Everyone knew I had loved the Chen family’s young master for ten years, but my love was unrequited. Meanwhile, the notoriously playboy prince had a change of heart and pursued me relentlessly for three years, causing quite a stir in the city. Finally, I let go of my obsession with Ryan Chen and took the prince’s hand. He was so overjoyed that he immediately bought a building as a gift for me. After we got together, he granted my every wish. Even the way he looked at me was always full of deep affection. People said the prince was madly in love with me. But on our engagement day, I overheard him secretly calling his friend: “Damn, I went too far. She seems to have latched onto me now. I shouldn’t have pretended so convincingly back then.” I let out a bitter laugh and disappeared from the engagement party. Later, I heard that the usually arrogant prince cried his heart out at the engagement party, staring at the diamond ring I had left behind. The engagement party was about to begin, but Ethan still hadn’t shown up to greet the guests. Ryan, who had been waiting in the corner, found me with a glass of champagne. “Where’s Ethan? How can he be missing on such an important day? Or is he planning to run away? If so, I’d be happy to take his place as today’s groom.” “You’re so annoying. He’s probably in the dressing room. I’ll go find him.” Seeing that Ryan wanted to follow, I stopped him: “It’s my engagement party today. Are you really going to ruin the happiness I’ve worked so hard for? Ryan, don’t be so selfish.” With that, I turned and headed towards the dressing rooms without looking back. I went to Ethan’s private dressing room and sure enough, heard his voice inside. Before I could knock and enter, I heard Ethan’s scornful laugh: “Damn, I went too far. She seems to have latched onto me now. I shouldn’t have pretended so convincingly back then.” “I only did it to piss off Ryan. Who knew she’d take it seriously?” “Now that I’ve caught her, I’m finding it boring.” My hand froze as I was about to knock. Ethan didn’t sound drunk, and he hadn’t even had time to drink today. More offensive words came from inside: “And after tasting her, I just find it pretty uninteresting.” I don’t know what the person on the other end of the phone said, but satisfaction dripped from Ethan’s voice. “She may have chased after Ryan for ten years and seemed so pure, but too bad…” I took a deep breath and pressed my ear closer to the door, wanting to hear what else Ethan had to say. Ethan sighed: “Too bad, even though I was her first man, I wasn’t her first love.” “She loved Ryan for ten years. Who knows if her heart is truly clear of him.” “If it wasn’t to irritate Ryan, thinking I could catch Ava to annoy him, I wouldn’t have put on this act of quietly guarding her with deep love.” “I’ve chased her for so long, wouldn’t it be more interesting to run away now?” I couldn’t hear a trace of guilt, pity or love in his voice. Only eager excitement. My fingernails dug into my palms as my heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles, the pain suffocating. I had always thought Ryan would be my salvation and endpoint. I had made sure my feelings for him weren’t just gratitude, but genuine love, before accepting his proposal. That day, he was so happy he set off fireworks all night. He was so overjoyed he bought an island to propose to me, releasing fireworks on the rooftop all night. I thought this was love, was romance. I never imagined it was all an act to get revenge on Ryan. So all the past displays of deep affection and help were just performances? Standing at the door, I felt dazed as memories came flooding back. At twelve years old, I was brought back to the Chens from the countryside. Back then I was shy and insecure, ill at ease. That year, Ryan simply shielded me from some bullies, and I fell hopelessly in love with him. I chased after him so obviously that everyone knew. But he was extremely disgusted by me. Later I finally felt it was pointless and gave up on Ryan. That’s when I noticed Ethan, who had been quietly guarding me all along. It was pouring rain that night, and he held an umbrella over me the whole time. He looked at me and said: “Ava, I don’t ask that you see me. I only hope that from now on you can be free to follow your heart.” How laughable it all seems now. I had cleared my heart to welcome Ethan’s arrival. I allowed myself to fall step by step into his gentleness. Just as I started dreaming of a sweet future with him… I never imagined Ethan would deliver such a painful blow. My nose stung as tears welled up uncontrollably in my eyes. A tear fell, quickly wiped away. Ethan’s voice hadn’t stopped. “To get revenge on a woman, of course it’s most interesting to let her fall hard from the height of happiness.” Boundless anger pressed down on me, nearly suffocating me. I forced out a bitter smile, but tears still fell uncontrollably. After that pained laugh, I turned and left the engagement party. There were