After a passionate night, my childhood sweetheart, Jack Jenner, thoughtfully prepared birth control pills for me.

I held his wrist and pleaded coquettishly, "The pills are bitter. I don't want to take them. Let's just get married if I get pregnant."

Jack patted my head and chuckled. "Don't be silly. Childbirth is much worse than taking pills. Besides, I'm getting engaged on Sunday. Whose child would it be if you gave birth?"

I froze as he casually kissed my forehead, gently coaxing me, "My darling Ariana, pack up your things and take them with you. We can't fool around like this anymore. My fiancée asked me to be chaste."

I numbly threw the things into the trash can and dialed my father's number. "I'll marry him."

"To be honest, I'm used to having you around. How many years have we known each other, ever since elementary school?"

As my childhood sweetheart, Jack Jenner, embraced me, I could not stop the shivers that wracked my body.

I had known Jack for 16 years, and we had been sleeping together for eight.

Just five minutes ago, he wished he could merge into one with me.

I thought we were in love. Although we never said it out loud, I always believed we had a strong understanding. I had long assumed that we were a couple, but I never expected... myself to just be his friend with benefits.

The birth control pill did not go down smoothly. It stuck to my throat, making it hard to speak.

"How about another round?" Jack gently pushed me back onto the bed.

The pink bed cover was the one I put on yesterday while Jack lifted the mattress for me. He had joked, "We're like an old couple."

Now, my mind was in a complete mess.

"You've taken the pill anyway. Don't waste it. Consider it as drawing a perfect ending to our absurd youth."

I instinctively pressed against Jack's shoulders. "You said you're getting engaged?"

In a good mood, Jack grabbed my wrist in one go as his melodious voice invaded my ears. "I wanted to tell you, but a little greedy cat was eager for some action and blocked my mouth. Lina came back. She said she still wants to marry me."

Lina Andrews was the class belle who rejected Jack's confession at our high school graduation ceremony. Later on, Jack would even drink three full glasses of liquor to stop her name from being mentioned.

They were getting engaged?

Oblivious to my shock, Jack excitedly shared, "I had someone check the dates, and the earliest will be Sunday! Lina doesn't have many old friends since she's been abroad these past few years. You can help her fend off the drinks at the engagement party and be her bridesmaid at the wedding."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and pulled an invitation card from the bedside table drawer. "Lina said she wants me to design the wedding invitations, but I don't understand girls' taste. My darling Ariana, give me some advice."

Just twenty minutes ago, I had pulled the bitter birth control pills from that drawer.

The pristine white invitation was understated yet elegant. Jack's and Lina's names were interwoven like a pattern. It was clearly a carefully designed piece that cost a handsome sum.

Jack had already decided to marry Lina. He was preparing for his wedding to someone else while sleeping with me.

A surge of anger made me tremble. "Jack, you want me to see the invitation to your wedding to another woman while we're still in bed?"

I tore the invitation to shreds in the blink of an eye. "You're getting engaged and married, so what the hell am I?"

"Ariana! Have you lost your mind? Why tear up my invitation?" Jack was so busy picking up the pieces and did not even notice my expression.

When he saw me getting out of bed to get dressed, he grabbed my arm.

"Why are you making a fuss? If I don't get engaged or married, am I supposed to fool around with you forever? I don't even like you!"

After he finished yelling, he belatedly realized he had gone too far. He frowned at me as he added dryly, "I consider you my best friend, a childhood sweetheart who'd sleep in the same bed..."

Though he said so, he loosened his grip as if he had touched trash. His expression returned to its usual nonchalance as he tilted his head to look at me with a deliberately teasing smile. "Or am I just too charming that you've fallen head over heels for me without even realizing it? Ariana, don't scare me."

Jack pretended to be calm, but his panicked eyes betrayed him. His fear of being pestered made me smile bitterly, and my eyes burned.

This only made him more flustered, so he simply turned his back to me with a cold expression as he got dressed.

"Ariana, we've been best friends since we were kids. If you cry, it'll just make it seem like I've bullied you. We have gender equality now. Don't be so old-fashioned. It's not funny!"

He straightened his clothes, turned around, and left. "Lina's plane has landed. I'll take her to a hotel tonight. Pack up your things, especially those cheap, identical trinkets you bought. Take them all away. Don't leave any for me."

His last words to me before closing the door were, "We won't do this anymore. It's not fair to Lina."

After the door was slammed shut for quite a while, my phone started vibrating frantically, bringing me back to reality.

Jack had posted a major announcement in our high school class group chat.

Jack: [Lina is back. There will be a party at our usual place tomorrow! Everyone must come! @Everyone]

The attached photo showed two smiling faces close together. It was Jack holding Lina's hand and gently kissing the back of her hand.

Below were a bunch of curious and questioning comments.

[Mr. Jenner! Even if Lina hasn't returned home for many years, why are you so enthusiastic?]

[What the hell? How could you kiss Lina's hand?]

Many people tagged me.

[Ariana, please see. