close together, and the fireworks reflected in both of their eyes. I lowered my eyes and looked at the gift box I usually treated like treasure. Inside was the ring Eric had given me five years ago. I grew up in an orphanage, and whenever I watched TV, I would hope to go to an amusement park once. Back then, Eric made promise after promise. “Lucy, every year on your birthday, I’ll take you to the amusement park!” “With this ring as a promise token, when you turn 25, I’ll set off fireworks across the whole sky and use them to propose to you!” But every year on my birthday, Eric would forget his promise to me because he had to rush off to see Bella. This year, he didn’t forget. He went to the amusement park. He set off fireworks across the whole sky. It was just that none of it was for me. I put the ring on the nightstand. Since the person who made the promise had already forgotten it, I didn’t need to keep it anymore.

At five o’clock the next morning. I put the keys on the shoe cabinet by the entrance and closed the door for the last time. While waiting at the airport, Eric was still active in Bella’s feed. They had gone to see the latest movie. “This movie was so heartbreaking. By the second half, someone’s shoulder was soaked with tears!” In the nine-grid photo set there were movie tickets, popcorn, and two hands tightly clasped together. In the comments, all our mutual friends were liking and congratulating them. “No need to eat dinner tonight. I’m full just from your and Eric’s dog food!” “I can feel the happiness between you two through the screen. I hope you stay together forever!” So everyone already knew about Bella and Eric, and they had all agreed to speak with me in the same way. For five years, I had been nothing but a joke. Eric liked the post first, so he had seen all those comments. But not a single explanation came from him. I laughed and liked it too. Then I sent Eric my final message. “Let’s break up!” Then I deleted and blocked all of Eric’s and Bella’s contact information. By the time Eric and Bella finished the movie and came out, the man suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. An uneasy feeling stirred him so much that he couldn’t settle down. During the times we fought before, Lucy had also brought up breaking up, but every time it had been less than ten minutes before she ran back to him to make up. So at first he didn’t take it seriously, but now six hours had passed, and there still wasn’t a second message in Lucy’s chat window. He hurriedly bought Lucy’s favorite breakfast and rushed home, only to find the house completely empty. Thinking she might have gone to the hospital to change her bandage, he felt a little relieved. The next second, he found that the half of the closet belonging to Lucy was already completely empty. He sent Lucy a message, and the screen quickly showed a red exclamation mark. He then called Lucy’s number, but all he got was the cold message that the other party could not be reached. A huge sense of losing control was taking over Eric’s heart, and he was panicking badly. He turned around and saw the ring he had once given Lucy on the nightstand.

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During a meeting, my son’s preschool teacher called to say he had a 102-degree fever. I couldn’t get away, so I texted my husband to pick him up. It wasn’t until the meeting ended that the teacher called again. “What kind of parents are you? Your kid is so sick he can barely stay conscious. Are you coming or not?” I dumped the stack of files on my desk and grabbed a cab straight to the preschool. My son’s little face was red with fever, and he started crying when he saw me. I didn’t have time to comfort him, so I scooped him up and rushed him to the ER. When he finally broke the fever and fell asleep, I collapsed into the visitor’s chair and opened my phone. Half an hour earlier, my husband’s female client had sent me a message. “Ava, I’m so jealous you have such a great husband.” “He found out I had a fever and a cold, bought me medicine, and even came over himself to take care of me.” “If you like him, take him. A scumbag and a slut are a perfect match.” After sending it, I turned off my phone. At 2 a.m., the hallway in the pediatric hospital was finally quiet. After Noah’s fever broke, he slept soundly, his tiny hand still clinging tightly to the hem of my shirt. I stared at the drip line as the medicine fell drop by drop, and my phone screen lit up again. Ryan’s third message. “Something came up with a client, and I can’t get away. Hang in there for me.” Hang in there for me. My son had a 102-degree fever, the preschool teacher had called four times, and he was taking care of another woman, then casually tossing me a “hang in there for me.” I didn’t reply. I just dialed his number. It rang six times before he answered. It was loud on his end, with music, clinking glasses, and a woman’s coy laughter. “Hello?” Ryan’s voice was a little slurred. He’d been drinking. “Noah’s in the hospital.” “I know. Didn’t you already pick him up? What did the doctor say?” “Viral infection. Fever hit 104.4.” “Then keep him in the hospital and spend the money if you have to. Don’t be cheap.” The woman beside him laughed again. I couldn’t make out what she said, but Ryan was replying to her, his voice so gentle it was almost painful to hear. “Noah wants to see you.” My voice was very calm when I said that. “I really can’t get away right now. Mr. Bennett landed a huge contract today, then got sick at the celebration dinner, and nobody’s taking care of him. I have to stay with him. Tell Noah Dad will come see him early tomorrow morning.” The call ended. I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white. Noah must have woken up at some point. He was dazed from the fever and softly murmured, “Dad.” I pulled him into my arms and pressed my chin against his burning forehead. “Dad is busy. Mom’s here. Mom is always here.” At seven the next morning, Ryan still hadn’t come. At nine, the nurse came to remove the IV. Noah cried from the pain, still calling for Dad. I coaxed him for a long time before he finally fell asleep, then picked up my phone to order takeout when a text popped up. It was from that female client, Chloe. It was a breakfast photo. A beautifully plated spread, pour-over coffee, and a plate of sliced fruit. “Someone said he didn’t take good care of me last night, so he insisted on bringing me breakfast first thing in the morning to make it up to me. So thoughtful.” Someone. I didn’t open the full image, but I knew that dining table. It was the island in my kitchen. The tableware I bought, the tablecloth I picked out, the solid wood table I wiped down three times a week. Now it was holding coffee that belonged to another woman, photographed by another woman, and sent to me as a provocation. I set my phone face down by the bed and took three deep breaths. Then I opened my contacts and found one person. “Brooke, help me set up a lawyer. The sooner, the better.” Megan was my college roommate and had opened her own law firm. She focused on family law. She texted back instantly: “You’ve made up your mind?” “I have.” “I’ll set it up right away. Don’t do anything rash, and make sure you keep the evidence.” Evidence. I opened my chat history with Ryan and scrolled back three months. “Working late tonight, not coming home for dinner.” “Out of town this weekend, take Noah to your mom’s place.” “Dinner with a client. I’ll be home later.” The excuses kept piling up, and he came home less and less. I used to think he was really busy. After all, his startup had just gotten off the ground, and a lot of socializing made sense. It wasn’t until last month, at Noah’s preschool parent event, when he promised he’d come and then said he suddenly had a meeting that day. I stayed with Noah to do crafts and play games by myself, while the other parents looked at me with nothing but pity. One mom leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Is your husband super busy with work? I’ve never seen him.” Back then, I still covered for him. “Yeah, it’s a startup. There’s nothing we can do.” Now that I think about it, he wasn’t busy. He just spent all his time on someone else. At two in the afternoon, Noah’s fever finally broke, and he had a little more energy. He kept clamoring for strawberries. I went downstairs to buy some. On the way past the convenience store at the hospital entrance, I caught sight of a black Porsche out of the corner of my eye. The license plate looked familiar. It was Ryan’s car. He was here? I subconsciously looked into the car, but there was no one in the driver’s seat. I carried the strawberries back inside. As soon as I entered the hospital lobby, I saw two people standing by the elevator.

