My boyfriend gave my $10,000 annual bonus to his childhood friend, Chloe. I stood alone on the rooftop, tears streaming down my face. Then I scrolled past an online challenge posted by his friend, Caleb Reed: 【New Year Breakup Challenge! First girl to break up before midnight wins $10,000!】 I stared at that post for a long, long time. After all, I was just $10,000 short of my Grandpa Leo’s medical expenses. After three minutes of intense debate, I messaged Caleb instantly: 【Hi, I’d like to sign up for the Breakup Challenge!】 Right after sending it, I felt a pang of regret. Caleb Reed was known for hating love-addicts more than anything. And I was infamous in their circle as the biggest love-addict, having simped for Liam for three years straight. Caleb had always been the coldest towards me. It was almost midnight now; what if the challenge was already over? To my surprise, he replied almost immediately. 【Send a picture to prove you’ve broken up.】 His tone was unmistakable, like a CEO giving orders to an employee. A shiver ran down my spine. Among all of Liam’s friends, Caleb was the only one who, despite his young age, had already taken over his family’s empire. I replied: 【Okay, please wait a moment.】 Then I instantly clicked open Liam’s chat and sent him a message: 【Let’s break up.】 Liam replied almost instantly: 【Aria, you’re breaking up with me just for a $10,000 prize?】 I didn’t dare make Caleb wait, so I quickly replied: 【No joke, I’m serious.】 After sending it, I took a screenshot and forwarded it to Caleb. Caleb messaged me first: 【Delete all contact info for your boyfriend. Block him, and you can get another $10,000.】 So, I didn’t even bother replying to Liam. I quickly deleted and blocked him. Then I sent the screen recording as proof to Caleb. The next second, my phone buzzed with a notification: $20,000 had landed in my bank account. I couldn’t believe it – this breakup challenge was actually real!
The next day, I didn’t go looking for Liam, but he came to me. He stared down at me, clearly annoyed: “Aria, you actually dared to block me?” I calmly explained: “We’ve already broken up.” He looked impatient: “Is a prize really enough to make you act like this?” I took a deep breath, enunciating each word: “Liam, that money was for Grandpa Leo’s surgery.” Liam froze mid-sentence. Immediately after, Chloe, his childhood friend, clutched his arm and frantically apologized to me: “I’m so sorry, Aria, I didn’t know it was that important! I’ll give you the money back, please don’t be mad at Liam, okay?” Liam snapped out of it, frowning: “You don’t need to apologize. I gave her the bonus, it’s hers.” He saw my silence and, for once, his tone softened towards me: “I messed up, but she needs the prize more than you. She needs it to prove herself to her family. I’ll cover your grandpa’s surgery.” I pressed my lips together, about to speak. But then I looked up and saw Caleb Reed standing not far behind Liam. He was watching me from across the crowd, his gaze chillingly indifferent. It was like he was daring me to say yes, ready to pounce if I did. Liam followed my gaze and then looked surprised: “Caleb, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the company today?” Seeing this, Caleb walked over, calmly explaining: “Day off.” Liam didn’t pay much attention. A few seconds later, he remembered something and casually asked: “Oh, by the way, that breakup challenge you posted last night was pretty fun. Did anyone actually participate?” Caleb’s eyes flickered to me. Then I heard him give a noncommittal “Yeah, someone did.” I glanced at Caleb. Since I’d already taken his money last night, I wouldn’t be getting back with Liam. So, I told Liam seriously: “I’ve already got the money for Grandpa Leo. And I wasn’t kidding about breaking up.” “Liam, let’s just end things here.”
