All Chapters of Never Look Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I watched as my boyfriend Mark Goodman put a beautiful matching ring on Sophie White's ring finger.It was her birthday, and everyone cheered as if they were the ones actually dating.When I asked him later, Mark shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just a ring. Let her have it."And without further explanation, he left me alone in my room and left. I watched as he went, feeling ever-growing disappointment.After all, no woman would accept their boyfriend exchanging matching rings with another woman.And with that, we gave each other the silent treatment for two weeks.In fact, just two weeks ago, he offered to take me to the beach, saying that we should start over.But when I packed my bags and happily went to the airport, he stood me up once again.He told me that Sophie's home had a power outage, and she'd be scared, as a young girl alone in a big house.Even as I felt my good mood vaporizing, I still remember how cold he was when he said, "Be good. I'll make up to you next time.

Chapter 2

When I woke up the next day, Mark had already cooked breakfast and called me to the dining table like an affectionate husband.I couldn't help relenting, as it was the first time I was rewarded for sacrificing so much over the years.Mark came up to me, gently coaxing, "I get it… You've wanted matching rings for so long. But I'm yours anyway—just let Sophie have this one. I'll buy us a pair next time."But he said that all the time, and he would always break the promise because of Sophie.As I stayed silent, he said, "Look, Sophie just wants an opportunity to apologize. You'll make things awkward for her if you don't go."I never held out much hope when it was something Sophie planned, but I agreed to go because I wanted Mark to stop bothering me.Sighing in relief, he said, "Now that's better. It's at 8 PM tomorrow—I'll be there too."-It was pouring when I arrived exactly at eight, and I was soaked through.However, I waited until ten, but neither Mark nor Sophie showed up.

Chapter 3

When the alarm clock woke me up the next day, I shoved his hand off in annoyance, but that alone woke him up.He rubbed his eyes as he got up, "Aren't you waking up too early?""I'm done sleeping," I replied, getting dressed without looking at him.He pursed his lips, noticing the medicine on top of my drawer. "Were you sick?"I never answered, and I was ready to leave after getting dressed when he hugged me from behind.I frowned and tried to free myself, but his arms tightened around me as he said anxiously, "I'm sorry I stood you up, but I can explain—Sophie was sick, and she's alone in the big city. I have to take care of her…"I slid out of his grasp as I replied, "I know—you don't have to explain yourself. You told me that she's sick and frail, so it's only right you went to her. There's no need to apologize, and you can just drop it."There was shock and disbelief in his eyes as I finished, but I didn't want to keep talking to him and patted his arm. "Alright. If there's

Chapter 4

However, when I stopped appearing around Mark frequently, he started to get clingy, even preparing lunchboxes for me every day.That was actually the moment I realized he could cook—I had really been so good to him that he had no issue enjoying all the conveniences I brought for him.But now, our roles were reversed—I refused to eat his cooking.After I gave him the cold shoulder for a long while, he seemed to feel hurt and remembered his sweet Sophie, and he started visiting her for some tender comfort.But that was fine—no one would be around to bother me, and I could fully focus on my studies.Still, one day, I got an urgent text from a close friend.While I was still confused, I saw that Sophie had just posted a new photo with Mark online, both of them snuggling and smiling blissfully.There was soon another, but it was a photo of Mark alone on the same beach, sulking.It was captioned: [Why can't a good man like me get the attention of my beloved?]Sophie replied beneath

Chapter 5

Mark never said anything along the way, while I fell asleep in the silence.I jolted awake when Mark clapped my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to find myself staring at his scowl.Sophie had already left him, heading upstairs with other male classmates, leaving just Mark and I in the car."Are you tired?" he asked me."Very," I replied and got out of the car.Mark held out a hand to take my bag, explaining as he walked, "I'm really just giving Sophie a ride to this party. Don't get the wrong idea."I only walked faster—the more he explained, the more it annoyed me.As soon as the door opened, Sophie leaped out, pouting as she wrapped her arms around Mark's neck. "Can't you be a pal for once, Mark? You had to make us wait here for so long because of your girl—your punishment is squats while carrying me on your back."Mark glanced at me in embarrassment and pushed her away. "That's enough. Stop it."Sophie's smile stiffened—she was actually surprised that Mark would say no, but

Chapter 6

Seeing that Mark wasn't going to free himself anytime soon, I decided that there was no reason to stay.I had already delayed my study time for the day because of this gathering, and I wasn't about to let Sophie continue to waste my time.Seeing that I was leaving, Mark frowned and shoved Sophie away. "Stop it."Sophie was sent stumbling backward, and I seemed to see tears in her eyes as she snapped, "Oh, so you're ignoring a friend because of your girlfriend? Bromance is dead, huh?!"But Mark never responded, and she was left stamping her feet in frustration.Still, after Mark and I got home, I promptly got into my room and locked Mark outside.Since then, he was giving me wounded looks as if to invoke my sympathy.When I was leaving for work in the morning, he called out to me with a lunchbox in his hands. "I'll give you a ride to work."I didn't take the lunchbox as I replied, "No, I'm fine. I'm hitching a ride with my colleagues."He kept trying nonetheless. "No, you don't

Chapter 7

Mark's behavior only became stranger since then—he would always share with me how his day went, and the frequency of his phone calls also increased obviously.But while I would have celebrated before, all I felt now was annoyance, and I only afforded him short and simple replies.On one occasion, he even showed up at a work dinner, waiting for two hours outside.I even remembered the adoration in his eyes. "From now on, I'll be the one who waits for you."He was persistently clingy, leaving work thirty minutes early so that he could take a detour to my office and take me home. Naturally, it hugely affected my studies.I had clearly told him to stop and even used excuses of working overtime, but he just wouldn't give in.Eventually, I simply ignored him and headed straight to the library after work.One day, when I was packing out and leaving the library, I found him waiting at the door.Though I let him take me home, it was a surprisingly silent journey, as opposed to when he

Chapter 8

However, that peaceful life didn't last long as I got a call from a tempestuous Sophie, telling me to go to the hospital right away to visit Mark.Still, I only visited after I was done with work for the day and arrived to see Sophie sitting by Mark's bed, peeling an apple for him.Mark was bruised and battered all over, and his face was pale.He was at first delighted when he saw me, but he quickly turned away in realization, asking, "What are you doing here, Lilian?"On the other hand, Sophie slammed the fruit knife forcefully on the table and snapped, "What did you do to Mark?! Why is he afraid to go home?"I shrugged. "Nothing. If he's afraid, it has nothing to do with me."Sophie's eyes seemed tearful right then, but she kept bellowing, "Then you're not even bothered to check up on him?! He almost got killed in an accident last night!"The way Sophie was already acting like Mark's girlfriend amused me, though he glared at her threateningly before I could respond."That's e

Chapter 9

Mark's attempts at avoidance were futile—I had already decided to leave him, and it was just a matter of time.If anything, I had never expected things to come to this.We had been together since university, but as it turned out, I was the only one who cared, while he only ever cared about Sophie.His future prospects didn't satisfy her vanity, and there was no way she'd be interested, with her disdain for those with more modest fortunes.But she also loved being fawned over and therefore kept Mark hanging for years, and she came back to him when his career took off and he had a sizable monthly income.Neither Mark nor myself had much money back in university, and I spent my hard-earned money to buy him a watch, only for him to sell it and buy Sophie a handbag.When I asked, he'd just tell me every time that I was being unreasonable and blowing things out of proportion.Things only got worse when Sophie moved to the same city.It wasn't like I'd never thought of leaving him bef

Chapter 10

Year after year, I had waited for Mark to give me that ring.But as it turned out, he never actually wanted to marry me and always snapped at me whenever I mentioned it.And now, I didn't want to marry him either."No, I won't," I said.The light in Mark's eyes faded instantly, the hands with which he held the ring dropping limply at his sides.Even as he hung his head like a child caught misbehaving, he asked, "Was it because of Sophie? Did you stop loving me because I promised to take you to the beach for your birthday but went to her because her house's power went out?"So he knew but left me alone anyway, presuming that I'd always forgive him.However, I laughed. "No, it's because I realized a long time ago that loving you hurts a lot, and I got tired of it. I refuse to let you continue to hurt me."I moved to the couch and sat, not bothered that Mark was still kneeling. "Please, I know I've made a mistake—I promise I won't ever see Sophie again!" he cried as he crawled b

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