At my wedding reception, my best man, Ethan, got up to sing a song for us. He chose Adele’s “Someone Like You,” and by the second verse, he was crying. I thought he was just emotional about me getting married, so I clapped him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. That’s when the text appeared, floating in the air in front of my eyes, like a live stream chat overlaying my vision. **【Can this loser side character get out of the way? He’s blocking the shot of the main couple singing to each other.】** **【LMAO, he thinks the ML is crying for him. Bro, he’s crying because he didn’t get to marry the love of his life.】** **【It’s okay, guys! Just 10 more episodes! Once the FL finds out why the ML broke up with her back then, she’ll dump this placeholder husband and start grovelling to win him back!】** **【Tbh does this guy really not know about the FL and ML? He’s so manipulative. Later in the story, he almost gets the ML killed to stop the divorce. Thank god the FL loves the ML so much she bankrupts the side character’s family. He jumps off a building and dies. So satisfying!】** A chill went down my spine. I refused to believe what I was seeing. But then I turned my head. And I saw my new wife, Chloe, silently singing along with him, tears streaming down her face, too. 1 I somehow held it together until the last guest left. Ethan was completely wasted. He’d lost his shoes somewhere and was stumbling barefoot on the gravel path outside the venue, his feet bleeding. He was leaning on Chloe like she was a lamppost, slurring, half-crying, half-laughing. “Heyyy, this lamppost is so… soft.” “You finally found your happiness, Chloe.” “I’m so happy today.” “I’m so, so, so happy for you!” For a split second, I almost believed him. I thought he was genuinely happy for me. But then the chat popped up again, shattering that last bit of hope. **【Ugh, my heart breaks for him. He’s dying inside but still has to pretend to be drunk to wish her well. ??】** **【Here we go, here we go! The key plot point is coming! The FL is about to offer to take the ML home, and the loser husband will finally realize something’s off and throw a fit, which just makes the FL hate him more!】** **【Chloe, what are you doing just standing there?! Can’t you see his feet are bleeding? Go get his shoes!】** Chloe has a thing about germs. She won’t even touch my shoes after I’ve worn them. But right then, she walked back inside, found Ethan’s leather dress shoes, and knelt to put them on for him. I saw an emotion I’d never seen in her cool, distant eyes before: it looked like pain. Like she was hurting *for* him. She turned to me, her voice casual. “It’s late. He can’t get home like this. Is it okay if I give him a ride?” She was asking my opinion, just like she always did. Respecting me. My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms. “Are you sure?” My voice was unnaturally calm. “Chloe, it’s our wedding night.” I added, “I can call an Uber or ask one of the other groomsmen to take him.” A small frown creased her forehead. The chat messages flew across my vision. **【LMAO does he really think that’s going to make her stay?】** **【His wedding night? Who cares? The ML is a wreck right now, how could she just leave him?】** **【Get ready for her to shut him down HARD. His little tantrum is just gonna make our ML look even more sympathetic and sweet!】** I could see the conflict in Chloe’s eyes. After a moment of silence, she made her choice. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She turned to leave, but I let out a short, sharp laugh. “Wait.” She spun back, her patience clearly wearing thin. “I *said* I’ll be back soon.” I swallowed the suffocating tightness in my chest and tossed her my car keys. “Take my car.” She frowned, about to refuse. “He doesn’t get carsick in mine,” I added flatly. Chloe paused, then snatched the keys from the air. Before she got in the car, she rolled down the window. “Wait for me.” I watched them drive off. Then I calmly called a moving company. I had them clear out all of my belongings, which I had just moved into our new home yesterday. Then I left the house Chloe and I had bought together, paid in full. 2 I didn’t meet Chloe through Ethan. So, this whole time, I never knew they even knew each other, let alone that they had this kind of history. When I was set up on a blind date with Chloe, I’d been single for the better part of a decade. I’d given up on finding a soulmate. I went to the date with zero expectations, only to meet a woman who was, in every conceivable way, my perfect type. She came from a good family, she was stunningly beautiful, and wickedly smart. Her only flaw was that she was so rational, she sometimes came across as cold. But she was