Edna said I was handsome, clean-cut, and mild-tempered. She complimented me on my work and on matching her ideal type in every way.

Back then, I just found her impulsive acts interesting and casually accepted her request to exchange numbers.

After that day, she occasionally brought me homemade lunches and found excuses to meet up. Before long, we naturally ended up as a couple.

Two months into our relationship, I called her one day, but a man picked up.

For a second, I thought I had dialed the wrong number, until the man spoke with a casual, annoying familiarity and called out my name.

"You're Zackary Pratt, aren't you? I'm Nolan Page. Edna's in the kitchen cooking for me, but hang on. I'll have her call you back."

In the background, I could hear Edna humming lightly and the clatter of a spatula against a pot. That was the first time I learned of Nolan's existence.

At first, I assumed he was her relative, but she told me that Nolan was a neighbor she had grown up with. He had been studying abroad and recently returned after graduating from college.

Though she had said it indifferently, a man's sharp instincts set off alarms in my mind. Things might not be as simple as she made them out to be.

On our next date, I finally met Nolan in person. He was more than half a head taller than Edna, casually dressed yet with obvious effort. There was a touch of playful handsomeness in his eyes.

What irked me most was that his hand had never left Edna's shoulder from the moment he entered the restaurant until we sat down.

Throughout the meal, he and Edna kept feeding each other and sharing food. She completely left me on the sidelines and showered him with all sorts of attentive care.

As the two sat side by side, close and natural, they did not look like neighbors at all. Instead, they seemed like a couple, whereas I, the boyfriend, felt like an unnecessary outsider.

I suppressed the discomfort, maintained a polite smile, and observed Nolan. "You two seem closer than I imagined."

He chuckled and met my gaze without flinching. "Don't misunderstand, Zack. Edna and I grew up together, so we're naturally closer than outsiders."

The way he emphasized the word "outsiders" implied that, compared to him, I was the outsider.

As he spoke, he suddenly leaned closer to Edna. "I told you I shouldn't have come, Edna. See? Zack's getting jealous."

She frowned at his words and replied, "Don't talk nonsense. Zack isn't that petty."

Yet, her hands never stopped. She naturally placed a piece of cut steak on his plate.

After that, Nolan somehow managed to have an emergency whenever Edna and I had plans. One day, he had a fever and a cold. On another day, he would forget his keys or his stomach would hurt.

Every time his call came in, Edna would leave me and choose him without hesitation, no matter how much I needed her at that moment.

I disliked how overly intimate she was with Nolan and complained to her. "Can you keep some distance from Nolan?"

But she brushed it off and said, "He's been abroad for too long, so he's just more open than we are.

"Besides, we grew up together. If anything was going to happen, it would have happened years ago."

Though Nolan had provoked me several times and explicitly hinted that they didn't have a normal relationship, her straightforward attitude made it tough for me to say much more.

After killing some time outside, I returned home and noticed a pair of women's high heels by the door. I instantly recognized them as the heels I had bought for Edna.

Though we weren't living together yet, I had given her a spare key to my apartment.

In the living room, she was curled up on the couch and taking a nap. When she heard the noise, she slowly opened her eyes and didn't look well.

I walked straight past her, hung my coat on the rack, and headed into the kitchen to start cooking, treating her like she wasn't even there.

Her voice came out hoarse when she spoke. "Zackary, why did you block me everywhere?"

I tied an apron and calmly said, "I remember sending you a message to tell you that we're done."

She sighed. "Is that just because I missed our appointment at the city hall?

"I'm sorry, but Nolan did get scratched by a cat. The wound was really deep—"

"This is the fifth time," I cut her off.

The kitchen knife hit the cutting board with a dull, heavy thud as I continued, "This is the fifth time you've stood me up for him, Edna."

She froze and looked genuinely shocked. "You were fine with it the other times. Why are you making such a big deal out of it now?"

As I turned around, I noticed the genuine confusion in her expression. It hit me then that she never thought she had done anything wrong.

I slammed the knife into a tomato. Its juice sprayed across the counter—just like the calm I had been struggling to maintain finally crumbling.

"So he calls, and you drop everything, while I can't even get you to answer one phone call?

"Are you his last friend on this planet? Does he really need someone else's girlfriend to rush over every time something happens? Do you honestly think that makes sense, Edna?"

