My secret boyfriend Lucas said he would marry me once we saved enough money to buy a house . To achieve this, I took on a part-time job delivering food after work every day to save money. One night, just as I was about to rest, I received an order: “I’ll give you an extra $20 if you can deliver a box of condoms to the Hilton Hotel within 10 minutes. Strawberry flavored.” I thought to myself, what kind of rich fool would make such a request? But I happily accepted. However, when I delivered the order, the person who came out of the room was my supposedly out-of-town boyfriend, Lucas. “Food delivery? Just leave it at the door.” Hearing that voice, I froze outside the door. My body reacted quickly, pushing open the stairwell door next to me and hiding inside. It can’t be. It just sounds similar. He’s supposed to be abroad right now. We were just video chatting before I went to sleep. I bit my lip, trying to reassure myself, but my eyes were glued to that door through the crack. Soon, the door opened and a shirtless man walked out. The man was handsome with a tall, slender build. I knew that figure all too well – it was my boyfriend, Lucas. He grabbed the delivery and went back inside, turning to reveal scratch marks all over his back. His movements were hurried, not even bothering to close the door properly. “Got the stuff. Now you can’t escape. You’re so delicate, needing strawberry flavored condoms.” Though his words were teasing, his tone was affectionate. “What, isn’t this how you like it?” the woman inside replied playfully. “Or do you prefer that prude you have at home?” “Her?” Lucas scoffed. “I’ve been looking at her for ten years. I’m bored of her.” Soon indescribable sounds could be heard from inside. I stood outside, feeling my blood run cold. My nails dug into my palms. You like to be loud, huh? Then let everyone hear. I suddenly yanked open the door that wasn’t fully closed. Ignoring the shocked cries from inside, I ran down the stairs. The delivery scooter parked downstairs had been knocked over into the bushes by security. In a daze, I didn’t know what to do. My phone rang – it was my mom. Hearing the commotion on my end, my mom anxiously asked what was wrong. I choked up, unable to speak for a long time. Finally I managed to say: “I’m fine, Mom. I don’t want to stay in the big city anymore. Can I come home early for the holidays to be with you?” I looked at the luxurious high-rise in front of me. Without another glance at the mud-covered delivery scooter, I turned and left.
At 3 AM, I received a message from Lucas. He said he was flying back today and asked me to pick him up early. I shook my heavy head, ignoring it. I couldn’t sleep all night. In my hazy state, I heard Lucas opening the door. He pushed open the bedroom door and immediately wrapped his arms around me, blanket and all, burying his face in my neck. “Why didn’t you come pick me up this morning? I’ve been working so hard on this business trip, you should show me some love.” I stared at his face, confirming it was indeed the same person I saw last night. Hard at work? More like working hard in bed with someone else. I pushed him away and got up. Seeing I wasn’t responding, Lucas grabbed my wrist. “What’s wrong? Can’t even give me a smile first thing in the morning?” I forced a smile. “It’s nothing. You must be tired from work. Go get some rest.” He frowned. “Are you kicking me out?” “Are you not feeling well?” I dodged his outstretched hand, staring at him numbly. “What’s gotten into you?” “Nothing. I just don’t feel like talking right now. You should go.” Lucas kicked the door hard in frustration. “You think I want to be here? You’re not so desirable anymore.” Seeing no reaction from me, Lucas stormed out angrily. I leaned heavily against the wall for support. I should have seen the signs, starting with his frequent business trips lately. Lucas was right – in the beginning, I was the one desperately chasing after him. Back then we were in the same school. I was being bullied by our homeroom teacher who falsely accused me of stealing because of my poor grades. He stood up and talked back to the teacher for me, resulting in both of us being punished to stand in the hallway. Seeing that I had gotten him in trouble too, I cried and apologized to him. “This isn’t your fault. Why are you apologizing?” The boy stood tall, with endless green foliage behind him. From that moment on, I followed him for ten whole years. I worked my fingers to the bone, enduring sky-high rent to live in the apartment across from his. I waited so long to finally hear him say “Aria, let’s give us a try.” Even though he refused to make our relationship public. Even though he said he’d only marry me after we saved enough to buy a place. The jacket Lucas had taken off when he first arrived was still on the sofa. An opened box of condoms fell out of his coat pocket. It was the strawberry flavored ones I had delivered to the hotel last night.
The next day at work, my colleagues were all gathered around gossiping about something. “Did you see earlier? Manager Zhou came in with a woman, I heard she’s the daughter of Sterling Group’s CEO.” “They look so perfect together standing next to our Manager Zhou!” The office door was knocked, and Lucas glanced at me without much expression. “Let me introduce everyone – this is Chloe. She’ll be your new department head from now on.” All eyes turned to me. The department head position was originally supposed to be mine. “Hello everyone, I’m Chloe,” she said with a bright smile. But I felt chilled to the bone. It was her – that voice belonged to the woman who was with Lucas last night. A colleague noticed my pale face and asked if I was okay, assuming I was upset about losing the promotion. I shook my head weakly. But Chloe walked up to me. “You must be Aria?” “The Harmony Corporation project bid is in a week. I need all the materials by tomorrow.” She looked at me, seemingly with kindness. But her words meant several times the usual workload. I instinctively glanced at Lucas, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was smiling at Chloe.