like that with everyone. Including herself. A month after we met, I was dropping her off after a date when we got mugged. The guy held a knife to her throat, but she didn't even flinch. She just calmly negotiated with him. “If you leave now, I won’t call the police,” she said, her voice steady. “But there’s only one of you. I can fight you long enough for him to call for help. There’s a police station less than a block from here.” The mugger, panicked and angry, didn’t listen. He lunged, aiming the knife at her. In that split second, I didn’t think. I just knew I couldn’t let her get hurt. I threw myself in front of her, tackling the guy. The blade sank deep into my back, the pain so intense it stole my breath. Chloe immediately dropped to my side. She calmly called 911, then pressed her jacket against the wound to stop the bleeding. She only asked me one thing. “Why didn’t you run?” “Because I want to be your boyfriend, Chloe,” I gasped. For the first time since I’d met her, she seemed speechless. Then her brow furrowed slightly. “But I don’t know how to love someone.” “That’s okay,” I said. “I know how to love you.” And just like that, I dove headfirst into her world. We started dating. And she was right; she didn’t know how to be affectionate. But she tried to learn. For me. She learned to buy me flowers on our anniversary. She learned to pick me up from work. She learned to cook my favorite meals. I thought that as long as she was willing to learn for me, it meant she loved me. I never imagined that she was just imitating what love was supposed to look like. That it didn't mean she was actually in love with me. 3 From the live stream chat, I learned that Chloe and Ethan were high school sweethearts. They’d dated for three years. Right after graduation, Ethan’s mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he had to drop out of college to go home. But when he got there, his abusive, alcoholic father, desperate to keep him from leaving again, found his official school records and destroyed them. His future was gone. With no prospects, he tearfully broke up with Chloe. He told her he didn’t want to hold her back. He said he’d met someone else, someone more suitable, and was going to marry her. From that day on, Chloe changed. The vibrant girl he knew disappeared, replaced by the quiet, cool, rational woman I met. She got into an Ivy League school, graduated, started a successful company with a partner, and never looked back. **【If it weren’t for this stupid side character, the ML and FL would’ve gotten back together when they ran into each other a year ago!】** **【Remember how the husband acted all generous, telling them to ‘catch up’? Little did he know they already knew every mole on each other’s bodies. ?】** **【My heart aches for Ethan. He had such a tragic life, but he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Cared for his mom until she passed, then made sure his dad ended up in prison. He started from nothing, got himself back into college, and became just as successful as Chloe. They’re a true power couple!】** **【NGL what does the husband even have? Some family money? A fancy degree? He’s nothing compared to our self-made king.】** **【Wait, this isn’t following the script. Isn’t he supposed to be fighting with Chloe right now? That fight is what’s supposed to make her realize how gentle and kind Ethan is!】** **【You don’t get it. This is his new tactic. The manipulative loser is running away from home! But it’s not gonna work. Ethan is super sick from the booze, so Chloe is gonna stay and take care of him all night. She won’t even know her husband is gone. What a waste of drama!】** Just as the chat predicted, Chloe wasn’t coming home. A text from her lit up my phone: **【Emergency meeting at the office. Let’s meet at the courthouse at 8 AM tomorrow to sign the papers.】** I just leaned back and closed my eyes. In that moment, I was profoundly grateful that we had the wedding first. Everything could still be undone. 4 I got to my parents’ house at 3 AM. They didn’t ask any questions. They just put fresh sheets on my bed, handed me a glass of warm milk, and my dad patted my shoulder. “Get some sleep, son.” I slept better than I had in months. When I woke up, it was already one in the afternoon. My phone showed two missed calls and two unread texts from Chloe. For her, that was the equivalent of a full-blown panic. And yet, for Ethan last night, she had promised three separate times, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I smirked and opened her messages. The first was from 8:15 AM: **【It’s 8:15. You’re late.】** The second, five minutes later: **【I only offered to take Ethan home because I was worried you’d be concerned about your best friend. If you’re angry about that, I fail to see the logic.】