On my birthday, Ethan proposed to me. But the moment he pulled out the ring, Chloe snatched it from his hands and slipped it onto her own finger. Ethan just smiled, looking at her with absolute adoration. "Chloe is always so playful." The room went dead silent. Everyone was waiting for my reaction—the actual girlfriend. They expected a screaming match, a hair-pulling reality TV catfight. Instead, I casually popped a party popper. As confetti rained down on them, I smiled and offered my congratulations. "A match made in heaven. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness." 1 Ethan stared at me through the falling confetti. Chloe happily wrapped her arms around his neck, acting like a spoiled child. "I love this ring! I want it." It was as if Ethan had suddenly snapped out of a trance. He finally seemed to remember that this was my birthday party. He pulled Chloe's hands off his neck and nervously tried to explain. "Chloe's just messing around." The guests were all mutual friends of mine and Ethan's. They quickly tried to laugh it off and ease the tension. "Tonight's your special night! Don't let irrelevant people ruin your mood." Irrelevant? I looked at Chloe standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ethan. They were childhood sweethearts. The golden boy and the perfect girl. She raised her hand, deliberately showing off the ring on her middle finger. The fit was absolutely perfect. It was a silent declaration: I was the irrelevant one here. I raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with Ethan. "Since the ring is already on, shouldn't you guys head straight to the honeymoon suite?" Ethan's face instantly darkened. He took a long stride toward me. "Mia, Chloe was just curious and wanted to try it on. Could you please be a little more generous?" "We grew up together. She's practically still a child at heart. Are you seriously going to hold a grudge against a kid?" The expressions on everyone's faces turned painfully awkward. Chloe wasn't six. She wasn't sixteen. She was a twenty-six-year-old woman! Calling her a "child" implied everyone else in the room was blind. Chloe slid the ring off her finger. "Ethan, how could you say that to Mia? She's not holding a grudge against me. Mia, here's your ring back. Happy birthday." She casually tossed the ring toward me. The small, diamond-encrusted band hit the floor and rolled, stopping right at the toe of my shoe. The atmosphere in the room turned suffocatingly weird. The entire situation was baffling. I was the one who had just been deeply humiliated, yet Ethan was fiercely protecting Chloe, even yelling at me in front of all our friends. Ethan glared at me, his eyes icy, trying to intimidate me into submission. It felt like a bucket of freezing water had been dumped over my head. I was instantly, terrifyingly sober. In the past, a situation like this would have made me lose my mind. I would have launched myself at Chloe and torn her apart. I would have had a screaming match with Ethan, leading to a massive cold war. Then, he would use that as a perfectly valid excuse to disappear for days, completely ignoring my calls and texts, until I finally swallowed my pride, apologized, and begged him to come back. That was how he had systematically trained me over the years. I had bowed my head so many times that he no longer even factored my feelings into his decisions. After all, in a relationship, whoever falls first... Loses. 2 Ethan and Chloe grew up in the same affluent, tight-knit neighborhood. Chloe was naturally chaotic and loved causing trouble. But in Ethan's eyes, she was as pure and innocent as a child. He willingly, tirelessly cleaned up every single one of her messes. During college, even though they never officially announced they were dating, everyone assumed they were a package deal. So, when Ethan suddenly showed up with a massive bouquet of red roses and asked me to be his girlfriend... I was completely stunned. I thought it was a prank. A dare from a frat party. Or maybe I was just hallucinating. But I was so desperately in love with Ethan that even if it was a dream, I was more than willing to dive in. And reality seemed to reward my devotion. Ethan actually became my boyfriend. I got to hold his hand secretly under the table in the library. We went on dates to cute coffee shops. On every major holiday, I got to spend it with him. But there was a catch: I had to initiate every single one of those things. I rationalized it. I told myself it was his first real relationship and he just didn't know how to take care of someone. Until I saw with my own eyes exactly how he took care of Chloe. It wasn't that he couldn't do it. It was just that the person receiving his meticulous, unwavering devotion... wasn't me. 3 The candles on my birthday cake were lit. My friends urged me to make a wish quickly. I snapped out of my daze and blew out all the candles without closing my eyes. Seeing this, Ethan frowned impatiently. "Mia, what kind of tantrum is this now? Don't think that just because it's your birthday I'm going to let you act like a brat!" I gripped the edge of the table and stood up. "Fine. Then I'll let you have the floor." I walked around the table, completely ignoring Ethan's furious, dark expression, and walked straight out of the private room. As the door was closing behind me, I heard Chloe's signature, dramatic voice: "Oh no... it's Mia's birthday after all. It's really bad that we made the birthday girl leave so angry, isn't it? Should I go apologize to her?" Ethan fought back his annoyance, his tone instantly shifting to a gentle, comforting murmur. "If she wants to leave, let her leave. No one is going to tolerate her terrible temper. Come on, let's just enjoy the party!" A single, heavy door separated us. Inside the room was the roar of a party. Outside the door was absolute, suffocating isolation. Ethan had never, ever spoken to me with that kind of gentleness. He had never, not once, publicly taken my side or defended me in front of others. They always did this. Right in front of my face, under the guise of "just being childhood friends," they did everything a romantic couple would do. Chloe was terrible with directions, so he would happily drive an hour out of his way to pick her up from work. When Chloe made a massive mistake on a project and got fired, he immediately hired her to be his personal assistant. The passenger seat of his car practically had her name