As Wren went to take a shower, the livestream was also about to end, and the last thing the streamer said was, “When she showers, we’re going to video call. I’ll show you guys her amazing tiny waist in a bit!”

Less than five minutes later, he posted an update.

Water droplets clung to a woman’s slender waist. Though her face wasn’t shown, the tiles behind her were unmistakably from our bathroom. In the storage basket sat the cheap shampoo and soap I had bought.

It was Wren.

At this very moment, in the small place we rented, she was showering while video calling the man she was keeping.

The sound of running water never stopped. I closed my eyes, trying to tell myself not to panic, to stay calm and think it through.

However, the truth was right there. There was nothing to analyze.

Reopening my eyes, I saw the streamer, Matt, reply to a top comment.

[You’re just a kept pretty boy showing off. She has a boyfriend. No matter what you say, you’re the third party.]

He replied: [She’s just raising that poor guy like a pet. He has a title, but the one she loves is me. Believe it or not, if I send one message, she’ll leave her boyfriend’s place and come running to me immediately.]

The next second, the bathroom door opened. Wren, in her nightdress, hurried out.

“Aran, something urgent came up. I need to go out for a bit…”

My nerves snapped tight. I grabbed her hand.

“Wren, I’ll come with you.”

…

Her back stiffened slightly. Then she gently pulled her hand away.

“No need. It’s cold outside.”

I refused to give up and grabbed her again, staring at the red mark on her collarbone, my voice trembling.

“What happened here?”

She lowered her head to look. The corner of her eye twitched.

“Probably got bitten by a bug while washing dishes. I’m heading out. Go to sleep early.”

All the strength drained from me.

On the livestream, someone asked if the black stud earrings Matt wore were a gift from his sugar mommy.

He tilted his head back and laughed, clearly pleased.

“No. When we were going at it, she got too excited and bit my earlobe. This is her compensation.

“But I didn’t go easy on her either. I left a mark right here on her. I used full force, too. It won’t fade for at least three days.”

The place he pointed to was the collarbone.

As Wren left, I stood alone in the entryway, rubbing my fingertips hard, as if trying to scrape off a layer of skin.

After all this time, I only realized it now.

Her fingers were slender and smooth, without a single crack. How could they belong to someone who washed dishes all day?

At three in the morning, Matt updated again.

[See? I told you she loves me.]

In the photo, his long arm was wrapped around a petite girl, with a smirk on his lips.

Her face was covered with an emoji, but the nightdress she wore was one I had bought. I had watched her put it on before she left.

I pressed my lips together and zoomed in on the photo. At the head of the bed hung a white shirt.

On the chest of that shirt were the letters “WY”. Last year, I had sewn it myself as a birthday gift for Wren.

She treasured it, saying she would only wear it on the day we registered our marriage.

Now, it was hanging in the villa of the man she was keeping.

That night, I stayed awake until dawn, then dragged myself to work like a walking corpse.

After work, I followed my usual routine and went to deliver food.

Wren was already back when I got home at eleven.

Two boxed meals were on the table, and she had changed into her loungewear.

“The barbecue place had several set meals left over. I begged the boss for them. The rest are in the fridge.

“This way we can save on food for two days and still eat enough.”

I walked to the table in silence, looking at the greasy boxed barbecue meals.

In my mind, I could hear Matt bragging about how Wren had brought a French chef to the villa today to cook him an “ordinary lunch” right in front of him.

A sour feeling rose in my stomach. I turned and went straight to the bedroom.

“I’m tired. You eat.”

Not long after I lay down, Wren slipped into my arms and let out a soft sigh.

“Aran, I’m sorry. Because of my debt, you’ve had to suffer so much.”

I murmured a vague “Mm”.

She continued, “The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Since we don’t have enough money for two tickets, you should go. I’ll stay here and wait for you to return.”

I opened my eyes and tapped into the ticketing app.

“Yesterday, I entered a livestream where they were giving away money. I’ve gathered enough. We can go back home together.”

In the glow of my phone, her brows furrowed slightly, and irritation flashed through her eyes.

She hadn’t expected me to come up with the money.

After all, I had given her everything I had yesterday morning to pay off her debts. I should’ve only had the two hundred and twelve dollars she sent me at night from dishwashing.

However, the irritation lasted only a moment. She hugged me tightly, her cheek buried against my neck.

“That’s great. We can go home together again.

“Aran, thank you.”

She still wasn’t telling the truth.

I locked the screen, and the bedroom fell into darkness.

Her fingers found the tear mole under my eye, gently rubbing it as if she were petting something.

…

The day before New Year’s Eve, I took leave, but didn’t tell her.

Matt said he was tired of staying in the villa, and his sugar mommy was going to take him shopping to cheer him up.

When I arrived at the mall, a Maybach had just pulled up at the entrance.

The driver respectfully opened the rear door, and Wren stepped out.

She wasn’t wearing her service uniform. Instead, she had on a high-end custom dress with a luxury scarf draped over her shoulders.

Never could I have imagined that the poor girlfriend who had muttered that morning about going to wash dishes at a barbecue restaurant was actually the only daughter of the Smiths, a well-known family in the capital’s real estate circle.

As I stood there in a daze, the door on the other side opened. Matt smiled and reached out his hand to her.

“Taking me shopping like this, aren’t you afraid your boyfriend will see?”

Wren rose on her toes and bit his lips in public.

I stood behind a tree not far away, watching my girlfriend share a passionate, lingering kiss with another man.