Late at night in the office, I sent the final confirmed documents to Chloe for review. Even though I had decided to leave, I still wanted to do a good job on my last assignment. I rubbed my sore neck and opened my phone to book a flight home in two weeks. Just then Lucas called, his voice cold. “Why aren’t you home yet?” “Still working overtime at the office.” “Why are you always working late? Do you need me to pick you up?” His tone seemed to soften a bit. I thought of Lucas leaving work with Chloe earlier, and leaned back in my chair tiredly. “No need, I’ll still be a while. I’ll head back on my own later.” “Ungrateful!” he snarled, and immediately hung up. It was past midnight when I finally left. As soon as I entered the complex, I saw two intimate figures entwined under a dim street lamp. “Aren’t you afraid Aria will see us like this?” “I just asked her, she’s still working overtime at the office.” In the moonlight, I saw Chloe look directly at me, smirking triumphantly. “I gave big sister all that extra work to keep her busy. You’re not upset on her behalf, are you?” The man with his back to me laughed huskily. “As long as you’re happy.”
Time flew by quickly as I threw myself into work, deliberately trying not to think about matters of the heart. After several late nights, I finally finished the project. In the meeting with Harmony Corporation, I had a great discussion with their representative about collaboration details. Lucas sat silently to the side, just watching me intently. The Harmony rep smiled and extended his hand to me, saying “You’re very talented. I hope we have the chance to work together again in the future.” Before I could respond, Lucas quickly grasped that hand. “Our company also hopes to have more opportunities to collaborate with Harmony in the future.” Chloe hurriedly chimed in sweetly, but when she looked at me her eyes were full of hatred. Back at the office, Lucas cornered me in the stairwell. “Alright, enough of this. Did I do something to upset you recently? I apologize.” “I haven’t been sleeping well without you by my side lately.” He placed his hands on either side of me, his eyes as gentle as they used to be. I looked at this two-faced man in front of me. I had known him for ten years, yet it felt like I never truly knew him at all. I was about to answer when faint footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Lucas immediately backed away from me. I watched him put distance between us, feeling the air grow thin. Snippets of conversation drifted over: “Did you see the photo Chloe posted in the group chat?” “I didn’t know Aria delivers food after work. Is she really struggling that much?” Lucas pulled out his phone to look at the photo of me in a dirty uniform, sweat and grime covering half my face. My phone remained silent. I wasn’t in that group chat. From outside came what sounded like Chloe’s loud mocking laughter. Lucas gave me a look of disgust. “Have I not provided enough for you? Why do you need to embarrass yourself like this?” “It’s not like we have any relationship in everyone else’s eyes. I’m not embarrassing you.” Someone called my name from outside, breaking the tense atmosphere.
I stared blankly at the overseas assignment application form my boss had given me. “You did an excellent job on the Harmony project. Their representative spoke very highly of you.” “The department head position was originally meant for you, but your Manager Zhou said you still needed more experience.” “The company has an exchange opportunity in Germany now. I’m thinking of sending you.” I had been planning to resign, but didn’t expect such an opportunity to come up. Lucas knocked on my desk, snapping me out of my daze. “It’s time to go. I’ll take you to dinner.” I glanced around – all my colleagues had left. Of course, our relationship only existed when no one else was around. I wanted to refuse, but Lucas forcefully dragged me to a restaurant and ordered a table full of my favorite dishes. We tacitly avoided mentioning what happened in the stairwell earlier. I no longer had the energy to argue with him either. Perhaps after going abroad, this relationship would truly be over. It began silently, and would end with no one knowing. I lowered my head to hide my emotions. Lucas suddenly spoke up: “About that exchange opportunity to Germany the boss mentioned to you – can you let Chloe have it instead?” I jerked my head up, staring at him in shock. “She’s the department head and main person in charge of this project. She’s more suitable than you.” “Why?” “I know your abilities better than anyone. You’re not at that level yet. You only did well on this case because Chloe helped you, right?” Hearing those words, I froze, staring at this man who looked at me with a hint of disdain. “Why is it that in your eyes, my career can be so casually tossed aside?!” “Your career?” Lucas sneered. “What career do you have? A career in food delivery?”
The dinner ended unpleasantly. Lucas’s car drove away from me as I stood in the cold wind waiting for a taxi. Just then I received a message from Chloe: It was a photo of an application form. “I can’t believe Lucas gave me this opportunity after I just mentioned it to him.” “Then again, given your financial situation, you probably couldn’t afford the expenses of going abroad anyway.” Time seemed to freeze for a moment. I started frantically calling Lucas, but he kept hanging up. Finally after who knows how many attempts, Lucas’s cold voice came through: “Aria, don’t overestimate your position just because you had a little success. I don’t need your permission to give this opportunity to Chloe.” “I won’t be staying at your place for a while. You should reflect on your behavior.” My nails dug into my palms, my whole body shaking with pain. In the end I could only laugh bitterly. Of course, he’s the manager. What could I do? Back home, I started packing to leave. I didn’t have many belongings. I had always lived frugally, trying to save money quickly so I could start a family with Lucas. But now… I opened my computer, ready to submit the resignation letter I had prepared earlier. Suddenly my phone rang. My boss’s stern voice came through: “Aria, confidential information from the bid proposal has been leaked. Harmony’s CEO has reported it to the police.” “Come to the office right away.”
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