still two hours until the party was set to begin. I returned to the home we had shared for three years. I took out all the gifts he had given me over the years and cut them to pieces one by one. How strange. I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, so why were there still so many tears falling? I once heard a saying. Heartbreak is like catching rheumatism – during the day when it’s sunny, you feel fine. But at night the damp seeps into your bones, causing piercing pain. Perhaps this was just my withdrawal symptoms. I changed out of my engagement gown and laid it flat on the ground. Expressionless, I used scissors to slash a tear down the middle. I wanted to destroy all of this with my own hands. After venting my emotions, I packed my bags and left everything else behind. I went to the high-speed rail station. I needed to get far away from this place that had hurt me so much. While waiting for my train, I opened a social media app and started scrolling through short videos. I came across a suggested account that seemed familiar. The username was “I love my Ethan”. For some reason, I clicked into her profile. It was a record of a girl’s secret crush on a guy. The most recent video was posted half an hour ago, location tagged in the city. The caption read: “The man I’ve loved for ten years is about to get engaged. I want to gather my courage and confess. Everyone please cheer me on!” In her photo, I saw a familiar hand. It was Ethan’s. The comments section was full of criticism. “Wow, you have such great taste! Playing out such a basic plot, I’m truly in awe! I can never match your level of intelligence!” “Wow, I admire your courage and confidence! Let me guess, you probably think you’re super charming? Getting engaged is only natural, you must be a match made in heaven! Otherwise you wouldn’t have the thick skin to interfere in other people’s lives. It’s not the thief we fear, but the one who covets what’s not theirs!” The girl called “I love my Ethan” wasn’t angry at all. She wrote long responses in the comments, posting about her and Ethan’s love story. Looking at the young girl’s flowing words on the screen, every line filled with deep adoration for Ethan and their supposed “love story”, a mocking smile tugged at my lips. So it turns out I was never the only victim, nor the only fool. As the high-speed train started moving, it was exactly the time our engagement party was supposed to begin. My social media was flooded with messages from mutual friends. I saw that girl post a selfie with the caption: “How is this not a kind of success?” Commenters rushed in. “What happened? What happened? How did it go, did he agree?” “I hope people like this blogger go extinct soon and stop harming others.” “Agreed with the comment above.” … Ethan waited in place at first. After a long time without seeing me appear, the guests started whispering amongst themselves. Ethan’s expression also darkened. The doors to the banquet hall were pushed open. All eyes turned to look. To Ethan’s disappointment, the newcomer wasn’t his fiancée, but Lily. His mistress. As soon as she entered, Lily grabbed Ethan’s arm. “Ethan, let’s leave together.” “This is my engagement party. I didn’t invite you. Since you’re here, go sit with the other guests.” “No, I won’t!” … Ryan, watching from the side, took out his phone to record everything happening. “Ava is missing!” Only then did Ethan realize I had run away from the wedding. The usually arrogant prince cried his heart out at the engagement party, staring at the diamond ring I had left behind. Ryan stood in front of Ethan and said: “Ethan, you can’t give her a future, but I can.” “She’s made the right decision to fight for herself.” Ethan glared at the man before him with bloodshot eyes. “Like you’re any better? Stop pretending. She’s just angry. I’ll make up with her.” Lily had started a livestream while trying to steal the groom. Netizens watching through their screens witnessed everything. Commenters cheered that justice had been served. “This is like the ultimate satisfying novel!” “I thought we were about to see another brainless romantic emerge!” “I hope that girl doesn’t look back!” … Watching the trees fly by outside the window, I finally felt the lightness of escape. I looked at the messages from both Ryan and Ethan. “Ava, that bastard Ethan isn’t right for you. Wait for me.” “Ava, let me explain!” … Out of sight, out of mind. I simply blocked them all. After arriving in M City, I quickly settled in. I rented a storefront and opened my own coffee shop. During this time, I received countless calls from Ethan. Not just from him, but from Ryan too. I blocked them all. Ryan used a mutual friend’s account to find me. “Guess what show you missed that day?” “Ryan, I don’t care. Please stop trying to contact me.” I received a video from “Ryan”. The video was from our engagement day. Ethan was being held by a girl. “Ethan, don’t be sad. You still have me by your side. Just let