Chapter 2

Elias' POV

After confirming the time and place for the blind date, I saw Ivy's latest social media post. It was a photo of her with a group of friends, with Matthew standing front and center.

The caption read, "Good friends around me and the person I love most across from me."

Her friends quickly began messaging her in the group chat.

"Way to go, Ivy! Matt finally came back! Let's congratulate these old flames on finally going public!"

"What do you mean by going public? Ivy liking Matt has always been an open secret!"

"What about Elias then? Hasn't he been pursuing Ivy for five years?"

"Pursuing her? That's just called being a simp! Now that Matt's back, why would Ivy waste any time on him?"

"Before Matt even came back, Ivy already had a proposal and ring prepared. Isn't it obvious who she really likes?"

"Wait! I think Elias is in this group! He can read all these messages we're sending…"

The very next second, I was kicked from the group chat.

An indescribable bitterness welled up in my chest.

Back then, I had tried so hard to fit into Ivy's world that I pestered her to add me to the group.

Then, I sent countless messages to the group to liven things up, but Ivy had only frowned. "There's no need to keep sending messages. They don't appreciate that."

After that, hardly anyone spoke in the group anymore. Ivy had told me, "Everyone's busy with their own lives. Who has time to chat?"

So it turned out they did chat—just not in the group that had me in it.

As for the public acknowledgement and proposal I'd been waiting so long for, all Matthew had to do was show up, and Ivy would offer it all up to him on a silver platter.

I sat by the river and replied to some messages before finally heading home.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I ran into Ivy, with Matthew following behind her.

When she saw me, Ivy stopped, frowning, her expression cold and guarded. "Elias, what are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth, about to say that I was just coming home, but then, I remembered that Ivy had forbidden me from telling anyone we lived together.

To avoid suspicion, she'd even strictly dictated when I could leave and return home, so even though we lived at the same address, we had never once walked out the door together.

Ivy, as if afraid Matthew might figure something out, spoke first. "Can you stop following me everywhere? I don't want people getting the wrong idea."

I stood there at a loss for words.

Then, my phone screen lit up with a message she'd just sent me.

"Don't come back for now. Matthew just got back and has nowhere to stay, so I'm letting him stay here for the time being. I've had your things packed and sent to our apartment in Greyfield. Move there for now."

When I turned and walked toward the elevator, I heard Matthew ask who I was.

Ivy responded flatly, "He's just a suitor. I can't believe he actually followed me all the way home. Don't worry. You can stay here. I'll have security tighten things up."

Just before the elevator doors closed, I heard Matthew's carefree laughter. "Wow, Ivy. You haven't changed the passcode in five years! It's still the exact date I left the country! Have you really been counting down the days for me to come back just because I told you to wait for me for five years?"

My finger froze over the elevator button.

When I first moved in, I was secretly delighted to learn the passcode. I thought that even though Ivy refused to make our relationship public, she had chosen the date we got together as the passcode to her unit.

I thought it was her silent way of showing me that she cared. I thought she simply wasn't good at expressing her feelings.

But as it turned out, even that tiny bit of happiness had never belonged to me.

My footsteps were heavy as I went to our apartment in Grayfield to move my things out.

Late that night, when Ivy saw I still hadn't replied, she sent me another message.

"Don't overthink this, Eli. Matthew just came back, and I'm only trying my best to help him out as a friend. And about going public with our relationship, just give me a little more time."

I didn't reply and simply removed her from my pinned contacts.