After that, I didn’t see Liam again. My meetings with Caleb also became less frequent. Grandpa Leo recovered well after his surgery and was discharged soon after. Ending a relationship, I was still a bit unaccustomed to being single. So when Liam’s friend, Noah, asked me, “Want to give us a try?” I said yes. He was really good to me, sending flowers and gifts, and even found an excellent doctor for Grandpa Leo. It made me feel loved again. I decided to bake him a batch of my specialty cookies. But at the baseball field, I saw Liam and Noah together. Liam frowned, saying, “Cookies again? I’m so over them.” I reached out: “Give them back.” He looked annoyed: “Still mad?” Noah took the bag: “Liam, I forgot to mention, she’s my girlfriend now.” Liam froze, his lips tightening: “You’re that desperate you’re dating my ex?” Noah ignored him, turning to me with a smile: “I’ll take you to a new restaurant.” Liam looked at me again: “Aria, don’t you have any new tricks? Are you doing this just to piss me off?” Just as he finished speaking, I felt a gaze on me. It was Caleb. He was looking at me with a frown, like I was making a huge mistake. Noah stepped in front of me: “She made these for me, it has nothing to do with you.” He ruffled my hair: “Wait for me, I’ll change and then take you to dinner.” Liam scoffed and turned to the changing room as well. Only Caleb and I were left. I was still a little intimidated by him. I mumbled a quiet greeting and then looked down at my phone. But he didn’t leave. After a while, he walked up to me. “Aria.” I looked up. His tone was calm: “Noah is just like Liam, not a good guy.” I paused. But remembering Noah’s care for Grandpa Leo, I still managed a polite smile: “This time it’s different. He’s really good to me…” Caleb closed his eyes. A flicker of rare irritation crossed his face. Just then, Noah emerged. I quickly stood up. Before leaving, I whispered to Caleb: “We’re good now… but thank you for the warning anyway.” Caleb no longer looked at me, his voice returning to its usual flat tone: “Whatever.”
After that, Caleb really didn’t contact me again. Noah even planned to take me on a trip to Europe. We visited many cities and countries. He went along with everything I wanted, always following my suggestions. Until the third day in London. I found out he was cheating on me, too, through his phone. We had our first big fight. Afterward, he left me stranded on a strange London street. I squatted blankly on the street corner, lost in thought for a long time. I tried to stand up, but my legs were numb, and I accidentally knocked my calf against a nearby stone. I sniffled, then sat on the stone, waiting for the pain to subside, while texting Noah. I was halfway through typing when a shadow fell over me. I looked up. Caleb Reed, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, stood before me. He was looking down, his expression unreadable, at my chat screen. I froze for two seconds, remembering that he had warned me, and I hadn’t listened. I felt a wave of embarrassment and tried to hide my phone behind my back. He reached out his hand, his voice brooking no argument: “Give me your phone.” I felt a strange compulsion and handed it over obediently. His gaze swept over my half-written long message, then he deleted it all. His words to me were as concise as ever: “One hundred thousand. Break up and block him. I’ll take you back home.” As he spoke, he typed a new message for me: 【We’re done.】 The second before hitting send, he symbolically asked for my consent: “Okay?” I nodded faintly: “Okay.” So he sent the message, deleted, and blocked. After he finished, a brief silence fell. He made a phone call, seemingly arranging something. After hanging up, he explained to me calmly: “I have a meeting tomorrow; it won’t finish until the day after.” He paused, then asked: “Do you have somewhere to stay?” I shook my head. After being left on the street, I hadn’t even retrieved my luggage, let alone booked a new hotel. He said: “Then stay at my place for now. I’ll take you back home the day after tomorrow.” Then, he noticed the injury on my leg. “Wait here. I’ll go buy some medicine.” Ten minutes later, he returned. Caleb crouched in front of me, his hand easily steadying my ankle to prevent me from moving. With his other hand, he gently pressed a cotton swab onto my wound. Just as he finished applying the medicine, a voice suddenly came from behind us. Noah had returned, and his eyes held a hint of surprise: “Caleb, what are you doing here?” He said, his gaze falling on my leg, which Caleb was holding, and asked with a smile: “Why is your hand on my girlfriend’s leg?”
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