In the eighth year after breaking up with Tyler Goff, we bump into each other at an international airport.

Tyler is in a hurry to fly overseas just to see his wife. I, on the other hand, need to go on an international business trip.

After a moment of silence, he gives me a polite nod.

"How's life after you're back in the country?"

I reply politely that everything is fine on my end.

When we're about to board our respective flights, Tyler suddenly turns to look at me.

"Rosemary, the truth is, back when you flew thousands of miles just to see me, I was…"

The blaring announcement in the airport drowns out what Tyler has to say to me.

I don't bother listening to him. Instead, I turn on my heel and walk away.

Back then, when I lost contact with my home country for eight hours, Tyler came clean about the life he had shared with another woman.

I'm so glad that the thousands of miles stretching between two different cities have given me a chance to see through Tyler's actual colors as well as the nature of this wretched relationship.

I'd just settled into my seat on the plane when a few DMs popped up on my phone. They were from a relationship-advice influencer I had interacted with online years ago.

"Hey, Rosemary. It's been five years, hasn't it? My followers have been wondering whether you've been able to move on from that relationship."

I tapped on her profile. My video was still there, pinned to the top with the most likes. I then tapped the video open.

On the screen, the me from five years ago was crying her heart out, muttering, "He said he's had a girlfriend all along, that they've been together for five years.

"They've already met each other's parents and are planning to get engaged as soon as they graduate. And he said his girlfriend comes from a really wealthy family. But my family is also wealthy, though…"

Because of what I said, quite a few people felt bad for me back then.

"I can understand wanting answers and her anger, but she just had to say her family was rich, too. It's like she's wondering why she's the one getting played when she's also rich."

"I mean, five years is a long time. How can someone just walk away from it so easily?"

"That scumbag deserves to rot in hell."

Some even accused me of having ulterior motives.

They claimed I was the one who deliberately inserted myself into their relationship and knowingly became the other woman.

And they said I only reached out to the influencer to feed the public my sob story to pressure the real girlfriend into leaving.

After skimming through the old comments, I was just about to close the app when a new comment from a minute ago popped up. "Guys, it's been five years. I'm going to bet that this homewrecker managed to steal him."

I was about to report the comment when a reply that had just been posted appeared underneath it. "She didn't. Stop spreading rumors."

I recognized that profile picture instantly. It was Tyler Goff's burner account, the one he hadn't used in ages.

Back then, it was his lies that thrust me into the eye of the storm. What right did he have now to tell others not to spread rumors?

With a sneer, I went back to the influencer's DMs and typed, "I moved on ages ago. Please take the video down."

When I gave it some thought, I realized that Tyler and I first crossed paths thanks to a textbook damsel-in-distress moment.

Tyler didn't even know that his dad had a second family until his dad's actual wife showed up at their door.

The woman had brought a group of people with her, all holding up their phones to record everything. They tore at Tyler's mom's clothes while hurling a barrage of vicious insults at her.

Tyler shielded his mom with his own body, eventually ending up covered in cuts and bruises. That was when I stepped in front of them to protect them while calling the cops.

The police officers put an end to the farce and brought the group in for questioning and warnings. "No matter how serious the issue, violence is not allowed! Look at what you did to them! That's completely unacceptable!"

After I finished giving my statement, I got ready to leave. As I reached the door, Tyler called out to me.

His face was still a mess of bruises. As he spoke, the movement split his wounds open again, causing blood to trickle down. He gave me a sincere bow, then asked me for my number.

Tyler had said, "Should you ever need my help, I'll do everything I can to help you."

After we parted ways that day, I never took the initiative to contact him. It was always him reaching out to me. He'd send me little gifts or pick me up after class to take me to the amusement park.

At the end of October, he and his mother moved overseas, but he never stopped contacting me. If anything, the distance only made us talk to each other more often, which strengthened our connection.

He would send me pictures of the streets over there and some random moments from his daily life. Before I knew it, he became a huge part of my life.

During the New Year holiday, I got into a huge fight with my family and moved out to live on my own. As luck would have it, I caught a bad bacterial infection and had to be hospitalized.

Curled up on the cold hospital bed, I watched the fireworks outside all alone while listening to the New Year countdown on the TV. My phone was blowing up with messages from Tyler.

Unable to hold back, I texted him back. "I really wish you were here."

After hitting send, I passed out. I woke up to find that Tyler still hadn't replied. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

But I knew that with thousands of miles separating us, expecting him to show up out of the blue was nothing more than wishful thinking.

As time went on, Tyler's replies were intermittent at best.

Just when I couldn't take the uncertainty anymore, the hospital room door swung open.

He was out of breath with a bouquet of pink carnations in hand. Cupping my face, he smiled and said, "Rose, I've come to see you. I'll take you home once you get discharged."

In an instant, all the pain I had bottled up for so long finally burst forth. Throwing my arms around him, I sobbed my heart out.

