When my fever hit 40 degrees Celsius, my boyfriend, Ethan Banks, was on his way to take his junior to an amusement park. I sent him countless messages, begging him to come back and take me to the hospital, but he ignored them all, continuing to flirt with her in the car.

On my way back after getting an IV alone, Ethan finally showed up late to pick me up. Yet, on the passenger seat, I found a bunch of potato chip crumbs. Ethan never allowed me to eat in his car; once, when my blood sugar dropped, he still insisted I get out of the car to eat a piece of chocolate.

Before I could say a word, he sneered.

“You’re not like Lily. Lily’s a pampered little princess, so naturally, I have to indulge her a bit more.”

Again. That woman. Lily Parker…

I stayed silent, quietly sending a message to the watch store. The custom watch I had ordered for him—now it seemed I should just return it.

——

To my surprise, Ethan peeked at my messages. Before I could finish typing, he grabbed my phone with a displeased look on his face.

“Our three-year anniversary and you’re only giving me a cheap watch?”

I explained calmly.

“This watch is something I saved up for over two months of summer work. It’s the best I can afford to give you.”

Hearing that, Ethan’s expression softened a little.

“Fine, a watch is a watch,” he muttered under his breath, his tone revealing a trace of contempt. “Tsk, having a poor girlfriend is tough.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. In the three years we’d been together, he had never once prepared a surprise for me, always picking apart the gifts I gave him instead. In the past, I loved him and didn’t mind giving one-sidedly, but now, I wasn’t so willing anymore.

After picking up the watch from the store, Ethan reluctantly rolled up his shirt sleeve.

“This watch is okay, I guess. It would’ve been better if you’d gotten me the latest iPhone.”

“Forget it.”

He extended his wrist toward me. “You’ve already bought it, so put it on me.”

“When did I ever realize you could be so shameless?” I muttered, holding the watch without moving.

“What?”

Ethan didn’t catch what I said.

I smiled. “Where’s mine?”

“Yours? What?” He looked confused.

“My three-year anniversary gift.”

Ethan burst out laughing. “When did I ever prepare a gift for you? Julia, weren’t you the one who kept insisting on dating me?”

In other words, being with me should be enough for you. You actually want a gift? Wishful thinking.

I looked at the amused expression on Ethan’s face and for some reason, I thought of the boy who, five years ago during an earthquake, had reached out his hand to save me even though he was injured all over. His face overlapped perfectly with Ethan’s, yet I suddenly realized that he was nothing like the person I remembered.

A guy with headphones was walking by on the side of the road. I quickly grabbed his hand and smoothly clasped the watch around his wrist.

Ethan was stunned and the guy looked at me in confusion, glancing at the watch and then at me.

“A windfall from heaven?”

“Yeah, it’s yours now.”

Ethan immediately exploded, pointing his finger at me and shouting.

“Julia, are you crazy? What the hell is this supposed to mean?!”

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

You didn’t even prepare a gift for me, so why should I give you one?

I didn’t bother arguing with him, sidestepped him and walked away.

Ethan initially tried to stop me, but then Lily called, saying she had accidentally twisted her ankle and was in so much pain that she couldn’t move. Immediately, he turned around and drove off to pick her up. Before leaving, he threw a harsh remark at me.

“Julia, I don’t have time to talk to you right now, but you’d better give me an explanation on chat!”

I ignored him and kept walking.

Suddenly, someone called out to me from behind. I turned around and saw it was the guy I’d given the watch to. Scratching the back of his head, he said, “Why don’t we exchange contact information? I really like this watch, but I don’t have enough money now. Once I save up, I’ll pay you back.”

I shook my head. “No need. It’s a gift.”

“That won’t do. I’d feel uneasy wearing it without paying you. My name’s Ryan Green. What’s yours?”

“Julia Quinn,” I replied.

After exchanging names, he declared us as a friend. I couldn’t argue with him, so I eventually added him on my contact.

That night, I went back to my dorm and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, I woke up to messages from Ethan. He was someone who had never initiated contact before and rarely even replied to me. Yet, last night, he had sent over a hundred messages, almost one every hour, though none were pleasant. Scanning through, I saw the usual expressions:

[Julia, where’s my explanation?]

[Are you trying to break up?]

[You’d better prepare an even more expensive gift for me!]

I couldn’t help but laughed and didn’t respond to a single message.

I didn’t have any classes in the morning, so I laid in my dorm all morning, discussing plans for studying abroad with my family. I was in my senior year and originally, I hadn’t planned on going for further studies. I’d thought I’d graduate, rent a place with Ethan and we’d work together to earn a simple living. But now, I realized how utterly foolish I’d been to give up a chance to study abroad for him.

Luckily, I’d woken up to reality now; it wasn’t too late.

In the afternoon, on my way to meet with my advisor to revise my thesis, I saw two people holding hands, strolling by the track. Their backs were familiar—it was Ethan and Lily. When he noticed me out of the corner of his eye, he pulled her closer by the waist and she giggled, leaning into his chest, acting even more delicate.

I ignored them and kept walking.

Furious, Ethan dragged Lily over to block my path.

“Julia, are you fucking blind?!”

“What?” I frowned. “Watch your tone when you talk to me.”

Ethan took a deep breath. “I sent you so many messages. Don’t you see them?”

He looked genuinely upset about this. It made sense—whenever he messaged me before, I’d reply immediately, often asking what he was up to every few minutes. If he didn’t respond within two hours, I’d spam him with missed calls. But last night, I hadn’t responded at all. The sudden shift must have been unsettling for him.

But he’d better start getting used to it.

“I lost my phone,” I lied casually.

Ethan’s face twisted in anger and he shoved me hard. “Then what the hell is that in your hand?!”

I stumbled and fell to the ground, a sharp pain radiated from my ankle. My palm scraped against the ground and a jagged rock lodged into my flesh, causing blood to gush out.

Ethan was stunned and reached out to help me, but just then, Lily let out a groan, clutching her stomach and bending over in pain.

“Ouch... it hurts so much,” she whimpered.

Ethan looked at me, then back at Lily, his face torn with indecision, as though he were fighting an intense internal battle.

“Ah...” Lily whimpered weakly again. Ethan gritted his teeth, turned away from me and went to support her.

“Lily, are you okay?”

She leaned into his arms. “Ethan, I think my stomach ache is acting up. Could you take me to the medical center?”

With a pained look in his eyes, he scooped her up in a princess carry and walked away without looking back.

I gritted my teeth and struggled to stand. My palm had a deep cut from a jagged stone and the pain made my legs shaky and weak. Just as I started to fall back, someone caught me.