Austin's eyes were so eager, making it impossible for me to ignore him.

He looked at me triumphantly, his eyes full of mockery.

It seemed he was saying, "So what if you're Lara's boyfriend? She loves me more."

In the past, I would have snapped when I saw this look in his eyes. Yet now, I simply found it boring. She was just a heartless woman. Whoever wanted her could have her.

When we got home, I put down my bag and was about to take a shower.

Lara stopped me.

"Danny, don't you have anything ... to ask me?"

She pinched the corner of her clothes as if she had made a great determination before asking me.

"What do you want me to ask?" I was impatient and just wanted her to leave me alone.

"Luna organized today's gathering. They are all my college classmates, and I figured that if I turned them down, I'd be rude... I didn't know they invited Austin, too..."

In the past, it was always me who mentioned Austin. I was jealous, angry, or aggrieved.

Now that I didn't care anymore, she took the initiative to explain.

"It is your business. No need to explain to me. You can call the shots."

"Danny, these days... You have been cold to me... I'm scared..."

I interrupted her before she finished speaking.

"You're overthinking. I'm too tired, so I'm going to sleep."

After saying that, I turned around without hesitation, leaving Lara behind.

The next night after work, I unexpectedly saw Lara's car downstairs again.

For some reason, I felt a little scared and annoyed. I wanted to return to the office building, but Lara stopped me.

"Danny, why do you run away when you see me? Am I some kind of ferocious monster?" She lowered her head, sobbing.

It was the same old trick. Before, she always manipulated me with such a look.

"No. I just forgot something..."

"It's Luna's birthday party. She invited both of us... Danny, you..."

"You may go. I'm not interested."

Luna Jordan was Lara's college roommate. When Lara pursued Austin back then, the group of people, including Luna, offered Lara lots of suggestions. They became close and had been friends till now.

"All of them will bring a date. Don't worry... It won't be late. I swear."

Perhaps not wanting to argue with her anymore, as she started the car, I said nothing, agreeing to go in silence.

As soon as we arrived at Luna's doorstep, a bunch of roses suddenly fell from the door frame, catching Lara and me off guard.

Before we could react, Austin jumped out from the corner.

"Flowers match beautiful women! Welcome, Lara."

The atmosphere became tense, and everyone was secretly observing my expression.

They all knew that I loved Lara so deeply, so I definitely couldn't tolerate someone who sent roses to her in such a way.

But I just sat down in my seat under their gazes.

"Why isn't anyone sitting?"

Lara threw the roses aside and ran towards me.

"Danny, don't take it seriously. I'm just too close to Austin. He doesn't mean anything. He just wants to surprise me!"

"She's right, Danny. We used to mess around like this all the time. You didn't know, and that's all. It's just the interaction between friends!"

Austin's words "used to", "all the time", and "you didn't know" caught my attention. I knew what he was trying to do.

He wouldn't miss any opportunity to sow discord between me and Lara.

His tricks were so lame. He better kept them to himself.

During the meal, Austin kept putting food on Lara's plate.

"Lara, it's the braised pork you like. Have some more..."

They used to put food on each other's plates frequently and called that normal interaction between friends. It no longer affected me.

After finishing the meal, I was thinking about my plan for the civil service exam, so I wanted to leave.

"Danny, are you leaving so soon? Let's stay a little longer and hang out." Lara tried to stop me.

"No. You guys may hang out. I'm leaving. I have something to do."

"Then... Then I'll go back too!" I looked at Lara in surprise as I heard her say that. She used to be eager for me to leave early, let alone go with me.

"You're both leaving? I didn't drive. Lara, could you give me a ride?" Austin said.

I opened the door to the back seat of the car directly.

As soon as I got in the car, I put on my headphones and reviewed the knowledge I learned in the morning.

The civil service exam was around the corner, and I had devoted myself to it almost entirely.

Concentrating on reviewing several pages of the questions I answered wrongly in the morning, I suddenly realized that it was unusually quiet in the car today.

I took off my headphones.

"Lara, what's wrong with you today? I asked you a question. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Don't talk while I'm driving."

Austin's gaze fell on me again. This time, there was resentment instead of complacency in his eyes.

He mouthed at me.

"Did you say something to Lara and instigate our relationship? You are such a despicable person."

I smiled and ignored him.

After all, paying attention to such a person was as boring as scolding the air.

In the morning, when I was about to go to work, I was surprised to see that Lara had made breakfast.

She was sitting on the sofa in the living room waiting for me.

"You're awake, Danny. Have some breakfast. I made it myself. I don't know if it suits your taste."

"No need. My colleague has already bought it for me," I said lightly.

The colleague I was referring to was the one who commuted to work with me. There was a breakfast joint downstairs from her house, and she always brought something for me. Of course, I paid her.

"I see... Then go wash up. I'll take you to work later. I'm sure you don't wanna trouble others always."

I stared at Lara as if she were a stranger.

What happened? She actually offered me a lift?

"No need. I'll take my colleague's car."

"It's too ... troublesome for others!"

"It's not. I pay for the gas. Besides, you're the one who finds it troublesome, remember?"

She seemed to be choked on my words for a moment and stayed silent for quite a while.

When she urged me to buy a car back then, I didn't even have a driver's license.

She gave me a vision.

She said, "With a car, I can pick you up and drop you off at work. It's so romantic!

"Once we have a car, we can take a weekend road trip, go out in the suburbs, and have a world that only belongs to the two of us."

But just a few days after I bought a car, Lara became impatient.

"Your company is so far away, and it's not on my way. It's early in the morning. I need my beauty sleep.

"Handle it yourself. Don't bother me again!"

After she said that, she never picked me up or dropped me off at work again.

I spent my days on the crowded subway while paying off the car loan. Now that I thought about it, I was such a big sucker.

"Is your colleague who rides with you a man or a woman?"

"A woman. She's just a friend. Do you have any other questions?"

She hesitated for a while and couldn't say anything.

Maybe to make her suffer more, I said deliberately.

"Relax. I have never taken care of her when she was sick, never peeled crabs for her, and never stayed overnight at her house in the middle of the night!"

After saying that, I left, and I heard Lara's clear sobbing behind me.

I was napping at noon.

Unexpectedly, I received a message from Lara on WhatsApp.

It was a photo. She was in a meeting. She also texted, [What are you doing?]

Was she ... reporting to me?

Sliding my fingertips, I scrolled up our chat history.

I used to be such a simp. In the past, I used to send multiple messages without getting a single reply from Lara, but I still persisted in texting her.

And now, I hadn't taken the initiative to send her a message for half a month.

I had to say that this half month had been the most enjoyable half month since I started dating her!