My wife's "one that got away" sent me an explosive video. In the frame, they were wrapped in a passionate embrace, their temples pressed together, whispering intimately. With tears in their eyes, they confessed how desperately they had missed each other. At the end of the video, her first love arrogantly showed off to me. "Ethan, you really are useless. After all these years, you still couldn't make Chloe fall in love with you." Later, I chose to divorce her, stepping aside so they could be together. But Chloe just laughed out of pure anger, a sharp hint of mockery resting in the corners of her eyes. "Ethan, what makes you think you have the right to bring up divorce?" "You're nothing but a pathetic loser whose own parents didn't even want him." I stared at her in absolute disbelief. It turns out that when someone no longer wants to love you, they will ruthlessly plunge the knife into your deepest wounds without a second thought. 1 In the dead of night, the jarring ring of my phone jolted me awake. Rubbing my throbbing temples, I forced myself to sit up and answer the call. "Ethan, your wife is here keeping me company." The voice on the other end was unfamiliar yet unmistakable—Carter Pierce. It instantly shattered whatever exhaustion I had left. Without thinking, I blurted out: "What are you talking about?" As I spoke, my hand reached out to feel the space beside me in bed. It was completely empty! Chloe Sterling really wasn't here! Carter's voice floated through the speaker again. "Chloe came to my welcome-home party. Why didn't you come?" "Don't tell me she sneaked out without telling you." His words made the hand gripping my phone tremble. A fine, needle-like pain began to spread across my chest. Carter was right. Chloe hadn't told me a thing. Just a few hours ago, she had been curled up in my arms, acting sweet and affectionate. But the moment I fell asleep, she turned around and ran straight to the childhood sweetheart she had been pining for. Carter let out a light cough, his voice laced with amusement: "How about I send you the address? You can come down and see for yourself if Chloe is with me." After hanging up, Carter texted me the location. Right below it was a video clip. In the video, Chloe and Carter were holding each other tight, faces pressed close, pouring out how much they had missed one another. With the volume turned all the way up, I could clearly hear Chloe's soft, desperate murmur: "Carter, I missed you so much." Another voice message from Carter popped up. "Sorry, Ethan. Chloe said she just couldn't handle how much she missed me." "But man, you really are useless. After all these years, you still couldn't make Chloe fall in love with you." My heart violently shuddered. I could perfectly picture his arrogant, triumphant smile. So certain. So incredibly confident. I slowly closed my eyes, suppressing my breathing, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Carter was right. I was useless. After all these years, I still couldn't find a way into Chloe's heart. 2 I followed the address Carter gave me to an upscale lounge in the city. The lights were blinding, the atmosphere dripping with extravagance. In the dead center of the room sat Chloe and Carter, surrounded by people treating them like royalty. Everyone was cheering them on: "Carter is finally back! You have no idea how long Chloe has been waiting for you." I scanned the room. These were all Chloe's closest friends—the ones who had always despised me. All for Carter's sake. They had mocked me, openly and secretly, countless times. Now, facing Carter, they were radiating blatant warmth and approval. Swallowing the bitter taste in my throat, I pulled out my phone and called Chloe. When her screen lit up, she glanced at it and rejected my call without a second of hesitation. Then, she sent me a text: "Something came up at work. Go to sleep without me." I stared intently at Chloe from a distance. Her face was completely relaxed as she typed that message. There wasn't a single flicker of guilt or panic. It really was. Almost laughable. 3 "Chloe, I heard you got married." Carter's words snapped me out of my thoughts. He leaned his body slightly toward Chloe, his posture undeniably intimate. Chloe bit her lower lip, hesitating for a moment. Carter's expression immediately darkened. Seeing this, the friends around them quickly jumped in to defend her: "Don't be mad, Carter. Chloe only ever had you in her heart." "Yeah, you can't blame Chloe. It was that charity case who wouldn't stop pestering her." Charity case? So this was how Chloe allowed them to talk about me. Carter let out a scoff, his tone dripping with disdain: "Who is this guy? Does he have zero self-respect?" "Did he only marry Chloe for her money?" Chloe seized the opportunity to cut them off, interrupting the conversation: "Alright, enough. Let's not talk about him. It kills the mood." Kills the mood? I couldn't help but laugh at myself. It turns out that throwing your whole heart at someone doesn't guarantee the clouds will part to reveal the moon. Back in the day, before I even had the chance to confess my feelings to her. She had already gotten together with Carter. Their romance was loud and highly publicized. For a time, they were the golden couple everyone envied. But the good times didn't last. In our second year after graduation, the Sterling family's investments collapsed. They were on the brink of bankruptcy. Unwilling to suffer through poverty with her, Carter ruthlessly abandoned her and moved abroad. I was the one who stayed by her side, encouraging her. I even emptied my entire life savings to invest in the