After entering the house in the evening, I casually put the packed pizza on the table.

From Joshua's room came the intense sound of gunfire from a video game.

"Be careful, Eliza. Walk behind me. I'll protect you."

Seeing that he was absorbed in the game, I went straight to the bathroom to shower.

He often played this game with Hailey and several of their colleagues.

I had tried playing too, but I never enjoyed it much due to my lack of skill.

After getting killed as soon as I landed in the game, I would often just sit and wait for him and Hailey to finish playing, which could take up to half an hour.

To have something to talk about with him, I practiced hard privately.

Although my shooting skills were still not as good as Joshua's, they at least surpassed Hailey's.

I was pleased to think that this was a way to understand him better.

However, whenever Hailey died in the game, he would quit and restart.

After a few rounds, I couldn't help but feel frustrated.

But he threw down his headset before I could say anything.

"Do you want her to wait around? It's ruining the game experience.

"Besides, you're not exactly great at the game either. Do you enjoy just waiting around?

"It's not like I begged you to play."

I couldn't remember how long that silent treatment had lasted.

But, as usual, I ended up giving in first, just like before.

When I came out of the bathroom, he was still playing, so I went straight to the bedroom.

The light from the middle of the night was too bright, so I covered my head with the blanket.

Joshua held me tightly with the blanket.

"Selena, why didn't you tell me when you were home? I'm a little hungry now. Get up and make me some spaghetti."

"I already brought you food. It's on the table."

My head felt strangely heavy, and I was too drowsy to open my eyes.

"But it's all cold now, and I don't like pizza. You used to cook for me."

"Then just order takeout yourself."

"You've been so busy lately and haven't really paid any attention to me. It's the weekend tomorrow. Why don't you get up and chat with me?"

After trying to coax me for a while with no response, Joshua began to get impatient.

"Are you getting up or not?" he barked.

After another period of silence, there was a loud bang in the room.

I pulled up the blanket and turned over, falling back asleep until morning.

The next day, I slept until noon, and my throat hurt a lot.

I felt a bit dazed and realized that I must have had a mild fever last night.

Thankfully, it wasn't a big deal.

After that night, Antonia hadn't contacted me for a week.

In the past, I would have apologized and begged him to come back within three days over such small matters.

Now, I was quite content with the peace and quiet.

However, his friend sent me a message first.

His friends inexplicably disliked me.

They made mean comments and subtly put me down while praising themselves.

If I got upset, they'd say I couldn't take a joke and was ruining the fun.

Joshua had advised me not to take it too seriously and to be more open-minded.

I used to avoid confrontations and had endured a lot of their unpleasantness.

When I answered the phone, the person ordered me to go to a bar quickly.

I replied with "not available" and hung up first.

After doing this twice, the person finally became friendly.

They went on about wanting me to find Joshua.

But I wasn't lying. I really was busy.

I was looking for a new place to live.

The current rental was close to Joshua's company, but my commute took over an hour.

Every day, I got up early to go to work and barely managed to stay awake.

I was already exhausted and resentful, not to mention that I had to take the crowded bus home.

I didn't even have the energy to kill myself even if I wanted to.

After a few days of searching, I decided on a place near my office.

Daniel Brown was the person who had called me that day.

As expected, he called again today.

"Hey, Selena, Joshua is completely drunk and out of it. Can you come to the bar and pick him up?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and glanced at the boxes by the door.

"But I really have things to do."

"I'm begging you. It was understandable that you were busy with work the other day, but it's Saturday today. You still can't make time? I seriously doubt it. I've been at the bar for days, and my girlfriend is upset and breaking up with me..."

Daniel whined, and I interrupted him helplessly.

"Just book him a hotel. He hasn't been sleeping on the streets these days, has he? There must be somewhere for him to stay."

There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of glass shattering and shouting.

"Daniel, who told you to call her? I don't need her to pick me up."

Joshua was always like this—pretending to be confused even though he was clear-headed.

He used that as an excuse when Hailey called him away, when he left me behind.

Joshua, feeling guilty, was no longer angry and put on a sad expression.

He said, "But you're letting another woman pick up your drunk boyfriend.

"We've been apart for so long. Have you even called me once? Have you shown any concern for me? You weren't like this before."

"But you and Hailey are just friends.

"I used to be too sensitive, but I've changed. Isn't it better now that I can trust and understand you?" I said.

Joshua was stunned as if he couldn't understand my words.

I smiled and sighed softly.

"Why are you acting this way? Isn't this what you want?"

Joshua fell silent, his clenched fists relaxing and then tightening again.

Looking at the mess all over the place, I was disappointed and heartbroken.

I turned to leave, but Joshua stopped me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

He hesitated, seemingly wanting to change the subject.

"There's a new restaurant downstairs. How about I take you there to try it?"

His tone was gentle, and he even smiled at me.

He was trying to brush off the argument lightly.

But a wave of helplessness washed over me.

Three years is neither long nor short.

I once truly, deeply loved him, loving with all my heart and conscience.

But she was not the same.

He took advantage of my love without even giving a perfunctory response.

Even if Hailey weren't in the picture, there would be others in the future.

We are doomed to have no future together.

But some things needed to be said face to face.

I was just about to nod when the sudden ringtone of Joshua's phone interrupted me.

It was Hailey's special ringtone, set after Joshua lost a dare at one of their company parties.

...

I had protested and argued with Joshua to change it.

But he thought I was making a big deal out of nothing.

He stubbornly kept it and was still using it now.

The name "Hailey" kept flashing on the phone.

Joshua glanced at it and frowned, looking a little impatient.

After hesitating for a while, he wanted to reject the call.

"Answer it," I said.

"No, let's have dinner. It's probably not a big deal."

I was surprised. This was the first time I had taken precedence over his close friend Hailey.

Soon, the second and third calls came in one after another.

Joshua's expression grew more serious as he kept glancing at the phone unconsciously.

I snatched his phone away and answered the call without batting an eyelid.

The reluctance Joshua showed when he took the phone and the way he anxiously dashed out the door were striking and ironic.

After running three steps out the door, he suddenly remembered I was there.

He stiffly turned around, and I slightly tilted my head to look directly at him.

"I... Hailey had a car accident. I want to go see her."