Every time Alexander cheated on me, he would transfer $500,000 to my account. After three years of dating, I had already achieved several of my financial goals. This time, he transferred $1 million to me. I accepted the money and immediately packed my bags to leave. By the time he found me, I had already become a teacher. Alexander looked at me with disdain, “Stop fooling around. What could you possibly teach them?” I casually made up an answer, “Of course, I’ll use my personal experience to teach girls how to find rich, generous husbands who are rarely home!” He completely lost it, his eyes turning red as he questioned me, “Lily, am I just a teaching tool to you?” “Of course not!” I replied. Before he could feel relieved, I added, “At best, you’re a failed case study, because you always come home…” After being with Alexander for three years, I had achieved several of my financial goals. I successfully transformed from a poor college student to a young wealthy woman. It wasn’t because he loved me so much. It was because every time he cheated, he would transfer $500,000 to me. One can’t reject money just for the sake of dignity, right? So I diligently played the role of a love-struck girlfriend by his side. Many people in our social circle laughed at me. They thought that even if I caught Alexander in bed with another woman, I would turn a blind eye and continue to stay with him. I wholeheartedly agreed. If they knew that the price of being the most cheated-on person was getting several million dollars, they would surely think I was lucky. Compared to all that money, being cheated on was just water under the bridge. However, this time was different. I received $1 million at once. I was a bit conflicted. Unlike most cheating men, Alexander came to see me very frequently. He also had high demands. Although we always used protection and had regular check-ups, I still couldn’t help but worry. Deep down, I found him somewhat disgusting. A man shared by so many women – I couldn’t bear to think how dirty he might be. Looking at the transfer notification on my phone, I was torn. On one side was a job with an astronomical salary but the constant risk of disease; on the other was a free life without any more payouts. My eyelid twitched suddenly. I seemed to see a future version of myself, infected with a dirty disease, my body oozing with pus. One can’t risk their life just for money, right? Besides, I was already a young wealthy woman with millions in my account. I could easily do what Alexander did – keep a few young lovers, turn the tables, and be the boss myself. As for work, I’d figure something out! My life was more important. So I decided – I would leave him! I had made up my mind to leave, but I couldn’t depart just yet. First, I hadn’t received my diploma yet. Second, I planned to sell the jewelry and bags Alexander had given me. Each gift was compensation for emotional damage. If I couldn’t take them with me, I would be truly restless. The gifts filled an entire display cabinet, and I didn’t know where to start. While I was lost in thought, Jessica sent me a video clip. She had been secretly in love with Alexander for years but never expected me to snatch him away. So she had always disliked me. The video was dimly lit, clearly taken in a private room. Alexander sat in the middle of a group, with a girl in a white dress next to him. Her features were very similar to mine. However, her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, with downturned corners, making her look lovable. My eyes, on the other hand, were slightly upturned at the corners, sharp and aloof. They were playing a game, and the bottle on the table pointed at the girl next to Alexander. The punishment was to kiss someone of the opposite sex at the table. Everyone started teasing them. The girl giggled and hid in Alexander’s arms. “Sophia is shy, don’t force her,” he said, clearly protective. “Come on, Alex, don’t be a spoilsport,” someone said. The next second, Alexander cupped the girl’s face and gently kissed her. The video ended there. Jessica sent another message. [Lily, Sophia is Alexander’s true love. You can’t compete with her. You should break up with Alexander while you can.] After a while, she awkwardly added. [I’m not warning you out of kindness. It’s just that I despise Sophia more than I dislike you.] I couldn’t help but be curious, [Who exactly is this Sophia?]
