“If it’s that bad, Chloe’s coming back
tomorrow, you guys can just wait, and when
she goes, Ethan will calm down.”
Jake was a bit lost, “No, you, ah, okay, I’ll
pick you up…”
He stopped mid–sentence.
く
I heard a static noise, and a soft breath.
A moment later, someone snorted, his voice
raspy, “Mia.
“We need to talk.”
13
To be honest, I didn’t think that Ethan and I
had anything to talk about.
I thought about it and was about to reject
him.
But then he repeated it, his tone calm, “We
need to talk.
“You know me, I never give up on things I
want.
く
“If you don’t agree with me, Mia, I can’t
guarantee what I’ll do.”
I didn’t think Ethan would say something like
this.
This version of him was very unfamiliar.
But it was like he was finally showing his true
colors, he was always like this.
I took a deep breath, “Okay, what do you
want to talk about?”
His voice was cold, it was hard to hear in the
dark.
“You leave him.
“We get back together.”
In a moment, I understood.
He misunderstood.
He thought Luke was my fiancé.
I massaged my temples, and felt it was
ridiculous.
He never goes back to old flames, right?
Holding my phone, I thought of the drawing,
the lavish breakup gifts, and what his friends
told me.
Was it fun to play me?
I tried to control my annoyance and cleared
my throat, “Are you sick?”
<
I hung up before he could reply.
Then, I blocked Jake too.
I was already generous, I didn’t argue with
him for his coldness or lies. Now he was
saying all this crazy stuff.
14
I don’t know what happened after that.
After that day, I ran into Ethan often.
He was different. His eyebrows were sharper,
and he looked more distant when he looked
at people.
Whenever we met, he’d look at me with no
emotion.
く
I thought I rejected him enough, but he
cornered me alone and showed me his phone,
pointing at a picture.
“Is this your boyfriend? Luke Zhan, right?
“Have you thought about it?
“If you don’t want to, I’ll have to talk to him.”
I couldn’t take it anymore, “You
misunderstand, he’s not my boyfriend, we
only met a few times. We’re not close at all.
“What do you want?
“Do you have to make it so hard?
“I didn’t want to say this before, you don’t
く
and acting special, is it just because I look
like your first love? Now that she’s back, you
gave me a house and a car, to make me back
down, to leave you alone, right? This is
annoying and ridiculous.”
Ethan looked stunned, confused, “What do
you mean?”
After a while, he cursed under his breath,
then spoke, his voice raspy,
“I never thought you two looked alike, who’s
spreading this crap? I’ll make them explain it.
“I only sent you those gifts because I wanted
- to. I didn’t want to break up with you.
“I can explain everything.”
く
My throat was starting to get dry. “So what?”
Even if, even if I did misunderstand. But the
way he talked to Chloe on the phone, and
how his friends were all in on it, was that all a
lie too?
No matter what he was thinking now, when
we were dating, he couldn’t forget about his
first love.
Thinking this, I didn’t want to be near Ethan.
I asked him, “You know what you are to me
now?”
His eyes lit up, “What?”