Sterling family's failing projects. I abandoned my dream of becoming a photographer and accompanied her to endless corporate dinners and networking events. To protect her from the sleazy investors, I drank myself into a stupor at every single dinner. It ended with me suffering severe stomach hemorrhaging and passing out. When I woke up, she was keeping vigil by my hospital bed, her eyes swollen like walnuts. "Ethan, what would I do without you?" With the woman I loved crying in my arms. In that moment, my heart melted completely. Over the next few years, I shielded her from every hardship. I sacrificed half my life to drag the Sterling Corporation back on track. But as the company stabilized, Chloe's attitude toward me grew increasingly cold. She didn't love me. And because of that. Not a single one of her friends respected me. They went out of their way to humiliate and make things difficult for me. In their eyes. Carter was the only man worthy of Chloe Sterling. 4 Carter smiled and poured himself a glass of liquor. Chloe immediately stopped him. "Your stomach is bad. Don't drink." Carter took the opportunity to grab her hand, intertwining their fingers tightly. Seeing this, the crowd around them started hooting and hollering, urging them to get back together. Completely ignoring the fact that Chloe was a married woman. Carter’s eyes reddened right on cue. He looked at Chloe with deep, affectionate longing: "Chloe, I had my reasons for leaving the country back then." "Now, I've risked everything to come back. I just want to ask you one thing: Do you still love me?" The private booth instantly fell dead silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting for her answer. I was waiting, too. But Chloe didn't answer right away. She just stared at her hand, firmly grasped in Carter's. A trace of struggle flashed through her eyes. Finally, as the corners of Carter's eyes grew redder, she slowly opened her mouth: "Yes." Carter looked as if he hadn't fully processed it, asking blankly: "What?" Chloe's eyes filled with a radiant smile as she repeated: "Carter, I still love you." Even though the lounge's heating was on full blast, I felt like I had been plunged into a freezer, an agonizing chill piercing me to the bone. Amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd. Carter wept tears of joy and pulled Chloe into a tight embrace. As she hugged him back, she turned her head and spotted me. A flicker of panic flashed through Chloe's eyes before her face darkened completely. She gently pushed Carter away and walked briskly toward me. "How did you know I was here?" Carter followed closely behind, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and smiling as he chimed in: "Let's not make a scene." "Ethan was probably just worried about you. He probably wanted to track your location so he followed you." Chloe's eyes widened in fury, her voice raising as she interrogated me: "Ethan, are you stalking me?!" I stood frozen for a few seconds, laughing bitterly in my head. When a person doesn't love you. Everything you do is wrong. Everything you do has an ulterior motive. And above all, nothing you say will be trusted. 5 When I got back home, I collapsed onto the sofa, completely drained. Because of my appearance, the reunion party had ended on a sour note. Chloe had abandoned me outside the lounge, taking her driver to personally escort Carter home. Her excuse? As a friend, she was worried about Carter since he had just returned to the country. As for her actual husband, she didn't spare a single thought. I stepped out of the shower to find that Chloe had returned. Her face was thunderous. I looked at her numbly: "What's wrong?" Chloe kicked off her heels, lifted her chin, and stared at me with pure disgust: "Next time, don't ever stalk people again. It's repulsive." I had a million explanations lined up in my throat, but meeting her impatient, hostile glare... I just squeezed out a dry, hollow sentence: "Chloe, I have never stalked you." I desperately suppressed my emotions, trying to explain: "Carter called me and sent me a video of you two..." Chloe slammed her water glass violently onto the table, her voice trembling with rage: "Ethan, you're supposed to be a man!" "I never realized you had so little class. Not only do you lie, but you frame other people to cover it up." She paused, then added the final blow: "You can't even begin to compare to Carter." A sharp, stabbing pain ripped through my chest. In a fraction of a second, the last remaining shred of my sanity vanished. "Can't compare? Wasn't he the one who abandoned you like trash?!" "The second he comes crawling back, you wag your tail and run right back to him!" "Chloe Sterling, how do you sleep at night? Are you doing right by yourself? Are you doing right by me?!" That last sentence tore from my throat, raw and on the verge of breaking. Chloe grabbed the heavy glass from the table and hurled it directly at me. She shot to her feet, screaming back: "I put a roof over your head and food on your table! How have I ever done you wrong?!" "My friends called you a gold digger, and they were absolutely right!" Suddenly, I felt an eerie sense of calm. It turns out that when your heart breaks past a certain threshold, your entire body just goes numb. "Let's get a divorce." Chloe froze. "What did you say?" She let out a laugh of pure disbelief, her eyes dripping with arrogant mockery. "Stop throwing a tantrum, Ethan." "You're nothing but a pathetic loser whose own parents threw away like garbage." "Except for me, who else in this world would ever want you?"
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