I was shopping at the mall when my period suddenly started, the blood staining my entire white pants. I had no choice but to hide in the mall bathroom and ask my boyfriend Ethan to buy me tampons and clean pants. But I waited for three hours. By the time the mall closed, he still hadn't come back. I called him frantically. He didn't answer. But then I saw his female assistant post an update on Instagram. "Wanted macarons, and the boss immediately brought me a whole 80 of them! I'm going to be his assistant forever!" Completely disheartened, I sent my mom a message. "Mom, that blind date you mentioned---go ahead and arrange for us to meet." The mall closed. The lights went out, just like my relationship with Ethan. When I walked out of the mall bathroom covered in blood, I startled the security guard on patrol. "Miss, what happened to you? Did someone attack you? Should I call the police?" I smiled bitterly and declined the kind man's offer. Ethan had driven off with the car, so I could only stand on the roadside trying to hail a ride. Several drivers saw the blood on my pants and either got scared or disgusted, refusing to pick me up. Half an hour later, I finally met a kind-hearted female driver, and I was finally able to go home. My phone kept ringing while I was washing up. When I came out, I saw missed calls from my mom and a long string of messages. "You finally came to your senses? I told you that Ethan was a heartless bastard!" "Seven years! If he wanted to marry you, he would have done it ages ago! Why would he string you along for so long? At least you're waking up before it's too late. The blind date I found for you is eight streets ahead of that scumbag!" It turned out my parents' words really were wise. When you're young, you always think they don't understand love. After a few more years, you realize it's you who doesn't understand life. "I was just in the shower. Mom, I'll listen to you." Right after I replied to my mom, Ethan finally came home. And he brought along his precious Chloe. "Aria... you... you're already back? When I got to the mall it was already closed..." He looked somewhat embarrassed, but quickly held up a large plastic bag as if presenting a prize. Inside were various brands of sanitary pads. "I don't know anything about pads, and I was afraid of buying the wrong kind, so I asked Chloe to help me choose. That's why I came back a bit late." What a pathetic lie. But I felt no anger or grievance anymore. This must be what they mean by the greatest sorrow being a dead heart. "It's fine. I've already taken care of it myself. No need to trouble you." I said flatly, not looking at Ethan's evasive eyes. Knowing he was in the wrong, he pretended to go to the bathroom, but before leaving, he didn't forget to earn brownie points for Chloe. "Chloe knew you weren't feeling well, so she specifically came up to check on you." "Yeah, Aria, are you okay? We women really suffer when our periods come. Should I make you some ginger tea to warm you up?" Chloe was as good as ever at playing sweet in front of Ethan. But once Ethan went into the bathroom, Chloe's face immediately changed to a sharp, mocking, vicious expression. She sneered in a voice only the two of us could hear. "Aria, these pads should be enough for an old woman like you to use until menopause, right?" "Haha, it's embarrassing just thinking about it!" "A woman covered in blood, dirty and smelly, abandoned at the mall with no one caring---if I were you, I'd rather just die!" "Ethan clearly doesn't love you anymore. Why are you still clinging on shamelessly? Can't you leave yourself some dignity? Do you have to wait to be kicked out? Do you really enjoy being a beggar for love?" The closer Chloe got, the more she said. She deliberately brought her face close to mine. I knew what Chloe was planning. Nothing more than provoking me to slap her so she could play the victim in front of Ethan. To continue driving a wedge between us. In the past, I definitely would have slapped her. But now? Would you fight someone over a piece of shit? I just looked coldly at Chloe's performance. Like watching a green fly dancing over a cesspool. Under my gaze, her expression changed from smug provocation to puzzled bewilderment. Then to panic and unease. Finally to shame and anger. She gritted her teeth, suddenly raised her hand, and gave herself a hard slap. With the crisp sound of the slap, Chloe burst into tears. "Aria, don't do this!"