She quickly replied with a long message. It seemed she had prepared this information, just waiting for me to ask. After skimming through it, I found that these two had a romantic entanglement worthy of a prime-time soap opera. Sophia, originally named Sophie, was the daughter of the Zhou family’s housekeeper. She was the same age as Alexander and grew up with him. You could say they were childhood sweethearts. On Alexander’s 18th birthday, Sophia offered herself as a gift to him. When Alexander’s parents found out, they were furious. They immediately fired the housekeeper and gave Sophia’s family a large sum of money to send her abroad. Before leaving, Sophia secretly went to the police station to change her name. She left a letter for Alexander and then disappeared without a trace. [The old Sophie is dead. From now on, there’s only Sophia, living with your name.] Alexander was depressed for quite a while after this, until he saw my face, which was 80% similar to Sophia’s. The little flame in his heart reignited. Sophia. I silently mouthed this name. Alexander had indeed protected her well. In all the years we had been together, I had never heard this name. The only clue was Alexander’s username on SnapChat. “Starting anew” When we first got together, I once asked Alexander why all his usernames were this. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze falling into space as if reminiscing about something. After a while, he finally spoke. “Starting anew, naturally hoping that the stories in life will be better than my expectations.” At that time, I didn’t catch the deeper meaning in his words. I just thought that Alexander, who seemed to care about nothing, actually had such delicate thoughts. Now everything had a reasonable explanation. Sophia, Starting anew. All he wanted was for his story with Sophia to be better than he expected. One million dollars – only Sophia was worth him giving double the price. My chest tightened, and tears suddenly poured out. Actually, I had rarely cried for Alexander anymore. If I had to cry every time he cheated, I’m sure my tears would have dried up long ago. But this time was different. I had truly loved Alexander. But his feelings for me were just using me as a substitute for his true love. When I met Alexander, I was only 18 years old. I had come from a small town in the Midwest to study at the best university in New York City. After performing a dance at the freshman welcome party, I had just returned backstage when I received his friend request. He pursued me for half a year, and almost everyone knew about it. But my reputation wasn’t great. There were always people gossiping behind my back at school. “That Lily from the Literature Department, she thinks she’s so pretty that she can keep Alexander waiting.” “With the Zhou family’s status, how could Lily, a poor student from some small town, ever be good enough?” “If Alexander was pursuing me, I would have agreed long ago.” “Just watch, I bet you Lily is just playing hard to get. She’ll give in within a month.” Alexander helped me deal with these voices, publicly declaring his love online. [I’m the one shamelessly pursuing Lily, but I haven’t succeeded yet. Please don’t scare away my future girlfriend, everyone!] I was too young then and mistook him for a savior rescuing me from public opinion. I mistook gratitude for love and agreed to his pursuit. But I overlooked the fact that if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been caught in the whirlpool of public opinion in the first place.
It wasn’t until three years later, today, that I finally realized Alexander was just using me as a substitute. The passionate first love of my youth turned out to be nothing but an empty dream. I wallowed in melancholy for a while, but quickly snapped out of it when I saw my bank balance. That’s when I realized Alexander hadn’t come home tonight. In the past, he never stayed out overnight. Even if he played with other girls until dawn, he would always come back to sleep with me. I had always secretly complained that he was disturbing my beauty sleep. Today, not waiting for him made me even angrier. Damn Alexander, not coming back and not even giving me a heads up, making me wait for nothing. But thinking about it, it made sense. After all, Sophia was his true love. How could she be treated like other girls? I was glad to be free of the trouble and decided to go to sleep first. In my drowsy state, someone hugged my waist from behind. It was Alexander. “Honey, why didn’t you wait up for me tonight?” he complained, nuzzling my neck from behind. He was quite drunk and not entirely lucid. I pretended to turn over and pushed him to the floor. After a dull thud, Alexander passed out. I jumped out of bed and angrily kicked him twice. Not wanting to stay in the same space with him, I went back to the living room sofa. His phone was on the table, and a message notification popped up, like Pandora’s box calling to me. I couldn’t resist opening it. It was from Sophia. [Alex, I’m home! Thank you for sending me back.] There was only one page of chat history, a message Alexander had sent not long ago. [Sophia, don’t listen to their nonsense. Lily can’t compare to you at all.] [I’m just playing around with her. You’re the one I truly love!] Perhaps Alexander’s friends had joked about how Lily and Sophia looked similar, upsetting her. I laughed bitterly at myself. Alexander, is disparaging me your way of showing Sophia how much you care? When Alexander sobered up, he returned to his cold demeanor. He showed no intention of explaining the million-dollar transfer. Looking at his calm and indifferent face, I felt utterly deflated. After careful consideration, I still asked, “Why was it a million dollars this time?” Perhaps he would tell me the truth. “I thought about how you’ve been with me for so long. If not for your contributions, at least for your efforts.” His tone was casual, as if he was just appeasing a pet throwing a tantrum. I lost my patience and laid it all out, “It’s because of Sophia, isn’t it?” He finally looked up at me, “How do you know about her?” “Never mind that. Since your true love is back, let’s just break up. We can part on good terms.” “Don’t be ridiculous, Lily. Sophia and I are just friends.” “Friends? What kind of friends kiss each other?” He stared at me for a few seconds, then chuckled, “So you’re jealous.” “I kissed Sophia last night to help her out of an awkward situation. Don’t overthink it.” I was utterly speechless, “Don’t be so full of yourself. I said I want to break up, do you understand?” Something about this statement seemed to anger Alexander. He suddenly stood up, “Lily, stop acting up!” “Everything you eat, wear, use, and live in now – which of it isn’t bought with my money?” “Even if we were to break up, it’s not your place to bring it up!”