permanently etched into it. Any free time he had, the moment she called, he was there. Whenever I felt my boundaries were being violated and got angry, he would tell me, "We are the ones building a life together. Chloe is just a kid. Don't be so petty and jealous." But every time I saw another one of Chloe's things left in our apartment, a deep, sickening panic would gnaw at me. Until tonight. When Ethan stood by and allowed Chloe to slip on the engagement ring meant for me. He finally turned me into a complete, undeniable joke. Ethan took the love I had for him and forged it into a blade, driving it straight into my chest. I pulled out my phone to order an Uber. A notification popped up. A friend inside the room had texted me a photo. It was Chloe, looking slightly flushed from the alcohol, comfortably nestled in Ethan's arms. "Mia, Ethan is going way too far. Does he even remember he's your boyfriend?" Did he remember? He probably did. If he didn't, he wouldn't be just innocently holding her while she was drunk. He would be carrying her out of there, finding a quiet, empty room, and having his way with her... A cold night wind swept down the street, blowing dust into my eyes. My eyes stung and watered, and I rubbed them aggressively. But I realized... I wasn't crying. My heart wasn't aching with that familiar, suffocating pain anymore. It felt like the world had finally gone quiet. So this is what it feels like when you finally stop loving someone. 4 By the time I got home and finished washing up, it was past midnight. Ethan hadn't texted me once. For the first time, I didn't send him the usual barrage of texts demanding to know when he was coming home. Instead, I opened a message from my manager, Sarah. "Mia, are you seriously not going to consider the overseas posting? It's a massive learning opportunity provided by corporate. It's incredibly rare! It's only for three years. Is your relationship with your boyfriend really so fragile it can't survive three years?" Sarah was my senior from college and my current boss. The company had an upcoming opening for an international posting—a fast-track program for future executives—and she had highly recommended me for it. I had politely declined, using my poor English as an excuse. But she saw right through me. She knew I was completely blinded by love. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Ethan alone in the States. When I graduated college, my advisor asked our class what our ultimate goals were. My classmates shouted about making six figures, buying houses and sports cars, starting their own companies... I just squeezed Ethan's hand tightly and said with absolute sincerity: "I want to build a home with Ethan!" Later, we did buy an apartment together. But I couldn't even manage to get him to come home to it. I typed and deleted sentences in the chat box. Before I could hit send, Sarah called me. "Mia, I truly believe in your potential. You do this three-year stint, and when you come back, you'll walk straight into upper management. Plus, you'll be going with an entire team. You won't be out there fighting alone." "Sarah... let me think about it a little more." Hearing the hesitation in my voice, Sarah's tone instantly brightened. "Great! While you're thinking it over, I highly suggest you start preparing. Brush up on your English. The deployment isn't until next month, you have plenty of time." I had absolutely no natural talent for English. Back in school, no matter how hard I studied, I barely scraped by with passing grades. As for conversational speaking... back then, Ethan used to help me. Now, I had to rely entirely on myself. All the English books in the apartment were ones I had bought for Ethan. I knew this place inside and out. Without even looking, I grabbed the exact textbook I needed from the shelf. I used to naively believe I knew Ethan just as well. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. He was currently drowning in the affection of his true love. Why would he need me to care about him? I read for a while until my eyelids grew too heavy to keep open. I was half-asleep when I heard the sound of keys turning in the lock, followed by heavy footsteps. Ethan was home. "Mia." He called my name from the living room a few times, then pushed the bedroom door open. Seeing me in bed, his tone immediately turned displeased. "Mia!" I furrowed my brow, rubbed my eyes, and sat up. "You're back?" He froze. Usually, if he came home this late, I would be sitting rigidly on the living room sofa waiting for him. Then, I would interrogate him endlessly about exactly what he had been doing, accuse him of having an inappropriate relationship with Chloe, and it would escalate into a massive, screaming fight. This was the first time things hadn't gone exactly according to his script. His face was dark as a thundercloud. I adjusted my blanket. "Go take a shower and get to bed. It's late." "After you left, Chloe got drunk, so I had to drive her home. Then..." "Oh." I didn't wait for him to finish his excuse. I lay back down and pulled the covers up. He took a step closer to the bed. The sharp scent of alcohol mixed with expensive women's perfume invaded my nose. "What happened with the ring... she took it too far. I'll make it up to you another day..." "She just acts like a kid. She likes to play around." I reached a hand out from under the covers and waved the air in front of my face. "Just go shower. I'm exhausted." "Mia, what exactly is your endgame here?" He was suppressing his anger, his voice low and tight. I opened my eyes, looking at him with genuine confusion. "What do you mean?" "You..." For once, he was completely speechless. In the past, whenever I questioned him, he would just get annoyed and tell me to shut up. I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. "Stop overthinking it. We both have work tomorrow." With that, I closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep. He stood silently by the bed for a few minutes before finally turning and walking out. He slammed the bedroom door behind him with absolutely zero hesitation, venting his frustration. I knew he was angry, and I knew exactly why. He had actually lowered his pride to offer a rare, half-assed explanation, and I completely ignored it. So he threw a tantrum. He actually thought I would jump out of bed and go chase after him to comfort him, just like I always used to.
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