The woman was the same female client who had messaged me before, Chloe. She wore a pale yellow dress, her hair in big waves, and had her arm linked through Ryan’s as she smiled like a flower. Ryan was dressed in a suit and tie, his hair perfectly slicked back. He was carrying a fruit basket and a bouquet of red roses. Red roses. He brought red roses to a pediatric hospital. I stood in the middle of the lobby and watched them laughing and chatting as they walked into the elevator. Ryan didn’t look my way once. My phone buzzed. It was a message from him. “I’m at the hospital. Which room is Noah in?” I didn’t reply. I just carried the strawberries upstairs at a slow pace. When I pushed open the door to the room, Ryan was already there. He was sitting by the bed, showing Noah something on his phone, while the fruit basket and roses sat on the bedside table, glaringly obvious. When Noah saw me, he happily shouted, “Mom! Dad’s here! He brought me something tasty too!” Ryan looked up and smiled at me. He’d practiced that smile for years. Warm, polite, and flawless. “You’ve worked hard. I rushed over as soon as I finished up over here. Noah’s okay now, right?” I set down the strawberries, picked up the red roses from the bedside table, and tossed them into the trash. Ryan’s smile froze. “What are you doing?” “The pediatric hospital doesn’t need roses.” “Those were for Mr. Bennett’s niece. I just happened to bring them here.” I looked at him and suddenly found him hilarious. This man was so lazy about lying that he didn’t even bother to make it sound convincing anymore. “Noah, Mom’s going to wash the strawberries.” I didn’t answer him and took the strawberries into the bathroom. The faucet ran loudly as I washed them again and again, until all the sourness in my eyes was forced back down. When I came out, Ryan was standing by the window on the phone, his voice kept very low. “Yeah, I’ll come over tonight… I know, you go ahead and order… okay, love you.” He said the last two words very softly, but I heard them clearly. He telling me he loved me was three years ago. I held Noah and fed him strawberries, one at a time, very slowly. Ryan hung up and walked over, trying to pick Noah up, but Noah pushed him away. “I want Mom!” Ryan’s face changed for a second before he quickly recovered. “Our son is close to you. Nothing I can do about that.” When he said that, there was a hint of complaint in his tone, as if Noah not being close to him was my fault. I didn’t say a word. He stood there for a while, then checked his watch. “Then I’m going. I still have stuff to do at the company.” “Wait.” He turned back at the door. “Noah had a 104.4-degree fever last night. He cried and called for Dad. He called you six times, and you didn’t answer a single one.” “I-” “You said you’d be here first thing this morning, and it’s now three in the afternoon.” “I came, didn’t I?” “To bring roses?” Ryan’s expression darkened. “Ava, are you looking for a fight today? Didn’t I say I had social obligations these next few days? Mr. Bennett is our company’s biggest client. If you offend her, are you going to take responsibility?” “Is your son more important or is the client more important?” “How can you compare them? I’m busting my ass for this family too.” “For this family?” I stood up and stared into his eyes. “Our son was lying in the hospital with a high fever, and you were out there taking care of another woman. And you call that doing it for this family?” Ryan’s eyes flickered. “How do you know… Did you check up on me?” “I don’t have time to check up on you, but next time remember to keep your female clients in line. Don’t let them send me messages.” His face changed completely. “Ava, my relationship with Mr. Bennett is purely business. Stop being unreasonable.” “I’m not causing a scene.” I sat back down and pulled Noah into my arms. “Go. Noah needs to rest.” Ryan opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but in the end he slammed the door and left. The sound of the door made Noah flinch. He looked up at me and asked, “Mom, is Dad mad?” “No. Dad’s just really busy.” “But I don’t want him to go. I want him to stay with me.” I kissed his forehead and said nothing. There were some things I couldn’t say to a three-year-old. Your dad may never come back to stay with you. This family might be falling apart.

