At a wedding, I accidentally caught the bride’s bouquet. Right there, in front of everyone, Fred, my fiancé, publicly lambasted me, accusing me of being manipulative and trying to force him into marriage. Then, he chased after his tearfully distraught assistant, Chloe, who had run off. I tried to follow, to explain, but he drove off, dragging me for over ten yards before I managed to break free. It was a stranger who rushed me to the hospital for emergency treatment. After a near-death experience, I finally called my mother. “Mom, that arranged marriage you mentioned? I agree to it.” 1 After a week in the hospital, I took a taxi home alone. Standing before the familiar front door, I fumbled with my keys, but they wouldn’t turn the lock. There was no choice but to call Fred. The moment the call connected, Chloe’s sugary, high-pitched voice purred through the phone: “Fred’s in the shower. Olivia, is that you back?” Before I could reply, the door opened from the inside. The moment Chloe saw me, she bounced towards me like a startled fawn. “Olivia, I’m so clumsy! I lost the key, and Fred said he was worried a bad person might find it, so he changed the lock. You don’t have the new key yet, do you, Olivia? I’ll give you one later.” My eyes took in Chloe, wearing Fred’s oversized black shirt. And Fred, clad only in a bath towel. A misty haze clung to both of them, radiating an unsettling intimacy. I simply nodded, then dragged my luggage inside. Seeing my silence, my lack of protest, Fred dropped the towel he was using to dry his hair and explained, “Chloe’s pipes burst at her place, so she’s staying with us for a few days. Don’t misunderstand.” In the past, seeing a scene like this would have left me deeply unsettled. But now, I just felt bone-weary. The wound on my back hadn’t fully healed, a faint, taut ache reminding me of it. Looking at Fred’s face, all I could see was that day: his frantic search for Chloe, completely oblivious to me, trailing behind his car, bleeding onto the asphalt. In that moment, my love for him had completely dissipated, along with my fading consciousness. “I didn’t misunderstand.” I walked straight towards the bedroom, not looking back, dragging my suitcase behind me. “She’s just a young girl, with no family nearby. It’s not easy for her. I just wanted to lend a hand.” I met his gaze, silently. He had probably forgotten that I had been separated from my parents since childhood. That kind of hardship… no one understood it better than I did. “I said, I didn’t misunderstand.” Seeing him block my path, I had to stop and reiterate. “Olivia, you’ve been giving us dirty looks since you walked in. Can you just listen to me for a moment?” He tugged at my suitcase, chattering on. My patience snapped. I released the handle, frowning as I said coldly, “I told you, I really didn’t misunderstand!” The suitcase crashed to the floor with a dull thud. Ignoring Fred’s stunned expression, I walked around him and pushed open the bedroom door. Following the light filtering in from the living room, my eyes immediately landed on the black lace lingerie scattered across the bed. Only then did Chloe rush in from behind us, like a panicked deer. She scurried over, snatching the lingerie into her hands, her innocent wide eyes brimming with tears. “Olivia, this is my laundry, I put it here to dry. Please don’t overthink it.” I scanned the messy bedroom. “Hm,” I hummed, then turned and walked into the guest room without another glance. 2 By the time I finished showering, my mother happened to call. “Olivia, I’m glad you finally saw sense. Your father and I are getting old, and you’re our only daughter. All these years, you wouldn’t come and be with us because of that Fred boy, and you don’t know how much your father and I missed you. If he treated you well, it would be one thing, but it’s been ten years, and he’s still just dragging you along, clearly not truly sincere.” “Since you’ve finally decided to come back to us, how about we set the wedding date for ten days from now?” At my mother’s words, my hand, which had been drying my hair, paused. In the past, when my mother gave such advice, I would always firmly contradict her, telling her that Fred loved me. But this time, only silence remained. “Let’s push the wedding date to half a month from now. I want to celebrate Aunt Carol’s birthday before I leave. For everything else, you can decide.” I had just hung up the phone. The sound of the door closing echoed from the hallway. Fred strode over to me, carrying a takeout bag of “spicy seafood boil” he’d picked up on the way. He placed the bag on the table, then frowned, leaning in to try and see my phone. “What wedding date? I’ve told you many times, we’re still young. I don’t want to get married so early.” I pressed the phone screen dark, looking at his overly defensive posture. “It’s just a cousin on my father’s side. She’s inviting me to her wedding.” Hearing this, Fred dropped his guard. He opened the food containers on the table. When he mentioned Chloe, his eyes unconsciously softened into a smile. “I’ve settled Chloe in a hotel. The girl saw you weren’t happy, so she specifically bought this for me to bring back to apologize. She usually doesn’t even buy this for herself. Try some.” Looking at the shrimp and clams swimming in red oil, I didn’t pick up my chopsticks. Fred’s eyes flashed with displeasure. “Olivia Reed, that’s enough. Dragging this out won’t do anyone any good.” I smiled. “Ten