** I deleted our entire chat history without replying. Then I opened Instagram. Ethan had just posted a new story. A picture of a latte, with a caption: **【Woke up at 11 and there’s a perfect latte waiting for me. How did I get so lucky? ?】** My grip on my phone tightened, my knuckles turning white. It was just a picture of a coffee, but I knew, with absolute certainty, that Chloe had made it for him. Because I love lattes. One year, for my birthday, I’d wished that I could wake up every morning to a latte with foam art. So Chloe learned how to do it. But she could only ever make one design: a heart. And the tip of the heart always had a little tail, a long, thin line trailing off, exactly like the one in Ethan’s picture. Chloe had liked his post. The chat exploded. **【Poor baby. He’s lived alone for so long. Now he finally has her with him. ❤️】** **【LMAO the husband is probably still waiting for Chloe to come find him and apologize. Joke’s on him. He missed his chance this morning. If he played his cards right, he could’ve at least been the ‘ex-husband.’ Now he’s just an ex-boyfriend.】** I ignored the comments. I went to Ethan’s post and left a comment of my own. **【That’s the only design she knows how to make.】** 5 Because of that comment, my phone rang almost immediately. It was Chloe. Her voice, usually so detached, was sharp with accusation. “Liam, are you serious?” “You were the one who told me Ethan liked coffee. He was drunk and hadn't eaten anything all night, so I made him one to settle his stomach.” “First you stand me up at the courthouse, and now you’re leaving comments like that on Ethan’s post? Why are you being so childish and irrational?” I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to smother the rage flaring in my chest. But before I could speak, I heard a rustle on the other end. Ethan had taken the phone. His voice was laced with gentle reproach. “Chloe, don’t talk to Liam like that.” Then, he spoke directly to me, his tone full of concern. “Hey man, don’t be mad. And don’t… don’t blame Chloe.” He sighed. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have drunk so much last night. I’m sorry I ruined your wedding night.” He took a shaky breath, his voice dropping to a near-whisper. “Don’t get the wrong idea about us, okay? I swear to you, nothing happened between us. Chloe… she really loves you.” He said it with such familiarity, such confidence. “If she didn’t really love you, she never would have been with you this long. She never would have agreed to marry you…” Ethan’s voice cut off abruptly. There was a fumbling sound, and I knew Chloe had snatched the phone back. But in the split second before she hung up, I heard her ask him one thing, her voice choked with pain. “Ethan, is that what you really think?” The line went dead. A heavy, suffocating pressure built in my chest. I stared at the dark screen of my phone, feeling completely numb. **【I SHIP IT SO HARD. Who else felt that raw, hidden love in his voice? I’m dying.】** **【And Chloe! Can you imagine being misunderstood like that by the man you love? Chloe, stop holding back! Just tell him the truth already!】** **【The husband is gonna be so lost. He ran away from home and tried to cause drama on Insta to get her attention, but her mind is completely on the ML right now. She’s not gonna give him a second thought.】** **【LMAO he really thought he was so important to her. She hasn't even realized he moved out yet!】** I put my phone down and let out a short, bitter laugh. So, *this* is what Chloe was like when she was truly in love. She didn’t not know how to love someone. She just didn’t know how to love *me*. I ignored the chat and called a real estate agent. I listed the house. Since it was newly renovated and I priced it to sell, I found a buyer almost immediately. They were a young couple, desperate to move in. So, even before the contracts were signed, I agreed to let them start moving their things into the house. At their request, I had the place completely cleared out. All the furniture we’d spent six months picking out together, gone. As I stood in the empty space that was once our "home," I thought I would feel sad. Instead, I felt a profound sense of relief. As if a crushing weight had finally been lifted from my shoulders. The woman who was only *learning* to love me… I could finally let her go. 6 I didn’t contact Chloe for the next few days. But I saw traces of her all over Ethan’s Instagram. A picture of them at a trendy hot pot place famous for date nights. A selfie of them standing in front of their old high school. A series of stories from a road trip they had promised each other they’d take when they were kids. By the time they got back, my lawyer had the sales contract for the house drawn up. All it needed was Chloe’s signature to completely sever the last tie between us. So, for the first time in over a week, I called her. The chat went insane. **【Look look look! The side character finally caved! He’s calling her!】