Chloe's cry was like a hunter's starting gun. Ethan burst out of the bathroom like a hunting dog. "What happened to Chloe?" Chloe's self-inflicted slap had been forceful, leaving a clear handprint on her delicate face. "Aria... she's in a bad mood... I can understand her taking it out on me... I don't blame her..." Her acting wasn't sophisticated, but it was enough for a foolish man. Ethan immediately became the most loyal protector, glaring at me angrily. "Aria! What's wrong with you? If you're angry, take it out on me! What kind of skill is it to bully a young woman?" "Chloe just graduated from college. She doesn't know anything. She's so pure and kind. Why are you bullying her? Apologize right now!" He demanded I apologize. I was too lazy to speak and turned to go into the guest bedroom, locking the door from the inside. Chloe was crying, and Ethan was comforting her. Finding it too noisy, I put on my headphones. My phone buzzed with a friend request. The note said "Blind Date." I accepted the request from this man named Marcus. It got quiet outside. Ethan had taken Chloe home. He didn't come back that night. In the early morning hours, a photo of Ethan in bed suddenly appeared in the company group chat. He was sleeping shirtless, his face showing satisfaction and exhaustion. There were still plenty of night owls. Company employees immediately left comments underneath. But some old colleagues also messaged me privately, feeling indignant on my behalf. "Aria, that bitch is getting more and more outrageous!" "Isn't this a public declaration of war?" "You need to hold onto Mr. Hayes. Don't let that homewrecker steal him!" When Ethan was starting his business, I was always his right hand. Many of the company veterans were personally recruited by me. Later, when the business was on track, Ethan said he didn't want me to work so hard, that he could completely support me. He also said couples weren't suitable as coworkers, that it easily created conflicts. So I left the company and became a full-time supportive partner. In the blink of an eye, several years had passed. Aside from the company veterans, many new employees no longer knew I existed. "Just a rotten peach. I don't want it anymore." After saying that, I left the company group chat. That night I thought I'd have insomnia, but I slept surprisingly well. That blind date named Marcus hadn't said anything since adding me as a friend. I wasn't too concerned about it either. I only agreed to the blind date to put my mom's mind at ease. I didn't want her worrying about my love life anymore. As for love? I had long stopped expecting it.
The next morning I packed my things to return to my hometown. I organized several large suitcases and had a logistics company send them ahead. Ethan came home around noon. He obviously knew about the bed photo incident in the company group chat last night, and that I'd left the group. After all, he was the group admin. So he was clearly feeling guilty. "Last night was too late and Chloe was worried it wasn't safe for me to drive at night... Nothing happened between us... I slept on the couch..." "The photo was just a joke. She's just a young girl---what bad intentions could she have?" Ethan kept talking while carefully watching my expression. "When it comes down to it, you shouldn't have taken it out on her last night... It was clearly my fault..." Seeing me looking at my phone instead of him, he pulled a box of macarons from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table. "Isn't it trending online to test your boyfriend or husband with macarons? You don't need to test me---I already bought them for you! All 8 are yours!" I glanced at the macarons. The production date was yesterday. Chloe couldn't eat all 80, so he brought the rest back for me to deal with? I reached out and threw the macarons in the trash. "What are you doing? Stop being childish! Men have it hard out there!" Ethan's face darkened. The truth was so ugly. He didn't love me anymore. "I don't like sweets." I continued looking at my phone. My mom had sent me hotel options, wedding dresses, and banquet menus to choose from. She was being a bit too hasty. I'd only just said I agreed to go home for a blind date, and she was already eagerly preparing wedding arrangements. "You really don't understand romance!" "When Chloe got the macarons, she was so happy---" Halfway through, Ethan realized his slip and quickly shut up. His eyes unconsciously swept across my phone screen and saw my mom had sent another wedding dress picture. "I think this one suits you better. You're tall, so you'd look good in this floor-length style. I've even found the flower children to carry your train---a pair of twins, hehe..." Ethan's face immediately looked like he'd eaten shit. "What wedding?" "Who gave you permission to choose wedding dresses on your own? Did you discuss this with me?" "Is your mom pressuring you to get married again? She's really getting senile! Why is she causing trouble!" Ethan's