My mom forbade me from dating before college graduation. So, I had to date secretly online. When my online boyfriend mailed me a pair of sensory-linked dolls, my mom scolded me. "All you do all day is buy junk online. You should use that time to learn from Adam on how to be excellent." Hearing his name, my stepbrother shot me a cold, indifferent glance. He gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Some things require natural talent. You can't just learn them." What a pretentious jerk. I curled my lip in disgust. In a fit of petty rage, I aggressively poked the doll right on its chest. A second later. My stepbrother suddenly furrowed his brow and clamped a hand over his own chest. 1 Adam's face was still pale by the time we sat down at the dinner table. I placed the doll back into its box and shot him a sideways glance. "Hey, are you going to live?" Adam cleared his throat gently, the color finally returning to his face. "Sorry to disappoint you." I shrugged nonchalantly. "If you ask me, you just have a toxic mouth, and karma finally caught up with you." My mom glared at me from across the table. "Chloe! Is that how you speak to your brother?" I looked down and aggressively shoveled rice into my mouth. "I never accepted him as my brother." Adam cast a frigid look at me, matching my hostility flawlessly. "Good." "Anyone who would willingly want to be your brother probably has water in their brain." 2 After dinner, I bolted back to my room and locked the door. I couldn't wait to message my online boyfriend, Land. "Baby, I got the gift you sent me! ~" For our hundred-day anniversary, we had agreed to exchange gifts. I picked up the plush cotton doll, snapped a quick photo, and tried to send it to him. The message failed to deliver. While I was still fighting with my internet connection, a message from him popped up. "I'm glad you like it." Following that text was a half-body selfie. Draped across his incredibly built, muscular chest was the delicate silver body chain I had gifted him. It sparkled against his skin. It looked absolutely divine. My eyes uncontrollably locked onto two specific points on his chest. They were suspiciously, vividly red. "Did you secretly play with it yourself?" He replied, sounding deeply wronged. "Baby, you're falsely accusing me! >" I met Land on a niche internet forum. At the time, I was losing my mind trying to secure a senior internship while simultaneously enduring my mother's relentless criticism. "Other girls your age can study for civil service exams, prep for grad school, and nail internships all at once. Why can't you?" Desperate for an outlet to relieve the pressure, I stumbled onto that forum. I spilled all my inner frustrations and anxieties into a post. Mostly, I just attracted a bunch of weirdos. Just as I was thoroughly discouraged and ready to delete my account, I met Land. He soothed my frazzled nerves and offered genuinely practical advice. We added each other as friends. Eventually, we became a couple. I snapped out of my daydream to find Land's aggrieved complaints flooding my screen. "I have no idea what happened. It actually kind of hurts." "I promised you, baby. Only you are allowed to touch me, and I always keep my promises." "Do you really not believe me? >" I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up. When I first met him, he always spoke in a calm, hyper-rational tone. But the longer we dated, the more he started mimicking my texting style, adding all sorts of emoticons. He was turning into a clingy, affectionate giant. After texting him a few comforting words, I pivoted to praising his gift, telling him the doll was adorable. He seemed a bit embarrassed. "This was my first time trying my hand at ceramics. Once I get better at it, I'll make you an even prettier one." I froze. "Wait, so the little ceramic figurine was your only gift?" He seemed to misunderstand my confusion. "No, there was another gift too." A second later, I received a cash transfer notification from him for $1,314. Wait. So he didn't send me the plush doll? I picked the cotton doll back up and inspected it closely. A tiny slip of paper fell out from beneath the doll's clothes. I stared at it in shock. This was a sensory-linked doll? 3 Before my brain could fully process this revelation. Land sent over a few more photos of his abs. I swallowed hard. "So, when is my baby going to come touch them in person?" This wasn't the first time he had suggested meeting up in real life. Every previous time, I had fended him off with various excuses. I had no choice. My mom had laid down a strict ban on dating before graduation. If she found out, I would be dead meat. As I sat there brainstorming how to reject him this time, my eyes