We were childhood sweethearts, growing up right next door to each other. After college, he went to a top Ivy League university for his master's degree. And I signed with a prestigious modeling agency in Paris. When people gossiped that the modeling industry was full of messy private lives and that a rookie model like me didn't deserve him... He would be the first to stand up and have my back: "I trust Chloe, and I deeply respect her career." During our three years of long distance, we always said goodnight to each other, bridging the time zones. No matter how busy the week got, we always squeezed in time for a video call to share the little, funny moments of our lives. I honestly thought we would walk hand-in-hand forever, growing old together. Until— A genius freshman girl joined his lab... 1 I forget how many times Carter had blown me off by now. Just to catch him on his lunch break, I deliberately woke up an hour early. At six in the morning, Paris was dreary and drizzling. It was a perfect match for my mood. I ducked into the metro station, looking like a drowned rat, trying to escape the rain. Ten minutes. I silently promised myself. I will give Carter exactly ten more minutes. Perhaps it was some lingering telepathy between us, but he seized the window. With thirty seconds left on my mental countdown, he returned my video call. "Sorry, Chloe, I was swamped all morning." Carter's voice was as gentle as ever, just like when we were kids. Whenever I got into trouble, he would pretend to come over to borrow a book, just to put in a good word for me with my parents. From that moment on, I had grown accustomed to his voice. It felt like as long as he was there, every problem in the world would magically resolve itself. So, I had to admit, in that exact moment, I let out a breath of relief. Because it felt like God was still on my side. "You're heading out this early?" "Yeah, I have a commercial shoot today." "Did you eat breakfast yet?" If this were the past, Carter would have asked for every detail about the commercial. He would have researched the brand's history and aesthetic for me, giving me tips on how to carry myself on set. But today, he asked none of that. Instead, he smoothly changed the subject. "In a bit..." Before I could even finish my sentence, a girl with a high ponytail squeezed into the frame. "Who is it? Who is it? Is that your girlfriend, Carter? Wow! She's so pretty! No wonder she's a model!" She cupped her face with her hands, her tone incredibly exaggerated. It immediately drew the attention of the other grad students in the lab. They swarmed over, snatching Carter's phone and passing it around. "She's gorgeous!" "No wonder Carter's been saving himself! I didn't know his girl was this stunning!" I felt like a monkey in a zoo, being put on display, judged, and critiqued. Maybe they didn't mean any harm. But the behavior felt incredibly invasive. "Hailey! Stop messing around!" Carter's eyes were full of indulgence, his tone affectionate and helpless. It was a look I knew all too well. "Ooh, Carter is getting jealous! I just want to say hi to the pretty lady! What kind of commercial are you shooting today?" At that question, the tips of Carter's ears turned red. Even though it was just a flash, I caught the sudden embarrassment in his eyes. Yes, embarrassment. He wasn't apologizing for his friends' invasive behavior. Instead, he was harboring an unspeakable sense of shame about my profession. "Oh, by the way! Did you know our project just had a massive breakthrough? It's the one where..." The girl named Hailey just kept rambling at me through the screen. She was waving her hands enthusiastically, throwing out complex physics theories, while I sat on the other end, letting out a dry yawn. I didn't mean anything by it; I was just genuinely exhausted. "Ah! I'm so sorry! I totally forgot you don't understand any of this! My bad, once I get going, I can't stop!" Hailey playfully stuck out her tongue, winking at Carter before turning back to me: "Next time I have questions about makeup or skincare, I'll make sure to come to you!" "Yeah, exactly! You can't talk physics to a fashion model, that's just cruel!" someone chimed in. The group exchanged knowing glances and burst into laughter. Carter's face flushed a deep crimson as he snatched his phone back. One guy relentlessly teased him: "Come on, man, why haven't you taught your girl anything?" Carter mumbled vaguely: "She wouldn't understand it anyway!" "Alright, Chloe, we still have a project to finish. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna let you go, okay?" Hearing that, I looked up at the sky outside the station. The rain had stopped. But the sky was still a gloomy, oppressive gray. I waited a few seconds until the patience on the man's face in the screen began to visibly wear thin, then I asked in my sweetest, softest voice: "Is the allowance I sent you last time still holding up?" In an instant, a look of sheer, ugly humiliation flashed across Carter's face. The chaotic, laughing lab suddenly dropped into dead silence. My mood instantly improved. A genuine smile finally touched my lips. I said: "Babe, once my paycheck from Fashion Week clears, I'll transfer you a bit more. Just focus on your academics! I have no problem sugar-dicking you for a few more years, so please don't feel any pressure!" With a girlfriend as wealthy and considerate as me, who cares if Carter finds me embarrassing? What could he do? All he could do was grit his teeth and say: "Thanks, babe." "I've been funding you for years, a little extra is nothing!" I smiled until my eyes crinkled, waved goodbye, and sweetly hung up the phone. The very next second. I wrapped my arms around myself in sheer exhaustion and crouched against the tiled wall of the metro station. I didn't cry, because I had a commercial shoot in an hour. If my eyes were swollen, the photographer would throw a fit. Pedestrians began flooding into the station, but no one paid me any mind. In a city like Paris, there are far crazier people than me. I was just another ordinary girl in the