Faced with my questions, she fell silent for a moment and clearly did not want a fight. "You're too emotional right now, Zackary. I won't fight you, but you have to understand that Nolan and I grew up together…"

I let out a short laugh at the same excuse I had heard countless times.

"Right. You grew up together, so does that give him the right to intrude on our relationship as he wishes? Is that a valid reason for you to stand me up over and over on the day we were supposed to register our marriage?

"Ask yourself, Edna. Who was your boyfriend these past few years?"

The kitchen fell into an eerie silence. The slow drip of an unclosed faucet was the only sound in the room.

Edna's eyes darted away, and she opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.

I shut my eyes hard. The turmoil of emotions in my chest finally receded like a tide and left endless exhaustion.

I turned, walked to the door, and opened it. "You should leave. There's no need for us to get married anymore since this ends here."

She snapped her head up, and her eyes were full of disbelief. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," I said and picked up her spare key from the shoe cabinet. "Now, please leave."

She stood where she was with confusion written all over her face, as if she couldn't understand a word I was saying.

That was when my patience finally ran out. I took her wrist and gently but firmly guided her out the door.

"Zackary!"

She finally reacted. Her voice was full of panic as she screamed, "Have you lost your mind? Over something this small—"

I didn't answer and gently closed the door.

Exhaustion was the only thing I felt about my relationship with Edna. I was utterly worn out.

Right now, I had had enough and decided it was time to cut my losses.

The night passed with me having restless fits.

While I was half-awake and half-dreaming, images of Edna and Nolan filled my mind.

When I dragged myself out of bed to wash up, my reflection in the mirror was a man with sunken eyes and unkempt stubble. I looked so disheveled and worn like a lost soul.

After three years of deep affection, this wretched state was all I received in return.

Deep down, I was disgusted that I had let myself fall apart and get so torn up over a relationship that wasn't even worth the effort. Now that I had come to this point, I had to make things right and turn the page, clean and fast.

After scooping up a handful of cold water, I splashed it hard against my face, shaved off the stubble, and changed into a crisp shirt. The man in the mirror finally began to resemble his old self again.

A friend called. "We're meeting up at the usual place tonight, Zack. Don't you dare ditch us and make excuses about being with your girlfriend again."

I subconsciously asked if Edna would be there, and he laughed on the other end of the line. "Of course! Speaking of which, didn't you two say you were going to get registered for marriage? Why haven't we seen a single wedding photo…"

"We broke up," I calmly cut in.

The chatter came to an abrupt stop. After a long pause, he stammered, "B-Broke up?"

"Yes—just yesterday. If she's going to be at anything from now on, don't invite me."

My friend seemed startled by my unusual composure. He mumbled a few words of comfort before hastily hanging up.

It was a perfectly normal reaction. In our shared circle of friends, everyone knew just how much I spoiled Edna.

Last year, at a dinner, she had casually mentioned craving a cake from a trendy bakery on the east side of the town, so I had driven through a downpour just to get it. When I came back soaked to the bone, I was still carefully protecting that delicately wrapped cake box.

Our friends laughed at me for spoiling her rotten, but I just wiped my hair and said, "She's young. What's wrong with spoiling her a little?"

She was three years younger and had an innocent baby face, so I couldn't help but treat her like a doll who needed protecting.

I pulled all-nighters to finish her business proposals, paid for every designer piece she wanted, and made sure her office desk drawers were always stocked with the hand warmers I bought.

I took care of almost every aspect of her life, including her food, clothing, and accommodation. Even her parents joked that I had spoiled her so much she could barely take care of herself.

All these years, I had been like a tireless gardener meticulously tending a beautiful flower, but never once stopping to ask if the flower even cared about the gardener watering it.

After hanging up, I thought about it and posted on my feed. "Long live being single."

The photo showed the rising sun outside my window, its golden rays cutting through the crowd. It felt as if I were finally breaking free from the shackles of that relationship.

Right after I posted the photo, I felt an unexpected sense of relief.

Within three minutes, my phone started buzzing nonstop. Friends and colleagues liked and commented on the post. Some were shocked, some were nosy, and most expressed concern.

After steadying my emotions, I packed up and got ready for work, only to see a team-building announcement in the company group chat. Edna's name was listed among the participants.

I immediately applied for leave.

Outside the window, the sunlight was perfect, with the shadows of trees swaying gently on the ground.

Perhaps I should visit the sea and let the salty wind blow away the gloom of the past.