Chapter 3

The class reunion ended on a sour note.

Zoey helped the swollen-faced Michael back on his feet and left with him, not bothering to even spare me a glance.

The rest of our classmates eyed me as they left. Some gave me pitying looks, while others seemed stunned. But most of them just looked amused by the spectacle.

Zoey didn't contact me for a whole week, but Michael messaged me every single day. They'd go to a bar together every other day. She'd wear a crop top with a low neckline and sit in Michael's lap.

From the angle Michael took his videos, I got a clear view of everything spilling out from the top of her neckline. He even ran his hand up her thigh, sliding all the way to the top, until she let out a soft moan.

Rage flooded through me, but all I could do was punch the wall in vain.

Despite being together for three years, the most intimate thing Zoey and I had done was hold hands.

She'd said she was pretty conservative when it came to intimacy before marriage—that she couldn't accept jumping in bed with a guy so quickly and didn't want to give herself away so easily.

I'd suppressed my own desires, making sure to show extra restraint around her. I was always careful to treat her with the utmost care, afraid of scaring her.

But she was perfectly fine with sitting in Michael's lap and getting intimate with him.

It finally hit me that Zoey never loved me. She didn't care about my feelings at all. Since that was the case, there was no reason for us to stay together any longer.

But before breaking up with her, I decided to give her a gift.

Five days later, Zoey's father, Ernest Johnson, celebrated his birthday. As he'd always liked me a lot, she had no choice but to invite me to her house for the party.

The moment I entered the house, I was triggered by the sight of Michael's hand caressing Zoey's behind.

When she spotted me, she surreptitiously gave him a warning pat. He squeezed her butt one last time before releasing her, his expression neutral.

Zoey had dressed up for the occasion. Her heels clacked loudly as she walked toward me, a slight frown on her face. "What took you so long, Neil? My dad's been waiting for you."

I handed two gift boxes to her. "One is for you, and one is for Mr. Johnson."

Hearing that, Zoey opened her gift box with a puzzled look. I gave her a pair of earrings. However, they were no ordinary earrings—I'd installed a listening device in them.

"Consider it an apology. I went a bit too far with the way I treated Michael. Let me put them on for you, Zoey."

I gently brushed aside the loose strands of hair by her ear—only to notice a deep mark on the back of her neck. It was a hickey. I forced myself to stay calm, doing my best to keep my hands from trembling as I carefully put the earrings on her.

Zoey didn't notice anything unusual about my emotions. She even grinned at me and asked, "Do they look good on me?"

The corners of my mouth felt tight, a bitter taste rising in my throat.

"They do."

When Mr. Johnson spotted me, he came over and patted me on the shoulder before pulling Michael over as well.

"Neil, Zoey told me that you and Michael got into a bit of a fight. Her mother and I watched the two of them grow up together, you know. It's normal for them to be close to each other. A grown man like you mustn't be too petty."

Chuckling, I responded with a slightly confused expression, "But Zoey hasn't even kissed me before, Mr. Johnson, let alone done anything else beyond that. Can you accept it if Mrs. Johnson hugs and kisses her male friend—and maybe even gets pregnant with his child?"