years together, and you don’t even know I’m allergic to seafood?” With that, I turned and went back to my room. Fred followed me, his lips parted as if to speak, then closed again. The old Fred would remember my period dates, remember my headaches on rainy days, remember every significant anniversary for us. And he would remember, the first time he discovered my seafood allergy, how he’d held my hand, crying silently all night at my hospital bedside, consumed by guilt. Now, it wasn’t that he’d forgotten; it was just that Chloe liked seafood, and she happened to occupy his heart. He simply got confused. I didn’t look at him, raising my hand to arrange the ointment the doctor prescribed, one by one, on the nightstand. When he saw the scars on my back, his guilt intensified. He picked up the ointment from the table, about to apply it to my back. I was about to refuse when his phone rang at the perfect moment. It was so close, I clearly heard Chloe’s panicked sobs. “Fred, dearest, someone keeps knocking on the door! Is this hotel a shady place? I’m so scared! I heard some criminal gangs target girls living alone like me. Can you come and stay with me?” Hearing this, Fred clenched his phone tightly. “Don’t be afraid. Turn on all the lights in the room, and block the door with chairs or anything. Don’t open it, no matter what. I’m coming for you right now.” After hanging up, he explained to me, earnestly and seriously, “Olivia, Chloe might be in danger right now. I have to go out. I swear, I really just see Chloe as a sister. Don’t make a fuss about her anymore.” Without waiting for my answer, he hurried to the door. The ointment bottle was swept off the table by his coat, spilling most of its contents. I looked at the closed door and curved my lips. Every time he and Chloe crossed a line before, I couldn’t help but feel jealous and angry. And every time, he would call me petty and unreasonable. But Fred, rest assured, from now on, I will never argue with you again. 3 From that day on, Fred never came back. Chloe’s social media, however, updated frequently. Each post, subtly or overtly, boasted about how much Fred doted on her. I quietly added her to my blacklist. Then, on the wall calendar, I crossed off one date after another. Thirteen days left. I started busy preparing my resignation letter. My team leader, seeing the words “Getting Married” boldly written as my reason for leaving, chuckled and teased me about expecting an invitation to my wedding with Fred. She even suggested that marriage didn’t necessitate quitting my job. Not until I told her I wasn’t marrying Fred. She sighed regretfully, then stopped prying into my personal life. These days had been consumed by handing over my work. Once the handover was mostly complete, I suddenly found myself with free time, staring blankly at the calendar, which now showed “five days left.” I patted my cheeks, then began to pack my belongings. Fred and I had known each other for so long. This house was filled with our photos. I carefully tore out my half of all our joint pictures. Then, from the deepest corner of my closet, I pulled out a small wooden box. Inside was a camera, holding gigabytes of videos and photos we’d taken over the years. Besides the camera, there were also a thousand paper cranes he had folded for me in high school. The evening gown I wore for my college performance. Hundreds of love letters he had written… Looking at these things, my heart still felt heavy, a dull ache. After all, the Fred of old had truly cared for me. He hadn’t wanted to miss a single moment of my life. Sometimes, I would tease him, asking if he didn’t feel like he was wasting time remembering so much. He would just smile and playfully tap my nose, saying, “Of course not. I want to record it all, so when we’re old, we can sit in rocking chairs and look through them together.” After flipping through them for a while, I took all these items to the yard. Without hesitation, I set fire to the past, burning everything to ashes. 4 Time flew by. Fred never returned. These past few days, I had been constantly cleaning the house. I didn’t stop until I was sure not a single trace of my presence remained in the home. I looked at the calendar, a large “3” circled prominently. I began to select a birthday gift for Aunt Carol. Ultimately, I chose a jade peace buckle pendant. I hoped that in my absence, Aunt Carol would remain healthy and safe. Once all the arrangements were made, it was Aunt Carol’s birthday, the day before the wedding. In the interim, Fred had sent me a message explaining that he had an unexpected business trip, but I hadn’t replied. Later, he called again, questioning why I had sent insulting text messages to Chloe. He demanded I apologize to Chloe, saying that if I just admitted my mistake, Chloe, being pure and kind, wouldn’t hold a grudge. I found it ridiculous. After all these years, he actually believed I was capable of such a vulgar act. I simply hung up. His text messages bombarded me immediately: [Olivia Reed, you’re something else!] A few minutes later, another message arrived: [Olivia, I really don’t understand. Why have you become like this?!] … Aunt Carol was my mother’s best friend and Fred’s aunt. When my parents went to another city for business, they entrusted me to Aunt Carol. Later, Fred’s family moved in next door to Aunt Carol’s. Fred and I were in the same class, walked to and from school together every day, and slowly became close. After