Chapter 2

“That’s fantastic news, Ernest! We happen to need someone who knows German! I remember you were quite fluent in it back in the day. Are you sure you’re interested?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ernest replied in a calm voice, “I am.”

Professor Hans Schultz could not contain his excitement and cried, “I’ll fetch you from the airport in person in a week!”

Ernest glanced at the calendar mounted on the wall.

He was set to marry Milana in precisely a week’s time.

He smiled ironically to himself, then replied, “Sure, I’ll see you.”

The moment he hung up, he felt hollow inside, as if a hole had been gouged inside him.

He then lit a cigarette and leaned back into the couch, exhaling a large plume of smoke that wafted into the air.

Then, he received a notification on his phone.

“Mr. Conner, we’d like to inform you that your wife has collected your bespoke wedding suit.”

Immediately after, he saw a recent post on Miles's page.

It was a picture of him standing before a mirror, dressed in a brand-new tailored suit and smiling from ear to ear with a caption that read, [My dear, thank you for the suit. I’m in love with it!]

Zooming in, Ernest could not help but notice how strangely familiar the suit looked. When he spotted the logo on the lapel pin, he realized it was made by the same tailor who contacted him only moments ago.

He smiled bitterly. This meant that as far as Milana was concerned, his tailored suit was nothing more than something she could give away to another without a second thought.

All this time, he had been dispensable.

After forcefully crushing the cigarette into the ashtray, he got up and went to the bedroom to find a suitcase.

He was going to gather the documents he would need for his overseas trip.

He then noticed the framed photograph of him and Milana set on the nightstand. Briefly after, he turned the frame face-down and shoved it into the very bottom of the drawer.

He started to shove his belongings into his suitcase.

Without even realizing it, it was already dark outside, and at one point, his phone vibrated.

[Ernest, something came up, and I don’t think I can celebrate your birthday with you. I promise you I’ll make it up next year.]

Shortly after that, Milana sent him a video.

It was a video of her singing a birthday song for him straight into the camera.

However, he could also hear a man’s voice in the background. “He’s deaf and can’t hear you anyway. Just sing a few lines and be done with it.

“Come on, babe, let me touch your belly. I want to talk with our child.”

Ernest refused to watch till the end and closed the application.

This was the first time in five years that Milana had stood him up.

They had once vowed to spend every birthday by each other’s side.

This was her first time breaking that promise, and it would be her last.

From this day onward, Milana was not going to be a part of his birthdays anymore.

He looked up only to notice a cross-stitch piece Milana had made herself, hung on the wall, which spelled out [Milana X Ernest].

At the time, Milana had stayed up all night for an entire week so she could complete it. Her fingers had been pricked countless times by the needle in the process.

At the time, she fixed an affectionate look at him and poured her heart out, “You’ve spent five years with me in silence. From now on, let me be by your side for the rest of your life.

“We can hang this up in our house in the future when we get married. What do you say?”

Ernest could hear her voice echoing in his ears.

Milana was the one who failed to fulfill her promise.

Not only had she married another man, but she was even pregnant with his child.

Love, after all, was a gamble. This time, he was the completely ruined loser.

He paced back and forth in the house until midnight, yet Milana was not home.

He could not stop tossing and turning in bed.

Then, a new notification popped up on his phone.

He opened it only to see a picture of their hands clasped together.

He immediately recognized the wedding ring Miles wore. It was the exact one he had gifted Milana.

The picture was captioned, [Five years have flown by in the blink of an eye. I’m glad my lover is still here now that I’m back.]

Ernest’s breathing became erratic. A terrible, bitter feeling seized his heart.

He had stuck by Milana’s side for countless grueling days.

Miles had cruelly dismissed five years of dedication as if it were nothing at all.

It had been storming all night, and he hardly managed a wink of sleep.

His twenty-seventh birthday turned out to be very depressing.

When the first light of dawn broke, he felt the other edge of the bed sink, as if someone had sat down…