crowd, having her heart broken by a man. I don't know exactly when Carter changed. Or when I changed, either. He used to fight the time difference, staying up all night just to hear how my auditions went. Just to be the first one to offer comfort or congratulations. With my softer, understated features, I didn't have much of an edge in the European market. When I first arrived in Paris, I was rejected at almost every casting call. I barely booked a few minor gigs a month. It was Carter who constantly encouraged me. He even spent hours analyzing the brand identities of luxury fashion houses—things he had zero interest in—just so I could pitch myself better during interviews. Thanks to him, and my deep understanding of the brand's lore, I landed my first major campaign in a high-end magazine. After that shoot went viral, I finally secured my foothold in Paris. Because of that, I offered to cover all his living expenses so he could do his academic research without any financial stress. In my heart, this career was something we built together. I never imagined that just a few years later. The career I was so fiercely proud of would become a dirty secret he couldn't bear to mention. And me? I had changed too. I was sharper than before. Maybe even a little... vicious. I knew he was on speakerphone. I knew saying those things would only drive a wedge between us. But I said them anyway. For no other reason than I was just entirely sick of swallowing my pride. I suddenly realized that I had walked right into the toxic relationship trap I used to sneer at. 2 The first time I heard the name Hailey Brooks was six months ago. He told me a "genius" freshman had joined the lab. She had skipped three grades in middle and high school and was only twenty-three, with a limitless future. Unfortunately, she's purely theoretical, so working with her is a headache, he had said. On the outside, Carter was polite, mild-mannered, and known as a physics prodigy. But only I knew that deep down, he was deeply insecure and terrible at socializing. Carter's parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised by his grandmother. After high school, he stayed in our hometown and went to the local state college with me. Some people called him hopelessly romantic; others said I was dragging him down. But I knew the truth. He didn't stay for me. He stayed because the state university offered him a full-ride scholarship and a massive living stipend. It wasn't until he was specially recruited by an Ivy League university for grad school that he finally got to attend his dream institution. Back then, I was too naive, and my heart bled for him. Every time a social event required networking or mingling, I was the one hyping the crowd, acting as his personal spokesperson. And now... someone else had taken that spot. Gradually, he stopped complaining to me about Hailey Brooks. Instead, he started praising her dedication to her research, saying she wasn't a slacker like the others. He told me Hailey was bright and bubbly, the absolute joy of the lab. With her around, no matter how grueling the project got, the days felt a little sweeter. As if trying to prove there was absolutely nothing going on between them, Carter shared everything with me. He said they shared a rock-solid, purely revolutionary friendship, entirely devoid of romantic feelings. So, he felt perfectly fine bringing her back to his dorm to watch movies. Or staying up all night talking about their grand ambitions. Or driving two hours through a blinding blizzard just to buy her a bowl of her favorite clam chowder from the coast. I had no idea what was going through Carter's head when he told me all this. And I had no idea what expression I was supposed to make in response. Aside from mechanically agreeing with him, I couldn't think of a single thing to say. Should I be suspicious? But he was telling me every microscopic detail himself. I didn't even have the energy to be angry. All I could do was watch Hailey Brooks inch her way into his life, piece by piece. She even became super close with our mutual friends. Carter once sighed dramatically and said: "I have a beautiful girlfriend like you, and a soulmate like Hailey who understands my work. My life is perfect. What more could a guy ask for?" The moment those words left his mouth, I knew. Our relationship was bleeding out. 3 When my recent shoots wrapped up, I asked my agency for a three-month leave of absence. My boss, Maria, is a fiery, passionate Spanish woman. She cycles through boyfriends faster than I change my manicures. Every time I see her, there's a different young, gorgeous guy on her arm. Perhaps sensing my heartbreak, she approved my leave instantly. Maria poured me a glass of whiskey, toying with the champagne roses on her desk. She laughed and said: "Chloe, love doesn't stay fresh forever. But people can, as long as you swap them out fast enough." I pretended to sigh with envy, telling her I didn't have her intoxicating charm. Maria suddenly looked at me, dead serious. "Money buys everything. Modeling is a young woman's game. Give it one season, and they will forget your face. You know this, Chloe. You are not irreplaceable. There are tens of thousands of girls just like you in Paris." The fashion industry has never been known for sugar-coating things. But I knew Maria was right. So, I threw the whiskey back in one gulp and changed my leave from three months to thirty days. Carter and I had been together since our junior year of high school. It had been exactly nine years. I needed time to figure out what to do with this relationship. Should I try to save it? But I'm the kind of person who refuses to tolerate dirt in my eyes, and Carter had sprinted past my absolute bottom line. He had buried a thorn deep inside my heart. Tossing and turning in the dead of night, I had hated him, blamed him, and even blamed myself. I wondered if I had flown too far away, giving Carter's heart the space to wander. So, should I give this relationship one last chance? Carter, are you going to let me down again? 