college, he confessed his feelings, and we naturally started dating. After we started working, he said he was worried it wouldn’t be safe for me to rent a place alone. He specially bought a house near my company and asked me to move in with him. Everything between us seemed to happen so naturally. The eighteen-year-old Olivia Reed probably never would have imagined this day with Fred, even if you killed her. Pushing down the chaotic thoughts that suddenly surfaced, I carried the cake and my carefully chosen gift, and knocked on Aunt Carol’s door. The moment she saw me, Aunt Carol warmly pulled me inside. After I confessed about the arranged marriage, she was utterly shocked. “But you and Fred, you two…” Yes, everyone who knew us thought we were a couple. This was why I wanted to leave quietly. I didn’t want to hear their constant sighs of regret. “We’re not right for each other,” I explained, offering no further details. But Aunt Carol took my hand, her eyes filled with pain. “Olivia, I know you have a good heart. There are things you can’t easily say, but I know in my heart. I heard about what happened at the wedding and with Chloe. You’re a good child, and Fred has wronged you. I had planned to make him apologize to you, right in front of you, and give him a good talking to, but since you’ve already made up your mind, then that scoundrel Fred is simply out of luck. You’re going to your parents to enjoy your life. It’s just… it breaks my heart to let you go.” “But you and Fred have been together for so many years. Does he know about this?” All these years, without my parents by my side, I had developed a tolerant and patient nature. Lying in the hospital bed, unable to find a single friend or relative to stay with me, I hadn’t cried. When Fred blamed me, when I saw him and Chloe together, I hadn’t cried. When I decided to give up on Fred, I hadn’t cried either. Yet now, tears uncontrollably welled up, as if all the grievances and sorrow of these past days had finally found an outlet. “I’ll tell him later,” I said, slowly lowering my head, letting the tears fall, one by one, onto the back of my hand. As for Fred… he never intended to marry me anyway. Telling him or not wouldn’t make much difference. Aunt Carol hugged me again and again, her eyes filled with sorrow. “How could this happen? Fred is so foolish, he used to love you so much.” I didn’t want to continue the conversation. After comforting Aunt Carol for a moment, I prepared to leave. But as I opened the door, I came face to face with Fred and Chloe. Chloe was clinging to his arm, her small face still flushed with excitement, and she planted a loud kiss on Fred’s cheek— “Fred, dearest, this trip made me so, so happy! You’re just too, too good to me!!!” Seeing me, Chloe awkwardly shrunk her neck, hiding behind Fred. “Olivia, you’re here too. Don’t misunderstand… I was just so happy.” Hearing Chloe’s words, Fred shielded her, his eyes wary as he looked at me. “She’s young and doesn’t know any better. Don’t hold it against her.” I curled my lips in a self-deprecating smile. The old Olivia Reed, seeing this, would surely have cried all night, wouldn’t she? Thank goodness, thank goodness, I truly didn’t love him anymore. “Hm, no offense taken.” Unwilling to get entangled with them, I mumbled a perfunctory reply, then turned sideways, trying to leave. But Fred deliberately blocked the exit. He frowned, scrutinizing me, as if searching for something on my face. But all he saw was my serene profile. There wasn’t a single hint of jealousy or sadness. This was simply too strange! His doubt intensified. He felt as if something was slipping from his control. The unease made him involuntarily clench my wrist. I couldn’t break free, and I didn’t want to cause a scene at Aunt Carol’s birthday, so I let him pull me inside. Aunt Carol’s eyes were still red. Seeing Fred and Chloe, she didn’t give them a kind look. “It’s a family birthday. What kind of behavior is this, bringing an outsider?” Chloe stiffened, her pitiful gaze falling on Fred. Fred finally released me, walking over to place their gifts together. “Aunt Carol, Chloe is my assistant. How can she be considered an outsider?” After saying that, he cast a cold glance at me. I knew he was angry about me blacklisting Chloe and about my supposed insulting messages to her. I pretended not to see, lowering my head and picking at my food. During the meal, he kept peeling shrimp for Chloe, his sharp gaze occasionally flicking my way. It was always like this… ever since Chloe appeared. Whenever I upset him, he would deliberately do things that made me sad and humiliated. And every time, I would become jealous, break down, apologize to him, begging him not to be angry. A wave of bitterness spread from my heart. My fingertips trembled, and my chopsticks accidentally fell to the floor. Aunt Carol glared fiercely at Fred, then handed me a new pair of chopsticks. Fred, across from me, had a glint of perverse satisfaction in his eyes. I ignored his gaze fixed on my face. Composing myself, I put a piece of plum-glazed ribs into my mouth. Two drama queens, let them act as much as they want. Aunt Carol’s cooking, though, would be hard to find once I left. Seeing this, Fred snorted, his actions growing even more outrageous. Not until Fred gently wiped Chloe’s mouth, their noses almost touching, did Aunt Carol finally lose her temper and slam her chopsticks down.
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