After I got back with Lily Reid, I finally had a chance to catch a breather.

She no longer returned home late, and she no longer hid her social media posts from me. Finally, I no longer felt like an insecure madman in our relationship.

It was as if nothing had happened before. Things were very peaceful. It seemed as though love could ease everything.

One day, Lily got into a car accident. My childhood friend was with her, and he was found completely naked.

The police passed the mediation letter to me and said sternly, “The surveillance footage showed that your girlfriend was driving distractedly and hit the car in the opposite lane.”

I signed the letter numbly. Then, I collected the items from the car accident.

There were a pair of sexy leggings, birth control products, and a guarantee letter that had been torn into pieces.

[I, Lily Reid, promise to cut all ties with David Anderson, or I will rot in hell.]

When I rushed to the hospital, Lily was struggling to sit upright and shield David.

“I was the one who went to him. If you’re angry, direct it to me!”

I shook my head and laughed in relief.

It turned out no matter how hard I held on, I could not save the romance.

The air tickets that I bought for our anniversary trip became my exit.

I saw David Anderson hugging her tightly. They looked so in love.

My heart throbbed in pain.

This was a repeat of the past.

However, I no longer yelled uncontrollably and smashed everything around me.

Instead, I sat on the couch and stared quietly at Lily Reid.

Her determined eyes did not even waver once.

The last time she looked so determined was when she swore she would cut David off.

Instead, she chose to protect David to prevent me from hurting him.

“So, you never cut him off, right?”

I only realized that when I received the dashcam footage from the police.

Lily did not reach home on time because she had learnt from her mistakes.

Instead, it was because she had grown better at managing her limited free time to cheat on me with David.

When I heard their pants, I could not help but recall how she usually looked when she came home.

Her eyes were always very bright, and she would bring me my favorite wine.

“Ben, I missed you so much.”

Hence, I lowered my pride and pretended nothing had happened to be with her again.

I loved her like how I always did.

However, reality gave me a huge slap on that day.

“Ben, you know David has some mental health issues. I can’t do that to him.

“He’s your childhood friend. How could you be so heartless?”

Lily did not feel any remorse. Instead, she started to shift the blame on me.

She was blaming me for knowing that David suffered from depression, and how I had struck him when he asked me to let him have Lily.

It had been the first time Lily got mad at me throughout our eight years together.

She had torn up our wedding plans and canceled the venue.

She even called my sick mother and informed her that the wedding was cancelled.

My mother aged a lot overnight.

However, Lily did not care at all. She still yelled at me, “You assaulted him, and now, you want me to immediately marry you. What about him?

“He’s depressed, Ben! What do you want him to do?”

Her rage had almost shattered me.

My heart skipped a beat and I struggled to breathe.

What about me?

Why did no one care about me?

I snapped back to the present. Lily’s past self overlapped with her current self.

She had never changed.

She still could not see my hurt and my pain.

“Alright.

“I wish you both the best.”

I suppressed my pain to protect my dignity.

I reached the door when someone punched me in the back.

David’s eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed my collar tightly.

“Ben, stop looking at me with pity!

“I’ve won! Your eight years with Lily is nothing compared to our eight months!”

I did not refute him. I watched as Lily rushed forward and hugged him.

She comforted him softly like it was second nature.

The person who had promised to treat me well forever had given all her kindness to another person.

This relationship was getting too crowded.

Lily always brought him along on all occasions, including birthdays and anniversaries.

I started to walk on eggshells around them. If I mentioned anything about love, David would be triggered.

Slowly, I became a mute.

I could not call her baby, and I could not hold her hand.

On top of that, I had to accept the situation.

I had to watch her love my childhood friend just like how she used to love me.

They would weaponize my unhappiness as evidence of my frigid heart.

I felt suffocated again.

I looked at their disdainful faces and laughed.

I ran my hand over my hurting back.

“Yes, you’ve won.”

Lily was stunned by how calm I was.

She wanted to say something when David started to roar again.

When she finally calmed David down, I had already left the ward.

I pulled out my phone and cancelled Lily’s flight ticket.

Our anniversary trip had turned into my farewell trip.

Lily was discharged before David.

When she rushed home, she was still in her hospital gown.

I was packing my stuff when she suddenly hugged me.

I froze. The strong scent of perfume from her made me nauseous.

“Ben, are you going to leave again?”

Lily looked at the luggage on the floor and tightened her grip.

It reminded me of the past again.

Previously, in order to take care of David, she had brought him back home without discussing it with me.

When I reached home after work, I realized our door password had been changed.

I stood outside and knocked on the door for a long time. David had stood there laughing with his arms crossed.

“What are you doing here? You must’ve gone to the wrong house!

“Lily said this is my house now. So I’m telling you to leave!”

Lily stood next to him without a word of objection.

She knew very well that it was raining heavily outside.

Because of David, she left me stuck outside in the rain.

My shirt had been soaked and stuck to my body.

I had been extremely cold.

When I fainted from hypothermia and fell onto the ground with a loud thud, Lily finally noticed me.

When the door was opened, David walked toward me and kicked me.