tone was full of dissatisfaction with my mom. He'd completely forgotten that when we were in college and my mom came to visit me, she brought him more food and clothes than she brought me. After Ethan's parents divorced and remarried, he became the extra one. Besides sending him money, his parents basically ignored him. So my mom doted on him especially, letting him feel long-lost maternal love. Back then he always said, "Aria, I love you, and I love your family too!" But we didn't have much money then, and we didn't have our own place. We couldn't afford to get married. Yet every day in our rental apartment, we'd fantasize about our future happy married life with children. That was the greatest motivation for starting the business. Later we had money, we had a house, the business was successful, but marriage became a taboo topic. "Career comes first!" "Too busy!" "I heard marriage is the grave of love!" "We're still young!" "Let's wait a bit longer..." Ethan had countless reasons to dodge and deflect. Though I felt wronged, I kept enduring. I always felt that having already invested seven years of my youth, I couldn't bear to give up halfway. But I'd now come to my senses. If I gave up now, seven years of youth fed to a dog. If I continued being pathetic, I'd just keep feeding a thankless dog. The past couldn't be undone. Cutting losses was the wisest choice. Ethan was still venting his emotions. The angrier he got, as if my mom had committed some unforgivable crime. Seeing I wasn't responding, he simply grabbed my phone and started a furious voice message rant. "Ma'am! Stop making trouble, okay?" "We young people have our own plans and rhythm for life. You interfering like this will only cause conflicts between us!" "We have no plans to get married right now! So stop scheming!" After finishing, he angrily threw down the phone. "Aria, your mom is getting more annoying as she gets older!" I slapped Ethan hard across the face. His words stopped abruptly. "You can disrespect me, but you cannot disrespect my mother!" I said word by word. "The man my mom wants me to marry isn't you. Don't flatter yourself!" "Let's break up." At the same time, his assistant rushed through the door in a panic. She was crying. "Ethan, you didn't use protection last night, and I didn't take the pill either!" "I'm too embarrassed to go to the pharmacy to buy the morning-after pill myself. What should I do?" "I'm still young. I don't want to get pregnant!" 3 Chloe's crying threw Ethan into complete disarray. "Ah? Now really isn't the right time to have a baby!" "But the morning-after pill is effective for 72 hours!" Forgetting that I'd just said "let's break up," he grabbed Chloe's arm and hurried downstairs. I looked at the empty apartment. There really was nothing left to miss. I opened my phone's booking app to check flight information back to my hometown. My hometown was over 800 kilometers away. The nearest flight wasn't until tomorrow evening. My mom called. She was furious. "Where's that bastard Ethan? Does he know how to talk to people? All that good food I gave him was wasted on a dog!" "Come home right now! I don't want you near that animal for one more second!" I calmed my mom down while saying I planned to buy a ticket for tomorrow evening. "Don't buy a ticket yet. Just wait for word!" My mom hung up in a hurry. Just ten minutes later. The blind date named Marcus on my phone sent me a message. "Come downstairs in 5 minutes. I'm here to take you home." I was surprised. How did he get here so fast? And how did he know my address? I grabbed my suitcase and went downstairs. It didn't even take 5 minutes before a black Mercedes van slowly stopped beside me. An elegant, refined man got out of the car. "I'm Marcus. Your mother sent me." At the same time, across the street at the pharmacy, Ethan, having already bought the morning-after pill, came out with a smug-looking Chloe. He happened to see me and Marcus standing face to face. Marcus even took my suitcase and put it in the back seat. His face immediately turned dark as he strode over. "Aria, where are you going? Stop being childish, okay? I can explain what happened last night. It was just an accident!" I was so sick of his noise. So I pointed at Marcus and introduced him. "My blind date. He's taking me back to my hometown. We have nothing to do with each other from now on." After speaking, I got in the passenger seat and closed the door. Ethan's anger flared even more as he frantically banged on the car door. "What blind date? Aria, get out here!" Marcus didn't say anything, just got in the car too. He hit the gas, and the van suddenly took off, throwing the unprepared Ethan face-first onto the ground. I saw in the rearview mirror Chloe going over to help him up, but Ethan shoved her away. He staggered to his feet and chased our car, but lost his footing and fell again. I closed my eyes. Ethan, my life will definitely be better without you.
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