Almost Perfect, Never Me

The page refreshed, and the post disappeared.

Right on its heels, a message from Theo Montague popped up. "One of my former students is back in the country. Help me book the restaurant where our parents met last time. I'm hosting a welcome dinner for her tonight."

Theo had been half an hour late that day because of an experiment. When he finally rushed over, he had stared at a dish for what felt like an eternity.

I assumed his experiment had gone wrong and asked what was on his mind. Yet, he gave me a totally irrelevant response. "I used to have a student who loved this dish."

I figured he had worked himself silly in the lab and was just spouting nonsense. After all, on any given day, he hardly cared about anything outside of his students' papers and lab progress.

Looking back on it now, that wasn't a mindless babble. The student he had referred to was probably the person who had returned to the country that day.

I didn't want to make a scene, so I simply replied with a single word, "Alright."

It took some time to arrange a private dining room on such short notice. By the time I had confirmed the menu with the manager and prepared to leave, Theo had already arrived with a group of his students.

He was leading the group, shoulder to shoulder with the woman from his post. The moment he spotted me, the smile on his face visibly stiffened.

He marched up to me and, without giving me a chance to utter a word, pulled me aside. "Why are you still here? I only needed you to make the reservation. There's no reason for you to stay.

"Everyone here tonight is a former student of mine. We rarely get together, and we'll mostly be talking about school and our research. If you stay here… you'll be bored out of your mind."

I was already in a bad mood because of the post, and now he was giving me a whole lecture. My expression hardened as I forcefully yanked my hand free. "Why are you so full of yourself? I never intended to stay in the first place!"

His expression didn't soften in the slightest when he heard that. If anything, he blurted out, "In that case, you shouldn't show your face in front of my students!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, silence stretched between us.

Realizing he had crossed a line, he hastily added, "That's not what I mean. I'm sure you know that I prefer keeping my private life away from work and my students."

I had heard that line countless times before. He had said the same thing when I wanted to drop by his workplace to see him and offered to pick him up after work.

Even after our wedding date was set and I asked if we should send invitations to a few of his students, he still said, "I'd like to keep my private life and personal life separate."

I had taken his words at face value. The true meaning behind those words only dawned on me now.

It had nothing to do with keeping his personal and professional lives separate.

It was because that female student and I looked so much alike—so much so that if he ever introduced me to his students and colleagues who knew her, everyone would know that Professor Montague, who had always been dignified, self-disciplined, and above reproach, had once harbored such unspeakable feelings for his own student.

I curled my lips into a derisive smile and was just about to fire back when someone's voice suddenly sounded from behind me. "Professor Montague."

The woman paused for a beat and asked hesitantly, "This is…"

I turned around and found myself face-to-face with the woman from his post.

Her hair had been tied up in the photo, but now, it fell loose over her shoulders. I belatedly realized that we looked even more alike than we had in the picture.

Even the length of our hair was almost identical. The only difference was that she had probably always liked wearing her hair long, while I had only slowly grown out my short hair after Theo had begged me again and again to do so.

The woman visibly froze when she got a good look at my face.

Without saying a word, I turned to Theo. Deep down, a foolish sliver of hope still lingered. I wanted to hear how he would introduce me.

"S-She's…" Theo stammered for a long while, failing to come up with a proper answer.

Hope died, and so did my patience. I took the initiative to extend my hand to the woman. "Hello, I'm Yvette, Theo's fiancee."

Noticing the color drain from her face, I beamed at her. "However, looking at things right now, it seems I'm just your substitute."

"What on earth are you on about?" Theo snapped.

I ignored him and bade the woman farewell, all smiles. "Enjoy your meal. I'll take my leave now."

With that, I left without sparing him another glance.