** **【LMAO what’s the point? She and Ethan are *this* close to getting back together. He’s been sitting around waiting for her to come home and apologize while his whole life got stolen from under him.】** **【For real. And this whole ‘selling the house’ stunt to make her jealous? Does he really think she’ll care?】** **【Got my popcorn ready. Can’t wait to watch him throw a massive tantrum about the house. The bigger the scene he makes, the more gentle and perfect our ML looks. This is the final push they need!】** **【Yessss, my OTP is finally getting their happy ending!】** Chloe picked up. Before I could say anything, she spoke. “Not mad anymore?” A sarcastic smile touched my lips. So, this whole time, she was just waiting for me to be the one to break the silence, to be the one to apologize. The truth was, I wasn’t mad anymore. Because I didn’t care anymore. “We need to meet, Chloe,” I said calmly. There was a pause on the other end, followed by a low, airy chuckle. “Fine. I’ll come home tonight.” “Don’t,” I said. “Let’s meet somewhere else.” “Why?” she asked. I hesitated. I decided it was better to tell her about the house in person. “It’s… not convenient,” I said vaguely. After all, the new owners had already moved in. It wouldn’t be right to barge in on them. 7 I never expected Chloe to go back to the "marital home" that evening. I booked a table at a Sichuan restaurant, texted her the address, and went back to focusing on my new startup. When I finished up and checked my phone, I saw a message from her, sent half an hour earlier. **【Ethan is going to join us for dinner.】** **【No matter what, you two are best friends. And you really did misunderstand him.】** **【I expect you to apologize to him, and then we can put this behind us. We can go back to our lives, and you two can go back to being friends.】** **【Oh, and Ethan can’t eat spicy food, so the Sichuan place is out. He offered to cook a few dishes at our place. Swing by the market on your way home and pick these up.】** She sent a long list of groceries. It was mostly seafood. I knew Ethan loved seafood. What I didn’t know was that Chloe had apparently forgotten that I’m deathly allergic to it. I ignored the list and was about to call and tell her not to go to the house when my phone rang. I answered, and Chloe’s voice, tight with fury, snarled in my ear. “Liam, why is there a couple living in our house, and why didn’t you think to ask for my opinion?!” “This is our HOME! How could you just let your friends move in without telling me?” “I’m on my way,” I said, and hung up. 8 When I got there, Chloe and Ethan were standing side-by-side on the porch, their faces grim. The couple who had bought the house were blocking the doorway, looking furious. The guy was only wearing a pair of boxers, half-unzipped, and the woman had thrown on a silk robe, her face flushed. The second they saw me, they rushed over. “Mr. Hayes, what the hell is going on? Did you sell this house without telling your wife?” “We already wired the money! If you back out now, you’ll be in breach of contract!” “That’s it, we already called the cops! This needs to be sorted out, right now!” I apologized profusely and managed to calm them down before I walked over to Chloe. Before I could speak, she hissed, her jaw tight. “Liam, if you wanted to let your friends stay here, I wouldn’t have cared. But you could have at least given me a heads-up! Do you have any idea what they were doing in our house? When I opened the door, they were on the couch—” She stopped herself, taking a deep breath. Ethan finished for her, his face pale with disgust. “Dude, seriously. This is yours and Chloe’s home. For your friends to be doing… *that*… in here, it’s just not right.” Looking at their horrified expressions, I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. No wonder the new owners were so pissed. These two had walked in on something they shouldn’t have seen. “You think this is funny?” Chloe stared at me in disbelief. “Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” I sobered up and pulled the neatly folded sales agreement from my briefcase. “Sorry about that. I was going to tell you over dinner tonight. I really didn’t expect you to bring Ethan back here.” I handed her the document. “They aren’t my friends, Chloe.” “Technically, this is their property now.” “I sold them the house.”
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