4 I didn't go back to my hometown. Instead, I flew straight to Boston. The moment he found out I was standing at the campus gates, Carter's voice was a mix of ecstatic surprise and sheer panic. "Chloe! You didn't even tell me you were coming! I would have picked you up at the airport!" Under the bright sun, he ran toward me. In a blur, it felt like he was still that teenage boy who lived next door. We hadn't seen each other in three years, yet it felt like nothing had changed. Just like he was doing right now, holding me tightly, exactly the same way he did the day I left for Europe. And yet, it felt like everything was irrevocably broken. Because a girl with a ponytail popped out from behind him. Hailey smiled, bright and innocent: "Oh my, is the big sister here to check up on us?" Carter loosened his grip, looking back at her with a helpless, fond expression: "Do you think everyone is as petty and jealous as you?" Hailey ignored him, extending a hand toward me: "Hi! You can just call me Hailey, just like Carter does." "Chloe. Nice to meet you." I gave her hand a polite, brief shake, my eyes barely lingering on her. "Wow, your skin is flawless, and your makeup is stunning! Not like me. I can't even tell the difference between eyeshadow and blush." Hailey looked dramatically devastated. Carter grabbed my luggage cart and chuckled: "Why does a kid like you need makeup? Natural beauty is the best kind." Hearing that, a glint of smug satisfaction flashed in the girl's eyes. She tilted her chin up, looking at me expectantly. As if she was waiting for a show to start. I just smiled and didn't say a word. I had crossed a six-hour time difference and survived an eleven-hour flight. I wasn't here to play a low-budget game of petty jealousy with an amateur pick-me girl. But Hailey wouldn't let it go. She kept buzzing around me like a gnat: "Since you're so gorgeous, what kind of cosmetics do you use?" "Expensive ones." She was giving me a headache, so I shut her down with two words. Predictably, she froze for a few seconds, all the color draining from her face. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes. She bit her lip, completely silent. It wasn't until Carter, walking ahead with the luggage, noticed the silence that she forced a watery smile: "Carter, I still have some data to run in the lab. I'm gonna head out." "Hailey! What's wrong? Hey, don't cry!" Carter didn't let her leave. He jogged back and grabbed her by the wrist. His eyes were overflowing with unchecked heartbreak. "You idiot, why are you crying again?" Hailey stopped holding back and buried her face in Carter's chest, sobbing loudly: "I'm just being too sensitive! When she said that, I thought she was mocking me for growing up poor!" "You are being too sensitive," I said coldly, standing off to the side, watching these two star-crossed lovers embrace. Carter snapped. He shielded the crying girl in his arms and glared at me fiercely: "Chloe, what is wrong with you? Apologize to Hailey right now!" I pointed to myself, staring at Carter in total disbelief. "Me? Apologize?" Hailey perfectly timed her intervention to play the peacemaker: "It's not her fault! It's my own insecurities. I always thought that if I studied hard enough, I could cross class boundaries and change my fate. But at the end of the day, I'm just a small-town scholarship kid. I don't make the kind of money a model does, and I can't afford expensive makeup. Whatever, let's just forget it! Please don't be mad, Chloe! You haven't seen Carter's apartment yet, have you? Come on, I'll show you the way!" I watched her performance with zero expression. Then, I reached out and grabbed her wrist. "A small-town scholarship kid... who can afford to wear a $4,000 Cartier bracelet?" "Th... this was a birthday present Carter gave me last month... I had no idea it was so expensive! Carter, I'm giving this back to you right now!" Hailey looked utterly panicked, her hands trembling as she fumbled with the clasp. But she miraculously just couldn't seem to get it off. Ah. So that was it. I looked up at the sky and let out a laugh of pure, unadulterated relief. No wonder Carter asked to borrow $7,000 from me last month. It was to buy his precious junior a luxury birthday present. We had dated for nine years. The most he ever bought me were cheap stuffed animals and trinkets. I knew he came from nothing, so I never, ever demanded material things from him. I never imagined he would buy another woman a luxury bracelet. Using my money. "Chloe, when did you become so bitter and vicious?" "Don't blame her, Carter. It's all my fault." The two of them bounced lines off each other like actors in a soap opera, clinging to each other right in front of my face. I was so exhausted. My brain was completely numb. My only coherent thought was— Thank God I skipped the in-flight meal. Because otherwise, I would be violently throwing up on the pavement right now. I shook my head, grabbed the handle of my suitcase, and turned to walk away without a shred of hesitation. Before I left, I looked at Carter. "We're breaking up. Make sure you pay me back." Instantly, it was like a bucket of ice water hit him. He shoved the girl in his arms away. His voice trembled as he asked me why I was abandoning him. The girl's crying hitched, and she began mumbling incoherently. "I'm dragging you down." "I'm so sorry." "I should just die." ... I had absolutely zero interest in hearing the rest. I picked up my pace and walked away. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Carter eventually chose Hailey. Then, he yelled at my retreating back: "I'll come find you later to calm you down!" Whatever connection Carter and I used to share was entirely dead. He actually thought my breakup was just me throwing a little tantrum. He thought he could just give me a piece of candy, coax me a bit, and I'd come running back. Honestly, the realization that he didn't know me at all hurt more than the fact that he fell for someone else. It wasn't Carter who was precious to me. It was the nine years I had invested.
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