fell on the cotton doll resting by my hand. Land's messages kept rolling in. "Please, baby?" "I really want to dfhfgdsh..." His hands were apparently shaking so badly he typed a string of gibberish. My fingertips lightly brushed against the doll as I played dumb. "What's wrong?" Land seemed incredibly shy. "Um... that was really weird. It suddenly felt really hot." His attention had successfully been diverted. I couldn't help but smile wickedly. "If you're tired, you should rest for a bit." But my hand didn't stop moving. A moment later. He sent a voice message. His voice was thick with desire and begging. "Baby, help me, please?" My face instantly burned hot. My grip on the doll tightened. "I really like you." 4 After resting for a bit, I stepped out of my room to use the bathroom. But right as I reached the bathroom door, I collided with my stepbrother, who had just stepped out of the shower. Water was still dripping from the ends of his hair. As we were about to brush past each other, he suddenly let out a soft scoff. "Chloe, why is your face so red? Don't tell me you're secretly dating someone." My footsteps slammed to a halt, and I glared at him. It was only eleven o'clock at night. My mom wasn't asleep yet. I glanced nervously toward the master bedroom, then lowered my voice to warn him. "Don't talk nonsense!" Wearing a plush bathrobe, Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "I was just taking a wild guess. Why are you so defensive?" He suddenly leaned down, closing the distance between us. "Or did I hit the nail on the head?" Adam raised a mocking eyebrow. "I wonder which poor guy has such terrible luck that he's willing to date someone as vicious as you?" I raised my leg to kick his shin, but he dodged it effortlessly. Furious, I lost my filter. "Mind your own business! He's a million times better than you anyway!" Hearing this, Adam's eyes crinkled with amusement. "Oh~ So you really are dating someone." Damn it! I shot him a death glare. "You are not allowed to tell my mom!" Adam's lips curled upward into a smirk. "Is this how you ask for a favor?" I ground my teeth together, taking a deep breath. "Brother..." "Stop right there." Adam grimaced and raised a hand. "Don't call me brother. I can't stand it." He gave a dramatic shudder, as if shaking off goosebumps. "How about this. You tell me what kind of gifts girls like, and in exchange, I won't rat you out." Adam had a girl he liked? But I certainly wasn't going to make it easy for him. "Every girl likes different things. But giving cold hard cash is never a mistake." Adam let out a cold snort. "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked a broke college student for advice." Watching his smug, retreating back, I clenched my fists. What is he so arrogant about? One day, I'm going to find leverage on him too. 5 A week later, it was my birthday. Perhaps he had taken my earlier words to heart, because this time, Land prepared an incredibly extravagant gift. "Baby is turning 21 today, so I prepared twenty-one separate gifts for you! ~" I was completely overwhelmed. But he was, as always, endlessly understanding. "It's okay. When it's my birthday, all you have to do is bake me a cake with your own hands." I sighed softly. What a sweet, heavy burden. To prevent my mom from finding out, I hauled most of the gifts straight to my dorm room. There was only one thing—a custom-designed Switch—that I loved too much to part with, so I snuck it home. The controllers were customized in my favorite pink and white color scheme. And printed on the back casing was a beautiful sycamore tree. Because my internet handle was Sycamore. That was one of the very few personal details my online boyfriend actually knew about me. I rarely ever talked to him about my family situation. I had only mentioned it once. I told him my mom was incredibly strict with me, and since I was a kid, she had never let me touch a video game console. He had taken that passing comment to heart. "This gift is for the 7-year-old baby. Your happy childhood starts today." But to my horror, my mom discovered it anyway. Facing her interrogation, I had already trained myself to lie without blushing or skipping a beat. "Mom, you're misunderstanding. This is for our elective course." But as I stood in the living room, I subconsciously hugged the console tightly to my chest. "You know how it is. We're computer science majors, after all. We have these... specialized electives. It counts toward my graduation credits!" Hearing the word "credits," my mom finally backed down. Adam just happened to walk into the living room to pour himself a glass of water. Hearing my excuse, he nearly laughed out loud. I shot him a lethal glare. He barely managed to suppress his smirk. "Is that so? But given your usual academic performance, aren't you worried you'll fail this class?" My mom instantly grew anxious again. "Adam, could you maybe tutor her a bit?" Adam's eyes drifted down to the game console clutched against my chest. