Chapter 4

Under the light, Loretta froze for a moment before mumbling awkwardly, "You're older. I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

Perhaps she realized how bad that sounded, because she quickly added, "Don't read too much into it. It's not like that actually happened."

However, I knew better. If something really did happen, she would choose Ivan without hesitation.

I closed my eyes, my heart sinking. Her answer had told me everything I needed to know.

Her favoritism was so obvious that it made me look like a pathetic clown.

The last faint spark of feeling inside me slowly went out. I knew better than anyone that there was no going back for us.

So, I politely asked her to leave my home.

"We don't need to see each other anymore. You have Ivan. Go be with him."

As for the mess her family had created, I wasn't interested in dealing with that anymore.

Before she left, she packed her bags and glared at me.

"Don't regret this!"

I laughed quietly. "I won't."

The posts on Ivan's social media were like a dull blade cutting into me. The longer I dwelled on them, the more it hurt.

I spent some time in a slump. Maybe it was because I was already worn down emotionally, or maybe it was the consecutive days of overtime, but I came down with a high fever.

Harry took me to the hospital. While I was receiving an IV, I saw Loretta again.

Ivan was standing beside her. The two of them were leaning against each other, looking every bit like lovers.

To the side, Harry suddenly looked unsettled.

"What is it?" I asked.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Cassian, I think… I just saw them coming out of the OB-GYN department."

My fingers stopped halfway across my phone screen.

"...Don't worry about her."

I had only told a few close friends about the breakup. Harry was one of them, and he had been furious about it for quite some time.

I rubbed my forehead. When I got home, I unblocked Loretta and Ivan and scrolled through their social media for a while.

As expected, they had posted photos of themselves traveling everywhere together.

Every caption was filled with talk about how they'd met each other at just the right time, yet somehow spent years missing each other.

The day after our breakup, Loretta had posted, "Only those that truly cherish you will believe in you and trust that you love them."

I scoffed.

Loretta had worked part-time throughout college to pay off her student loans. She could only afford to save money and spend so freely during graduate school because I had taken care of her living expenses after we started dating.

Now, a few sweet words from Ivan were enough to have her completely infatuated with him.

I had given her so much, but after we broke up, she implied that I never truly loved her.

Why? I kept asking myself the same question over and over again.

Why should my sincerity be treated like this?

Why was it my genuine love that was thrown away?

Why could Loretta fall out of love with me on a whim, use everything I gave her, then turn around and act like she was the victim?

All that resentment came to an abrupt stop when I saw a new post from Ivan.

It was a photo of them kissing. The necklace that Loretta was wearing was the expensive one I had given her for her birthday last year.

They clung to each other like they could never bear to let go, as if they were a pair of star-crossed lovers.

I suddenly remembered something from the past. I had gotten drunk and wanted to hold her, but she complained that I reeked of alcohol. After I showered and came back out, all she did was give me a perfunctory pat on the head before walking away.

She explained that she simply wasn't comfortable being too intimate with a man.

Now, I finally understood. It wasn't that she couldn't accept it. It was because the man was me.