Chapter 3

[I was scared to death. I thought it was some serious illness. Turns out it was just bruising from how rough my girlfriend was last night. She said it was the best experience she’s ever had. She just couldn’t control herself. Poor girl. She just can't get enough of me.]

However, that extremely provocative post was deleted less than two minutes later.

Then, Lynn’s call came through. After I answered, she stayed silent for two seconds. Carefully choosing her words, she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

She seemed to finally relax when she heard how normal I sounded. She probed, “You didn’t see anything, right?”

I heard the tension in her voice but did not answer. Her breathing immediately grew tense again. Just as she was about to say something else, she heard the sound of a door locking.

“You went out? Where are you going?”

“To my mother’s house.”

I needed to go sort out her belongings and see her off one last time.

Lynn immediately said, “I haven’t visited her since that day. I’ll come with you later.”

I only grunted in response, then hung up.

Half an hour later, when I opened the door to my mother’s house, I was greeted only by emptiness. My parents divorced when I was five. All these years, it had just been the two of us relying on each other.

I had almost no relatives, so only a handful of people from my side even attended the wedding. As for the Wensley family, they doted on their daughter endlessly, but because the wedding had been postponed so many times, they did not even come this time.

Hence, the already empty house felt even more desolate. I quietly, calmly sorted through my mom's belongings. It was not until the last piece of fabric was swallowed by flames that tears finally burst out.

Lynn, who said she would come, never appeared. Yet I felt no distress at all. Over these five years with her, she had broken her promises too many times.

Suddenly, a phone vibration broke the silence in the living room.

I opened it. It was a message from Kyle.

[You’re feeling pretty satisfied after she made me delete my post, huh? To make up for it, she agreed to go to the pool hall with me. Heh.

[See it now? I’ve always been more important than you. I suggest you know your place and get lost already!]

[Even though it’s an old cliché, I still want to say it—the one who isn’t loved is the third party. Lynn is just being kind to you. Save some dignity for yourself.]

His messages came one after another, clearly venting his built-up anger. I just glanced at them and tossed the phone aside.

After paying my respects to my mother, I went to sleep.

I had already moved my luggage out of Lynn’s place. From this moment on, we had nothing to do with each other anymore.

…

I did not expect frantic knocking at the door early the next morning. When I opened it, Lynn clearly relaxed, though her gaze was still uneasy.

She asked in a slightly heavy tone, “Why didn’t you come home yesterday? I waited for you all night. I couldn’t reach you either.”

Under her gaze, I fell silent for a moment. I was just about to speak when Kyle suddenly squeezed in from the side and grabbed my hand. “Jensen, please forgive Lynn. It’s all my fault. Everything is my fault. Please don’t torture her.”

As he finished speaking, his fingers dug into my palm. Sharp pain shot through me instantly, and I pushed him away. I did not use much force, but Kyle suddenly stumbled backward.

Lynn hurried to catch him and looked at me in disbelief. “Jensen, that’s too far! Why did you hit him?!”

Kyle lowered his head pitifully, like a wronged and honest man. The sight of the two of them, so sweetly affectionate yet so hypocritically righteous, made me feel sick to my stomach.