Charles' POV

It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend getaway with my girlfriend. But when I walked out of the rest stop bathroom on the highway, both my car and my girlfriend were gone.

I called her right away.

She sounded calm, even a little impatient as she answered, “Jason’s car broke down on the way. I couldn’t just leave him stranded, so I went to pick him up.”

Fortunately, a kind stranger gave me a lift to our destination later that day.

That night, I saw Jason Kingsley’s post on social media with a caption, [Traveling alone is lonely, but with someone you love, it becomes romantic.]

The photo beneath it was a close-up selfie of him and my girlfriend, Naomi Sutton, cheek to cheek on a boat ride at Lake Trasimeno.

Strangely, I didn’t even get angry this time. I even gave his post a like.

——

Moments later, Naomi called me. “I just saw the hotel check you in. You made it there safely?”

“Yeah,” I replied flatly.

The truth was, I didn’t have a choice. My luggage was still in the car.

She quickly added, “I dropped your suitcase off in the hotel lobby. Go pick it up yourself.”

“Where are you going now?” I asked.

“To the night market with Jason,” she said matter-of-factly. “You should just rest at the hotel.”

I could hear muffled sounds on the other end before Jason’s apologetic voice came through.

“Charles, I’m so sorry. My car broke down, and I didn’t think Naomi would actually turn back for me.”

Naomi’s voice followed right after, a little mocking. “I told you not to worry about him. He’s a grown man. He won’t get lost.”

“It’s my fault,” Jason said. “Please don’t blame her.”

“Why are you apologizing to him?” she snapped. “You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Naomi, don’t say that,” he murmured. “Charles might get upset.”

I listened quietly as they went back and forth, then said evenly, “I’m not upset. You two have fun.”

After a shower, I sat on the hotel sofa scrolling through my phone when a message popped up.

[Jason: It’s a shame you didn’t come, Charles. The night market food is amazing!]

Then, photo after photo followed: photos of Naomi feeding him grilled squid, waiting in line to buy him fried blue cheese bites, Jason smearing cotton candy on her cheek, and the two of them sharing an artsy popsicle, smiling like a couple in love.

[Jason: What do you want to eat? I’ll bring you some.]

[Me: No need.]

I couldn’t help but remember our trip six months ago. I’d suggested we check out the local night market then, too.

But Naomi was curled up on the hotel couch playing games. Without even looking up, she said, “That’s just junk food. It’ll make me fat. I’m not going.”

She didn’t come back until past midnight that night. When she did, she tossed a greasy takeout box in front of me and said, “Jason thought you might be hungry, so he packed this for you.”

I opened it and frowned. It was just a messy mix of their leftovers.

“I’m going to his room next door,” she said casually. “We’re gonna play a few rounds of our game. You should sleep.”

Eight after saying that, she left, and I immediately threw the box straight into the trash.

She didn’t come back that night.

By morning, I’d already packed my bags and taken the train home alone.

That night, I woke up to her shaking me awake.

Her expression was annoyed as she snapped, “Why did you just leave without telling me? Do you know how long I had to drive back alone? I’m exhausted!”

I yawned lazily. “Didn’t want to interrupt your fun.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t get all passive-aggressive with me. Jason cut his trip short because he was worried about you! I only came back because of him.”

Then she tilted her head, studying me. “Wait, are you actually jealous?”

Before I could answer, she raised her voice. “Charles, can you stop being so childish? Jason’s like a younger brother to me. We grew up next door! Of course, I’m going to look out for him. He’s only twenty-two, while you’re already twenty-six. Why are you competing with a kid? It’s embarrassing!”

“I’ve been driving back and forth for two days, walking around till my legs hurt, barely sleeping, and you can’t even be a little understanding?” she went on.

I almost laughed. She wasn’t driving for me. She wasn’t walking with me. She wasn’t losing sleep because of me. Why on earth should I be the one to “understand”?

The next day, I went to the office to work overtime.

Around noon, Naomi called. She’d clearly just woken up, as her voice was hoarse. “Charles, where the hell are you? You didn’t even cook!”

“I’m at work,” I said simply.

“Don’t lie. It’s Sunday.”

“I told you before, I’m working this weekend,” I said with a small smile.

Of course, she’d never remembered anything I said.

Charles' POV

After hanging up, I signed my transfer papers and handed them to my manager.

By the time I got out of work, it was raining. All the girls were calling their boyfriends, gigglingly asking to be picked up.

I thought back to the heavy rain earlier this year. Because I felt sorry for Naomi, I used my savings to buy her a car.

It was pouring the day she got it, thunder and lightning shaking the sky. Since that was the case, I took the day off, brought an umbrella, and went to her office to celebrate with her.

But she grabbed my umbrella and said she had to run an errand, leaving me to find my own way home.

I was drenched by the time I made it back. That was when I saw Jason’s new post.

[Congrats to Naomi on your new car! Thanks for letting me be the first to ride shotgun!”

The photo showed Naomi behind the wheel, smiling sweetly.

That night we had a huge fight. She accused me of being petty and dramatic, “making a big deal out of nothing.”

We didn’t talk for days. To make peace, I took two days off work and planned this trip to Florence, Italy.

But in the end, this so-called vacation only showed me exactly where I stood in Naomi’s heart.

When I walked out of the building, holding the umbrella I’d borrowed from a coworker, I unexpectedly spotted Naomi’s car parked across the street.

