Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Take Every Piece of Advice Literally: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Holding the pen, I continued asking, "Call off what?"Irene looked me straight in the eye and answered emphatically, as if she were personally taking apart our five-year relationship."Call off our wedding. It's canceled, so take off your ring. Don't come looking for me anymore, and don't put any more pressure on Zack."I lowered my head and wrote her words down on the first page. Then, I looked up again and said, "Please confirm it once more."The wind made the pregnancy test report in Zack's hand rustle loudly. His eyes were full of tears, but his grip on the paper was very tight.Irene was silent for two seconds. In the end, still looking me in the eye, she said, "Confirmed. Gavin, I'm advising you to call off our wedding for good."I drew a small check mark after that sentence.I'd worn the engagement ring for three years, and it had left a faint indentation at the base of my finger. I twisted it twice but couldn't get it off.Irene instinctively reached out toward me."If

Three days later, Irene's father, Lawrence Parker, asked me to attend a family dinner. He said the relatives were all asking about the wedding since it was called off so suddenly, and we had to give them some kind of explanation.When I arrived at the private room, the place card with my name on it had already been removed.Zack sat to Irene's right, and Mr. Parker sat to her left. Meanwhile, my chair had been temporarily squeezed next to the serving hatch. Every time a server came in or out, I had to pull my legs in.Someone poured me a glass of ice water, and Irene reached out to stop them almost without thinking."Give him something hot. He has a sensitive stomach."The moment the words left her mouth, we both froze.It seemed a five-year habit took longer to fade than her feelings did. The server brought over a glass of water.Irene casually placed a piece of paper under the glass and pushed it toward me."Read this out loud later."I looked down. There were only three

At 12:54 am, Irene hurried into the waiting hall.She was breathing hard. Her face was pale, and her forehead was slick with cold sweat.The boarding gate had already started its countdown. I'd barely put my ID to the scanner when Irene grabbed me by the wrist."Gavin, don't go." She held on tightly, her eyes rimmed red. "Come back with me."I looked at her and didn't move."Are you seriously advising me to go back with you?""Yes. Gavin, I'm seriously advising you to come back with me."I turned to the fourth page. "Please confirm it once more."Just then, her phone rang, and Zack's name popped up on the screen.The ticket inspector urged from the side, "Sir, you're the last passenger. Please board as soon as possible."I ignored him and repeated, "Please confirm it once more."Irene looked at me, then at her phone vibrating madly.In the end, she let go of my hand."Gavin, give me a second."I stood there watching her take the call."Calm down, Zack. Where are you? Don

Half an hour after the door shut, there was another knock.I assumed it was Irene. But when I opened it, Zack was standing there.His face was pale, and his eyes were burning with something close to madness.He held his phone up to me. On it was a drafted message."I have never loved you, and I didn't leave out of spite. I'm never coming back. You're better off with Zack and the baby. I advise you to marry him."Gazing at me, Zack said in a trembling voice, "Send this to Irene. As long as you tell her you never loved her and advise her to marry me, she'll give up."I didn't take the phone."And then what?""Irene and I get married, the baby grows up in a whole family, and people finally stop talking about me behind my back.""What about me?"Zack froze for a moment. "You've already left. What difference does it make if you give in one last time?""It does." I stared at the words "I have never loved you", feeling as if a needle were slowly piercing through my heart. "I've lov

A month later, Irene sent me a list of my belongings. She didn't try to talk me into going back. Instead, she only asked, "What do you want to do with all this stuff?"After thinking it over for a night, I bought a ticket back.The apartment had already been restored to how it first looked. The list of pregnancy precautions was gone, but my photos weren't back up on the wall either.All that remained were a few patches of uneven paint, like old wounds scraped away by force.Three documents sat on the table.The first was a record of the renovation payments I'd made over the last five years, the second was half the wedding deposit, and the third was my share of the money in our joint account.Irene slid the bank card over and said in a low voice, "I should've returned this to you a long time ago. It's not compensation or me begging you to come back."I accepted it. The money was mine to begin with, and taking back what belonged to me didn't require putting on a show of being the