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow and started walking toward me. With lightning reflexes, I shoved the console into my canvas tote bag. But Adam shot his hand out and grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. 6 Standing at six foot two, he looked down at me from above. His eyes scanned over my game console, as if he were searching for a specific detail. "What are you doing?" Adam withdrew his gaze, seeming to let out a breath of relief. He let out a soft scoff. "Next time, remember not to use pink controllers. It makes your hands look dark." He is completely insane. I stormed back to my room. I took the protective case off, snapped a picture of the console, and sent it to Land. Remembering Adam's snide comment, I made sure my hands weren't in the frame. I chatted idly with Land. He sharply picked up on my sour mood. "Is baby unhappy today? You can tell me anything that's bothering you." I just told him the older generation was putting pressure on me again. I was very careful not to mention Adam. Because the last time Land mailed me a gift, the return address was located right in our university district. And Adam was way too famous on our campus. He won scholarships like it was a joke. During his junior year, he launched a startup and made an absolute fortune. Practically everyone at school knew his name. Suddenly, my phone chimed loudly with a notification. Land had transferred me $520. The memo read: Voluntary gift. "Baby, you are excellent and independent. You don't need to take other people's words to heart." "Now, can you please cheer up a little?" He sent a picture of the moon that he had just taken himself. "The moonlight is beautiful tonight." "If baby can see the moon from where you are, then you can see how much I'm thinking about you." Land was always so incredibly sweet and empathetic. Last time, he had clearly sensed my reluctance to meet in person. So he had never brought it up again. He just repeatedly told me how much he missed me. My heart melted. "Okay." "Then I'm going to go look at the moon. When I get back, I want to tell you a secret." I looked at the sensory-linked doll sitting on my nightstand. I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to its forehead. 7 I never expected Adam's ghost to haunt me even here. At 1:00 AM, I sneaked out onto the balcony to look at the moon. He was already out there. And the guy who always wore a permanent poker face seemed to be secretly smiling to himself. Something wasn't right. He was wearing a loose, unbuttoned dress shirt. Under the cold, pale moonlight, something sparkly peaked out from his open collar. Taking advantage of Adam having his back turned, I quickly snapped a photo. That shape... That didn't look like a normal necklace. I had never seen Adam wear jewelry before. It looked horribly familiar. I zoomed in on the picture. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. Land didn't know this. But I had handcrafted that body chain myself. I was intimately familiar with every single connecting link. ...Why was it him? My chest instantly turned ice cold. Adam turned around and met my eyes, still wearing his usual indifferent expression. Just as we were about to brush past each other. I reached my hand into my pocket and viciously pinched the sensory doll's thigh. Behind me, I heard Adam stumble loudly. I whipped my head around just in time to see his ridiculous, flailing posture. Caught in such an embarrassing moment, Adam's ears turned violently red. I simply couldn't reconcile the gentle, sweet Land from the internet with the arrogant Adam standing in front of me. I stared straight into his eyes, testing the waters. "Don't mess with me. I have the power of premonition." Adam found this hilarious. "Really? You're a pretty good bluffer for a short winter melon." I looked at him with dead calm. "Stop laughing. You have a very loving girlfriend, don't you?" Adam looked intrigued and crossed his arms. "Are you preparing to wish us a century of happiness? I'd actually love to hear you say some blessings." I deliberately let my eyes drag across the chain at his collar. "Don't tell me she gave you that?" Adam pulled a small section of the chain out to show off. "Of course she did." I saw the exact knot I had tied with my own hands. I closed my eyes briefly. Then I curled my lips into a smile. "What a pity." "You're about to get dumped."
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