I opened my eyes with much difficulty, and he had mocked me in disappointment.

“I thought he’s dead. What a bummer.”

After I woke up, I disregarded my weak body and started packing my belongings.

I thought by leaving, Lily would take me more seriously.

I thought she would cut ties with David to make me stay.

But she did not.

When I walked out of the door, she was still watching TV with David. She had said indifferently, “If you’re leaving, remember to take out the trash.”

When I returned, I found them in bed together.

They were naked as they hugged.

“I was forced to do this! He’s suffering from mental health issues.

“If I hadn’t agreed to this, he’d kill himself. I’m saving a life!”

Lily’s words pulled me back to reality.

She grabbed my hand that was packing my belongings.

Then, she started to make fake promises that would never come true.

“Let’s just wait for a little longer. When his emotions stabilize, I’ll have a chat with him.

“After that, we can get married and live our happy lives together.”

I did not know how long she wanted me to wait.

I only knew that I had spent my best years waiting for her.

Even her parents could not stand her anymore. They forced her to get engaged with me.

However, because David opposed it, she immediately went back on her promise.

David felt that I was too stingy with gifts, so she sold off my gifts and bought David’s favorite car for him.

She even faked a wedding for him and left me waiting.

“Lily, since you can’t let him go, I’ll let you go.”

She was dumbfounded for a few seconds before frowning.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s break up.”

I did not want to wait for an uncertain happiness.

I wanted to show the whole world my love, instead of always thinking of other people’s feelings and living in pain.

“Ben, it’s just a small matter. Do you really have to do this?

“Why are you being so petty? Why are you still acting like this?!”

Lily started yelling at me.

She threw my luggage bags onto the floor and started to blame me for not understanding her and thinking of her.

Slowly, she started to defame me.

She claimed that I was selfish, cold-blooded, and a madman.

She denied that our relationship had faltered.

She forgot my teary eyes and my painful cries.

She also forgot her promise.

That time, she had held my hand as we hiked.

Even though she was panting and her legs were trembling, she insisted on reaching the summit with me.

Rumor claimed that for couples who reached the summit, they would be together forever.

She had gripped my hands so tightly. She swore not to leave me.

However, she had never once released someone else’s hand.

I loved her deeply, so I hoped that when I left, I would not look back.

I had to let her go.

Our hands were incompatible.

She threw everything out from the luggage and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with fury.

“Ben, I know you’re jealous and angry.

“But I’ve told you many times that you’re the only one I love.

“I’m just putting up an act with him. I never really had feelings for him.”

Lily tried to stay calm and softened her tone.

If it had been in the past, I would have believed her.

I would hold on to her promise and an uncertain future.

Instead, I only felt weary.

My mother was very ill, and she only wanted to see me find my happiness with my own family before she passed.

Even though she was lying in her hospital ward with machines sustaining her life, she was still patiently waiting for me until her eyes lost focus and she lost her ability to speak.

She still could not see me getting married.

Her breaths grew more shallow with the days passed.

I could only try to put her mind at ease before she left.

I voluntarily went on a blind date and got engaged with a woman whom I had only met once.

I had materialized the future Lily had promised me.

The only difference was that she was no longer in it.

She thought that I had given in when I did not speak.

She turned around and walked toward the kitchen.

“We haven’t had a meal together in a while. I’ll make dinner tonight!

“Let’s have a good meal!”

I did not say a word as I silently watched her cook.

I had never cooked before, and my mother was once worried about it.

She was worried that I would not be able to get a wife, and I would not be able to take good care of myself.

However, Lily was different.

She voluntarily cooked and did all the house chores.

Even though she was extremely tired after work, she would still do all the house chores.

She never once blamed me for my pickiness in food.

Instead, she read up all the recipes and learned how to cook different cuisines.

However, everything changed when she met David.

She no longer cared about me. She only thought about him.

My food allergies became a burden.

Even though I clearly stated that I was allergic to seafood and refused to eat it, she would still flip the table over David’s dissatisfaction.

“Get out if you’re not willing to eat!

“David finally found his appetite. Why are you making things so difficult for him?”

Since then, she rarely came home.

She would spend most of her time at David’s place to take care of him instead.

As for me, I learned how to cook, and I learned how to spend my time alone.

Slowly, I no longer needed her.

She had just finished making dinner when David suddenly slammed the door open.

He strode toward me angrily and slapped me.

“Ben! How shameless are you?

“You said you wished us the best, but you’re scheming to get Lily home!

“I’m going to kill you!”

He raised his hand again to slap me.

I stopped him before he could hurt me, and I returned the slap.

“Not everyone is like you. I don’t like trash.”

David’s scream echoed in the house.

Lily immediately rushed forward. She looked very concerned.

She still held her hot spatula.

“Ben, are you crazy?”

She impulsively threw her spatula at me.

Like many times in the past, she was trying to avenge David.

When the hot spatula hit my skin, it immediately scorched my skin.

I felt an indescribable pain from the burnt area. I almost could not breathe.

Lily was stunned.

“Ben…”

She walked toward me dumbfoundedly and extended her hands.

I slapped them away.