It took a long while before she pulled away, only to peck him again twice.

“What’s there to be afraid of? He has work today. I watched him get on the bus myself.

“And what if he sees?

“If he sees…”

Wren narrowed her eyes slightly, unconcerned.

“At worst, I’ll just return the little money he’s earned over the years.”

Matt laughed boldly, wrapping an arm around her as they walked into the mall together.

I should have chased after them.

I should have grabbed her clothes and demanded why she lied to me and betrayed me. However, in just two days, my heart had already gone numb.

My legs wouldn’t move. So I just stood there, watching Matt post updates one after another.

[This French restaurant is just average. Not as good as the French chef my sugar mommy hired for me.]

[My sugar mommy brought me shopping. She said I could buy whatever I wanted. She transferred another million to me. I’ll go live at ten tonight and give money away!]

Someone in the comments asked him, [Aren’t you afraid the sugar mommy’s boyfriend will catch you?]

“I wish he would,” Matt replied. “She said if he finds out, she’ll just return the little money he’s made over the years. What a loser. Five years and he’s only made six hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars.”

Six hundred fifty-three thousand. So that’s how much I’ve earned over these five years.

I found it laughable, but when I tried to smile, I couldn’t.

Two hours later, Matt posted his expenses for the day.

[As for me, my daily income is 1.2 million!]

I don’t even know how I got back.

By the time I came to, I was already sitting on the sofa. Wren had just walked in, having changed back into her service uniform, her hair messy.

“Aran, you haven’t had dinner yet?”

She rolled up her sleeves. “I’ll heat the meals in the fridge. It’ll be ready soon.”

Her tone was no different from usual, still gentle and considerate.

I held my chopsticks, countless words stuck in my chest.

Why did she lie to me and say she was from the same hometown as me—a poor kid from Sitka County, with a family burdened by massive debt?

I stayed with her from freshman year to graduation and then followed her here to struggle in the capital.

I saved every penny, worked one full-time job and three part-time jobs, just to give her everything I earned, just hoping she could pay off her debts sooner and get married without worry.

However, in reality, she was a wealthy young heiress of the capital, spending millions as she pleased, publicly dating me while secretly keeping another man on the side.

Did she ever really love me all these years, or was I just a pet she kept for fun?

Across from me, she took two bites and stopped, barely hiding the disgust in her expression.

I stared into her eyes and asked, “Wren, how much is left of your family’s debt?”

…

Her hand stiffened, her gaze drifting.

“My mom said… there’s still about nine hundred thousand left.”

I stayed calm.

“When we were freshmen, you said it was a million. It’s been five years. How is there still over nine hundred thousand?”

She finally remembered what she had told me back then. Panicking, she threw down her chopsticks, ran over, and crouched in front of me.

“I’m sorry, Aran. I kept it from you…

“My dad got sick. My mom borrowed money for his treatment, so we owe more now… Are you mad at me? Our family’s debt is just too much…”

She kept apologizing, her fingers gripping my wrist.

However, this same hand had just spent over a million dollars at the mall just because another man had grown tired of staying in the villa and needed cheering up.

I swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in my throat.

“I’m not mad at you. I just think we can’t go on like this forever.”

“How about this? When we go back home this time, we’ll arrange for both families to meet. Then we’ll get married. After that, I’ll take responsibility as the head of the household and help you repay the debt with everything I have.”

Her fingers trembled, cold sweat forming in her palm.

She looked straight at me. I had loved her for five years, but today, I couldn’t tell what was in her eyes.

Was it irritation or anger?

As time passed, she calmed down and reached out to touch the tear mole under my right eye.

“Okay. When we go home for the New Year, we’ll talk about getting married.”

Though she was still as sincere as ever, how many lies were beneath it?

I gripped her hand in return and nodded firmly.

Wren, this is your last chance.

Our tickets were for four in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve. We dragged our suitcases and took the bus to the train station.

Along the way, Wren kept replying to messages, each one making her frown.

I pretended not to notice and turned slightly, opening Matt’s profile.

[That broke loser actually dares to take my sugar mommy. How shameless!]

[Just wait. Let’s see who matters more to her—you or me!]

More messages came in for Wren, and she slowly grew restless. When the bus reached a stop, she suddenly stood up.

“Aran, something happened to my friend at the barbecue place. I need to go check on her.

“You go home first. Don’t let your parents wait too long.”

I stood up as well. “I’ll go with you. It’ll help to have another person.”

“No need!”

She reacted sharply, then realized I hadn’t actually tried to stop her.

A trace of awkwardness crossed her face. The doors opened, and she got off without hesitation.

“You go home first. Stay safe.”

She hailed a taxi and left in the opposite direction.

The bus continued toward the train station. I held onto the seat and sat down, staring straight ahead.

Matt had won. He mattered more.

Tears fell. I took out my phone and recorded a short clip of myself, my voice choked with emotion.

Then I put together all the photos I had taken with Wren over the years into one video.

“I’ve been with my girlfriend for five years. I worked four jobs to help pay off her debts, but her family’s debt just keeps growing. Today we were supposed to go home together for New Year’s, but she said something happened at the barbecue place and left again.

“Sigh… I guess I’ve failed as a boyfriend. I don’t even know when her debts will be paid off. Living on plain buns and pickles every day is just too hard…”

As the train started moving, I posted it.

I put all the money I had grabbed from Matt’s livestream into boosting it.

Wren, those who lie have to swallow a thousand needles.

Starting today, you can take your time swallowing them.

I won’t be staying to watch.