From that day on, we officially became a couple. And so began our five-year long-distance relationship.

Throughout those five years, Tyler came to see me every single month, even though we were in different countries and thousands of miles apart.

I told him he didn't have to go to such trouble, but he said he missed me.

He told me he wanted to see me, wanted to do many things together with me. He said he couldn't live without me.

Tyler asked, "Do you remember the day you stepped in front of us and called the police for us? Back then, everyone called my mom a homewrecker and me a bastard.

"You were the only one who called the police and helped us. Then, when that video went viral, you defended me and helped report the hate comments. Rose, I don't know how I could ever repay you. You're my lover and my savior."

He kissed the back of my hand with such tenderness and devotion that, when I later learned he had a girlfriend all along, I thought I must be dreaming.

By our fifth year together, Tyler was swamped with schoolwork, and I frequently went an entire day without hearing from him. More often than not, I would wait for his reply until I could no longer keep my eyes open anymore.

The next day, the only thing waiting in our chat was a short reply. "In class right now. Can't talk."

As I stared at those words, the yearning in my heart overflowed, like water spilling over the edge.

I decided to go see him. Just as he had traveled thousands of miles to see me, I wanted to do the same for him.

Without letting him know, I quietly booked a plane ticket. I took a three-hour high-speed train ride from home to an international airport, flew with a layover in Aviza, and then continued on to Molovia.

The entire journey took 48 hours. By the time I got off the plane, my head was pounding.

People all around me were speaking languages I couldn't understand. But with the help of a translation app, I eventually found my way to Tyler's university.

I wandered around the unfamiliar campus twice before finally tracking down some of his friends. When they asked why I was looking for him, I told them I was his girlfriend.

A complicated look suddenly crossed their faces. Then, the shock on their faces slowly shifted into something that looked a lot like pity.

In the end, I never got to see Tyler. I only received a phone call from him as I was saying goodbye to his friends.

"What are you doing here?"

Over the phone, his tone was nothing like the gentle one I was used to. Instead, he sounded almost frantic as he demanded an explanation.

His shout left me stunned. The joy and anticipation I'd built up along the way instantly turned into a painful knot in my throat.

My throat felt tight as I said, "I missed you."

Tyler was silent for a moment. He then spoke in a tone that was as gentle as it had once been. "Rose, I'm not there right now. Go home for now. After I finish up here, I'll come back to see you, okay? Just do what I say."

For some reason, I suddenly felt a wave of grievance. I didn't ask why he had yelled at me like that in the beginning. I merely cried, asking, "Tyler, which city are you in? Can I see you? I want to see you right now."

The other end of the line fell silent again. Finally, he asked, "Are you sure?"

After I gave him a definite answer, he booked a flight ticket for me. "Call me when you land. I'll come pick you up."

With that, he hung up. The screen was still showing our chat interface.

His last message was from a week ago, at 3:00 am. Tyler had said, "I just got out of class. I'm so tired. I miss you so much. I want to kiss you so badly, babe…"

The next thing I knew, I was on a plane again. It was an eight-hour flight from where I was to his city.

And during those eight hours when I was cut off from the world, he confessed everything. He told me that he'd had a girlfriend the whole time, and her family was well-off.

They had already met each other's parents and agreed to get engaged as soon as Tyler graduated.

In the chat interface, Tyler admitted he had been deceiving me all along. He said he was a bad person, a scumbag, and that he had failed me.

But since all the fault lay with him, he begged me not to go looking for his girlfriend.

"Rose, both you and she are wonderful women. This is all my fault. I hurt you. So please don't go looking for my girlfriend. Don't let her know about any of this. I don't want to upset her."

Standing in the bustling airport, I couldn't stop my hand from shaking as I held my phone. As I stared at the word "girlfriend", I cried so hard that I could barely breathe.

If she were his girlfriend, then what was I?

What did that make me? We were together for five whole years. How could everything change so suddenly?

I sat outside the airport until night fell, until my tears finally ran dry. Then I sent Tyler a message. "Do you have time now? Let's talk."

A long while later, he replied, "How about a little later? She's on her period. I need to stay with her."

My heart ached all over again.

I wanted to cry, but there were simply no tears left. My hands shook as I texted, "Okay."

The moment I hit send, it felt as though something inside me shattered completely.

We met at a restaurant. He repeated everything he had texted me earlier that day.

All I could do was cry. With tears in my eyes, I told him that he had wronged me and called him inhumane.

As Tyler spoke, he sounded a little irritated, as if my crying had gotten on his nerves. "I thought we were just fooling around. Who knew you would take things so seriously?

"After what you did for me back then, I had always thought that you were a strong woman. Do you really have to be this desperate for love, Rosemary?"

My broken, tearful accusations came to an abrupt halt. I stared at him in shock for a long time, then I slapped him.