that woman run away.” “Didn’t you say you were going to use this engagement party to dump her? This is a good thing! Now we can finally be together openly.” Another video, still starring Ethan and that girl. In the dim light, they stood face to face. Amid cheers, the girl stood on tiptoe to kiss his lips. And Ethan didn’t dodge. The video ended abruptly there. “Ava, Ethan has wanted to dump you for a long time. Don’t you understand? He doesn’t want to be with you. He minds your past, he minds that you chased after me.” “He only approached you to get revenge on me. You did exactly the right thing. He’s not someone worth entrusting yourself to.” “What are you trying to say?” I replied impatiently. “Ava, at least for these past ten years, no other woman has appeared by my side, right?” “Whether I liked you or liked Ethan, those were my own choices. I accept the consequences and have no regrets.” “Stop trying to guilt me.” I thought that would be my last interaction with Ryan. Until I ran into him again two weeks later. Ryan walked into the shop with an ambiguous smile, saying “Long time no see.” I looked at him calmly and said, “What can I get for you?” “Ava, why did you stop chasing after me back then?” I found it bizarre. I had chased him for ten years – wasn’t that enough? Ever since I gave up pursuing him three years ago, he started frequently seeking me out to make his presence known. This time he appeared before me so inexplicably, saying such strange things. Perhaps Ryan never truly liked me either. Like Ethan, it was just his ego at work. But Ryan carefully began, “Now that you and him have no chance, why don’t you… consider me?” I almost laughed from anger. Are all men like this? When you’re earnestly offering them your heart, they disdain it. But once you withdraw that blatant affection, they all rush to tell you they love you. “Ryan, I thought I made myself clear last time. I don’t like you anymore. I have no feelings for you. Even though Ethan and I have split up, I still wouldn’t choose you.” “Why not? Our backgrounds and looks are well-matched. We grew up together – aren’t we the most suitable match?” I snorted coldly: “So I have to choose between you and Ethan? Can I not survive without either of you?” “That’s not what I meant, Ava, I…” Ryan tried to grab my hand but I dodged. From behind, Ethan’s familiar voice rang out: “What are you two doing?” I looked past Ryan to see Ethan, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles underneath. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Ethan’s face was grim as he walked up to Ryan, barely containing his anger. Facing the oppressive yet domineering aura, he punched Ryan in the face. Ryan only reacted for a moment before the two started brawling in my shop. Fortunately, there were no other customers at the time. “Ryan, if you dare go after Ava again, I swear I’ll kill you,” Ethan raged. “I’m her fiancé! Don’t even think about stealing from me.” Ryan retorted angrily: “Ethan, like you’re any better? Can you honestly say you didn’t pursue Ava just to piss me off?” “Can you say your feelings for her were pure from start to finish?” “Why aren’t you happily together with your Lily? What are you doing here?” Ethan froze, looking at me helplessly. “I know everything.” But Ethan still tried desperately to explain: “Ava, Lily and I are just friends. I only felt she was similar to a younger you.” “It’s not what you think between us.” Hearing Ethan’s flimsy excuses, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. “Ethan, I’m not an idiot. I can see for myself.” With that, I opened that young girl’s profile and played the video of them kissing. “Ava, we were just playing a game then. It wasn’t real. And… and we were about to get engaged, weren’t we?” I smiled through my tears: “Ethan, I admit I really liked you. But that doesn’t mean I can tolerate being deceived.” Ryan finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Ethan, you’re such a bastard!” The two quickly started fighting again, even taking it outside. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I simply locked the door. “You two can keep fighting. I’m closing up.” With that, I turned and went upstairs. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t suddenly gotten sick, Ava wouldn’t have locked us out.” “You have some nerve to talk. You did such shameless things and still want to come beg for forgiveness. Do you think that’s possible?” “I think Ava is just sick of you.” The two argued back and forth endlessly. In the end, they could only leave separately. When my best friend learned I was planning to settle here permanently, she was so excited she slapped her thigh. To help me take my mind off things, she took me to a friend’s gathering. It was a group of acquaintances, so we had plenty to talk about. After a few drinks, someone pushed open the door. Seeing who it was, several people stood up to welcome him.
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