I was stunned. So this was how he defined our relationship. Alexander also realized he had said something wrong. He walked over and ruffled my hair, “Come on, don’t be upset. I was wrong earlier.” After saying this, he ignored my emotions, put on his coat, and left. I sat dumbfounded on the sofa, completely unable to understand his thinking. He clearly had someone he loved, yet he still came to pursue me. When I fell for him, he kept other women outside. Now that his true love had returned, and I voluntarily stepped aside, he was still dissatisfied. He didn’t love me, but he wouldn’t let me go either. I thought for a long time but still couldn’t understand Alexander’s logic. I could only conclude that he was “cheap”. Eating from his bowl while eyeing the pot, and still wanting to take away the leftovers. He might be cheap, but I was definitely going to break up. After the unpleasant parting with Alexander, he didn’t contact me for a week. Not having to serve my sugar daddy, I had plenty of time on my hands. I packed up everything in the house and sent it to a second-hand luxury store, not even sparing the vases and ornaments. They gave me a very satisfying figure. Looking at the increased numbers in my bank account, my resentment towards Alexander vanished into thin air. Who could be dissatisfied with a god of wealth? To successfully run away with the money, I decided to mislead Alexander a bit. I turned and posted a heavily edited selfie on social media. I deliberately deepened the shadows under my eyes, making me look 90% similar to Sophia. Caption: [I don’t need a lot of money, I just want a lot of love.] This move pleased Alexander, and he messaged saying he would come home tonight. The worker who had been on a week-long break returned to her job, feeling slightly uncomfortable. When Alexander entered the door, he was shocked by the scene before him, “Was the house robbed?” In the huge mansion, only a few pieces of large furniture remained, everything else had been cleaned out. I walked up to him and skillfully took off his suit jacket, “No, I just felt annoyed looking at everything, so I had Old Wang take it all to sell.” “Then go pick out some new things in a few days, use my card.” I hooked my arms around Alexander’s neck, “Have a drink with me?” He was about to agree when his phone suddenly rang. One glance, and he hurriedly answered. I caught a glimpse of the contact name on the screen, “Sophia” “Lily, there’s a problem at the company, I need to go deal with it.” I held him back, “Alexander, can’t you stay?” “Don’t be difficult, this project is really important.” I didn’t insist. I let go of his hand and stared at him for a long time, “Go then, be safe on the road.” I had my own agenda. After all, he was someone I had loved deeply in my youth. I wanted to say a proper goodbye at the end of our story. But when it came down to a choice, I became the option he gave up. Looking around this house I had lived in for three years one last time, I finally felt no attachment. I got on a plane leaving New York City directly. As soon as I got off the plane, I saw my dad waiting at the arrival gate. His hair had turned completely gray, his eyes searching anxiously for me. I ran over and stood in front of this small, tanned old man. “It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back. Are you leaving again this time?”
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