That night, Brooke sent me a lawyer’s contact card. “Ms. Grant, the best divorce lawyer in the business. I booked you for 10 a.m. the day after tomorrow.” “Thanks.” “Ava, have you thought it through? Do you know Ryan’s asset situation?” I scrolled through my phone gallery. Over the past three months, I’d taken a lot of screenshots. The selfies Chloe sent me on the nights Ryan said he was working late. The hotel location and couple’s dinner Chloe posted on the weekend he said he was on a business trip. And the breakfast photo from this morning, taken in my kitchen. “I know. I have enough evidence too.” “All right, see you the day after tomorrow.” After hanging up, I leaned back in the visitor’s chair and stared at the ceiling. Noah was already asleep, breathing evenly, his little hand still clutching the hem of my shirt. I suddenly thought of seven years ago, when Ryan knelt in front of me to propose. Back then, he had just started his business, and he was broke. The ring was silver, and the diamond was so small you could barely see it. But his eyes were bright like stars, and he said he would definitely treat me and our child well for the rest of his life. We got married the second year, Noah was born, and the company also started getting on track. I thought life would only get better. Now that I think about it, it was probably from that time on that he got busier and busier. Busy enough to not have time for his son, busy enough to forget there was still a wife at home waiting for him. My phone buzzed again. It wasn’t Ryan. It was Chloe. She sent a new message. The location was a high-end Japanese restaurant in town. The photo showed a table full of food, and across from it sat someone whose face wasn’t visible, only one hand. I recognized that hand. A platinum wedding band, the anniversary gift I gave him last year, sat on his ring finger. I took a screenshot and saved it in my encrypted album. Then I turned off my phone and closed my eyes. On the third day of Noah’s hospitalization, his fever finally broke for good. The doctor said we could go home after one more day of observation, and I finally let out a breath and took time off work. I was a creative director at an advertising company, and I happened to have a big project in hand. The client wanted the proposal next week. But I couldn’t think about that right now. Megan’s recommended lawyer was named Lena Grant. She was known in the circle as a steel magnolia and specialized in high-net-worth divorce cases. None of the cases she’d taken had ever lost. I set up a meeting at the firm for 10 a.m. and arrived at 9:30. Lena was younger than I expected, in her early thirties, with short hair and a sharp black suit. She spoke fast, but her logic was clear. “Ms. Grant, Megan gave me a rough rundown of your situation. Show me the evidence.” I handed her my phone. She went through it for three minutes, and the crease between her brows only grew deeper. “These messages and photos are useful, but not enough.” “What else do you need?” “Bank statements, property records, company equity structure. If you can get his chats with that woman or hotel records, even better.” I was quiet for a moment. “I don’t really have access to the company side. The shares are all under his name.” “You’ve been married seven years, and the company was founded after the marriage. Under the law, you have half the rights.” Lena looked at me, her gaze sharp. “The real question is how you want to split this. Agreement divorce or litigation?” “If agreement is possible, that’s best. I don’t want this dragged out too long.” “Then let’s talk first. Tell me your bottom line, and I’ll draft the agreement.” When I walked out of the firm, it had started raining. There were several messages on my phone, all from Ryan’s mother. “Ava, what’s going on with you and Noah? Ryan says you’re throwing a fit and picking fights with him. As a wife, can’t you be more understanding of your husband?” I didn’t reply. No matter what happened, her son was always right, and I was always wrong. The year Noah was born, I had postpartum depression, and my mother-in-law said I was overthinking things. When Ryan’s startup failed, I took out my dowry money to plug the hole, and my mother-in-law said that was only right. Now that he’d found someone else outside, my mother-in-law said I was making a scene. I got into a rideshare and gave the driver the hospital address. As we passed that Japanese restaurant, I glanced inside. It was 11:30 a.m. and there weren’t many people in the restaurant, but a woman was sitting by the window, drinking coffee. Chloe. She had changed into a white dress. No one was sitting across from her, but there were two coffees on the table. The next second, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. “Hello?” “Ava, it’s me, Chloe.”

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