When Chole’s brother and the friends around saw me coming out, they all came up to persuade me.

"Elliot, my sister and Noah are just friends. Don't think too much about it!"

"Elliot, you're a man. Be generous. They're not really married."

"Elliot, how many years have you been in love with Chole? Don't let such a small thing..."

Looking at my old friends, I felt a sense of desolation.

"Don't call me Elliot. When we meet each other on the road in the future, just pretend that we don't know. I can't afford to have friends like you."

Some of them were my classmates I had known for more than ten years, and some of them were my friends who grew up with me.

But in the face of Chole.

The first thing that came to their minds was not telling me.

Instead, they hid it from me.

They wanted me to continue to stay in a daze in the dreamland that I had woven.

I was like a fool.

But why?

I sat in the driver's seat and slowly opened the front drawer.

There was a property ownership certificate inside, which Chole had been longing for for a long time.

I bought the house for her.

I wanted to give this to her as a gift on the day of our marriage.

Now it seemed that there was no need.

In fact, the relationship between Chole and Noah was clear.

There were signs half a year ago.

At that time, the company had just started to take off.

I rarely went home.

Once in a while, I would come back, but I didn't see Chole.

Every time I called her to ask, she used all kinds of excuses to cover it up.

"I'm playing with my bestie. You’re often not at home. I’m lonely and can't I find my bestie?"

When I listened to her blaming, my heart was filled with guilt.

"I'm doing this for our future. When I'm done with my work, I'll definitely accompany you."

"Honey, take your time. Don't worry about me. I'm not the kind of person who needs someone to accompany me all the time. Work hard so that we can have a good future."

I was touched by her reasoning and subconsciously regarded the strange male voice on the other end of the phone as the voice of the TV.

Now that I thought about it, I realized that she was not playing with anyone, but with Noah.

How ironic.

I contacted the sales manager and was ready to sell the house.

It didn't matter whether the price was high or not.

However, I didn't expect that the buyer would contact me so soon.

What's more, the buyer happened to be one of the friends of Chole and I, Riley Harper.

She was one of the few friends who didn't show up at the banquet today.

She looked at me and sighed softly.

"Did you buy this riverview apartment for Chole?"

I nodded and laughed at myself. "Not anymore."

She looked at my expression and sighed helplessly. "It seems that you already know about that absurd thing."

She had a complicated expression on her face. "I've tried to persuade her. How can she fulfill Noah’s such absurd wish like that? But she's born with a stubborn temper. The more we talk about her, the more determined she is.”

"I know Noah. He’s rich and has liked Chole for a long time. But even if he likes Chole, he still flirts with other women."

"This time, I heard that it was because he found that he didn't have much time left. In order to fulfill his wish, he asked Chole for help. Chole is so stupid!"

As for the fake marriage, Riley felt that it was absurd.

On the basis that she already had a fiance, Chole still married someone else.

This was no different from having an affair.

Did she really dare to say that she had never cheated on her boyfriend?

Wasn't she afraid that her boyfriend would break up with her when he found out?

Maybe she didn’t care about it.

Other than this, what else could it be?

I don't know.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to forget the pain in my heart.

Riley picked up her phone and said helplessly, "Actually, I wanted to tell you at first, but you blocked all my contact information."

I picked up my phone and roughly understood who had done this.

She saw that I was in a bad mood, so she stopped talking about blacklisting her and took me directly to drink.

As soon as the alcohol entered my throat, my stomach suddenly burned. The pain of betrayal was replaced by that in my stomach.

I felt dizzy, and the scene of past flashed through my mind.

I slowly lay down.

When my father was still very young, the first thing he did when he got home from work was to rub my head and then go to the kitchen to cook.

Some were my favorite, some were my mom's, but no one was his.

I asked him why he never cooked his favorite dishes.

Dad always smiled gently and helplessly. "I like spicy food, but you mom can't eat it. She can't even smell it."

"I just can't eat what I like, but I can always look at your mother. As long as she can stay with me, it’s not a big deal to give up my favorite food.”

I didn't understand that much, but I understood what my father meant.

To love a person was to accommodate them.

They hoped for a long time.

However, such a father did not get what he wanted in the end.

When I got home that day, I saw Dad squatting on the ground and drinking alone. Mom appeared in front of him in a gorgeous dress that I had never seen before and handed him a folder.

"Let's break up peacefully. I cheated on you first. I'll take the initiative to take responsibility. I'll give up all the things, and I won't compete with you for the custody of the child."

"From now on, I'll give you money to take care of child every month."

After saying that, she left with her luggage, looking extremely determined.

She taught my father a lesson.

People should love themselves first.

My father was in a daze for a while.

In the end, he cheered up again. He didn't feel any remorse.

During that time, he completely forgot about me. I relied on some snacks to live every day. In the end, there was nothing to eat, and I could only eat some vegetables that were not rotten.

Finally, when I fainted from hunger at school, the teacher found that something was wrong with me.

They contacted my dad.

Looking at my weak appearance, my dad cried.

My father, who didn't cry when he was betrayed by my mom, cried when he saw me sick.

From that day onwards, he forgot the past.

After selling our original house, he brought me to a different place.

I was very happy because my dad was finally cheering up.

The children in the new place were a little exclusive.

They were a little resistant to my father's single life.

A little boy even took the lead in warning me. "My mother said that men who take care of their children alone are all scumbags and even beat women. Otherwise, why wouldn't your mother want you?"

When I heard that, I was very angry, but I didn't beat him up immediately.

Because I didn't want to cause trouble for Dad.

Dad was having a hard time. I also knew that it was never too late to take revenge.

I followed them and observed them.

I knew whether they had tutoring classes. If they had, I would play dirty tricks on them on their way back.

I wouldn't fight.

However, I could do other things.

I tore down the wheels and chains of their bicycles.

I hid their books a few times.

I also put a few non-poisonous snakes into their schoolbag.

This time, I thought of a new trick, but I was almost discovered in the process. A little girl pulled me to a trash can and hid me there.

After she left, she laughed her head off.

"So you're the one who pranked them, causing them to be late for class and scream in class!"

"However, they deserve it. After all, they bullied you first.”

I looked at her quietly. Because their nonsense, it had been a long time since a child talked to me.

She didn't seem to hate me.

She told me that his name was Chole.

Later, she and I punished those children who liked to talk nonsense. She said that she had also suffered losses from them before.

I smiled.

Gradually, the circle of our lives merged together.

She and I were both intelligent and hardworking. We had always left our peers behind.

I believed that this kind of life would last for a very long time.

My father came out of the shadow of my mother and knew that I had a good relationship with Chole. He just told me that I should respect all women and not cross the line at the age when I couldn’t fully take responsibility.

Because of my father's upbringing, Chole's family never stopped me from dating her.

I believed that she and I would always be together.