For a second, I thought I must be imagining things. Was the sun rising from the west today?

But when I looked up, the sky was nothing but dark gray clouds and fine drizzle.

I was just about to open the driver’s door when she said, “I’ll drive today. You can sit in the back. We still have to pick up Jason later. He gets carsick easily.”

So that was why she was here. She wasn’t here to pick me up. She was here to pick him up since my office just happened to be near the gym he worked out at. Turned out, I was nothing more than an afterthought.

We soon pulled across the street to the gym entrance. From a distance, I saw Jason waving at us with three guys around his age standing beside him.

As soon as we stopped, he hopped into the passenger seat with a grin.

“Naomi, can we drop my buddies off first?” he asked cheerfully.

Before he even finished, one of his friends had already opened the back door. When he saw me sitting there, he froze.

“Uh… there’s someone already in the back?”

The air went awkwardly still.

Only then did Jason notice me. His smile faltered, and he quickly said, “Oh, Charles! I didn’t know you were here. Maybe I should just grab a cab with my friends instead. I don’t want to trouble Naomi.”

But Naomi didn’t hesitate for even a second. She pressed down on his hand as he tried to undo his seatbelt, then turned and gave me a look.

“Charles, just take a taxi home, okay?” she said under her breath.

Heh. I hadn’t even warmed the seat before getting kicked out of the car.

Luckily, the rain stopped just as her taillights disappeared from view. At least this time, I didn’t look as pathetic as before.

Just then, my boss called. He told me my transfer request had been approved. I could start working at the head office in New York next month.

Over the past two years, they’d invited me several times. But every time, I’d turned it down because I couldn’t bear to leave Naomi.

Now, I finally realized how foolish that was. Well, at least it wasn’t too late to wake up.

When I got home, I looked around the apartment I’d lived in for three years and couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental.

I’d stayed in San Diego for her, despite my parents’ objections.

The first year we dated, she was wonderful. She learned to cook for me and even cut her fingers a few times in the process. When I got sick, she stayed up all night by my side. Whenever I had to work late, she’d show up with homemade soup and keep me company.

Charles' POV

Back then, I truly believed we’d grow old together.

But by our second year, the passion had cooled, but I didn’t mind. I thought steady love was the truest kind. So, I still dreamed about a warm, simple future with her.

Then, at the end of last year, Naomi got addicted to a mobile game, and we barely talked anymore.

I tried to find a way to reconnect, so I downloaded the same game, hoping to play it together.

But that was when I found out she already had a “partner” in the game, and it was none other than her “neighbor little brother,” Jason.

This July, Jason graduated from college and moved to San Diego to “start fresh.” From that moment on, Naomi and I did nothing but fight and give each other silent treatment.

She kept insisting she only saw him as a brother. But their behavior said otherwise.

She stayed overnight at his place because he supposedly had a stomachache and she “massaged his stomach all night.”

In the middle of a candlelight dinner, she left me sitting alone because Jason called, saying he was bored.

When I was hospitalized and couldn’t eat, she took the meal I’d ordered for myself and brought it to him instead.

After enough disappointment, you started to understand that when someone stopped loving you, even pretending became too much effort.

Once I decided to leave, I quietly started packing my things and shipping them back home, bit by bit. So, Naomi never noticed.

Last weekend, she told me Jason was treating us to dinner. My first instinct was to refuse. But her face immediately soured.

“Jason’s being nice and inviting you to eat, and you can’t even show some gratitude? Don’t be so ungrateful!”

I thought about it for a moment. Even if we were going to break up, I wanted to end things peacefully. So, I said, “Alright. I’ll go.”

When we arrived at the restaurant, Naomi went to park the car. She handed me the private room number and told me to head up first.

As I walked down the hallway, I could already hear laughter and teasing coming from inside.

“Jason, Naomi’s so good to you! I wish I had a sister like her!”

“Come on, everyone can tell she likes you.”

“Too bad she’s got a boyfriend already.”

“You mean that old guy from her car last time? I heard he’s twenty-six! How could he compare to you?”

“Exactly! One word from you, and she’d drop that boring old man in a heartbeat!”

I curled my lips into a faint smile and pushed the door open.

The laughter cut off instantly. Jason’s face froze when he saw me.

“Charles… I didn’t think you’d actually come,” he said awkwardly.

“Honestly,” I smiled lightly, “I didn’t want to.”

One of his friends rolled his eyes and muttered, “What’s he so proud of, that old man?”

I looked at him and shook my head with pity. “Old man? What, you don’t plan on living past twenty-six?”

“You—” he started, but before he could finish, Naomi walked in.

She saw me standing by the door and frowned. “What are you doing just standing there? Come in and sit down.”

Jason quickly got up, pretending to be concerned. “Charles, don’t be upset. I’ll grab you a clean set of dishes.”

Hearing that, Naomi immediately assumed I was picking on him. She stepped protectively in front of Jason and snapped, “Charles, that’s enough. He’s already trying to make peace, what more do you want?”

I wanted to laugh. Me? Petty?

“I’m not angry,” I said calmly. “Actually, I’m quite generous.”

Then I turned to Jason, who was standing just behind her, and smiled faintly. “Naomi’s all yours. No need to thank me.”

Her face turned bright red with fury. “Charles! What nonsense are you talking about?”

I met her gaze, my tone steady. “Naomi, let’s break up.”