Chapter 3

I began typing on my phone.

"This is how you've always been—clingy and paranoid. If I'm slow to reply, you claim you can smell me talking to someone else.

"Now, you immediately think I'm cheating the moment I test you a little. You don't trust me at all.

"Long-distance relationships without security are bound to end sooner or later, aren't they? We were just playing around anyway."

Oliver's deep eyes fixed on me with an oppressive intensity.

"Playing around? I don't believe it!

"Babe, out of all foreigners out there, you chose to play with me, and that means you love me!

"I shouldn't have doubted you, babe. I'll write a formal apology letter."

I just told Oliver that everything was just a game, and instead of getting mad, he confessed his love. What exactly was going on in his head?

"Stop acting so innocent, Oliver Radcliffe. Canverlians are open, and you've probably dated more people than my shoe size.

"Did you get bored with the blond-haired, blue-eyed women and want something new? Is that why you decided to settle down with an honest woman like me?"

Oliver was utterly stunned and stared at me with pure disbelief.

"How could you think of me like that? My heart isn't dirty because you're the only person who's ever lived in it.

"I really like you, and I promise that I'm taking this relationship seriously. Can we please not fight?"

Sure enough, he was impossible to shake off.

I pushed the phone stand further away and crossed my arms. "We aren't fighting; we're breaking up!

"Do you understand that this is a breakup, the kind we never get back together?

"I was just playing with your feelings and targeting your money. You were too generous, and now that I've had enough, there's no point in entertaining you anymore."

When Oliver heard the word "breakup", his eyes immediately turned red-rimmed.

"I still have plenty of money, so go ahead and keep up with your lies and tricks.

"I like it when you spend my money, and I'm glad I have this money so I can give you a good life."

I swore that I almost got convinced for a second…

"I'll be honest with you—I passed my Canverlian proficiency test, and my Canverlian is fluent now. I don't want money, and all I want is a clean breakup from you!" I said it with the self-righteousness of someone who was proud of their lies.

Oliver got so mad that he started wailing. "No! You don't like me at all! You used me and did everything just to learn Canverlian!

"I'll never help you with those Temu discount shopping links again!"

While he threw a helpless fit of rage, I almost laughed. I did not mind saying goodbye to him, my discount-sharing contact."

"How could you say I used you?" I snapped back. "I taught you Crisean, too, didn't I? Crisean is clearly harder, and if anything, you got the better deal."

Oliver stared at me with those teary, pitiful puppy eyes. "Actually, your Crisean wasn't even that great. The first thing you taught me was swear words so I'd understand when you were cursing me out, right?"

He was crying beautifully with the look of a damsel in distress that made me feel guilty. For fear that I would soften, I looked away and pretended to be impatient.

"Are you done crying? Hang up when you are.

"We were just playing around, dumb foreign mutt."

I said the cruelest things I could think of with resolve and coldly watched him cry. When he knew that I was not going to comfort him anymore, and that I would just insult him, his crying quieted down to a red-eyed sobbing.

"When you loved me, you called me your puppy! You said my clumsy Crisean was cute like a puppy who just turned into a human trying to talk to its owner.

"Now that we're breaking up, I'm just a dumb mutt and a foreigner!

"I hate you for stealing my heart forever! You're wicked, and I hate you so much! You've ruined my whole life!"

That was a passionate testimony, but I did not want to hear any of it.

When I hung up with a clean click, my ears were finally at peace, but my heart felt heavy and stifling like it had been stuffed with cotton.

The way Oliver cried kept flashing through my mind—tears and snot all over his face, gasping like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and wiping his tears while screaming, "Don't go."

Was he auditioning for a soap opera or something?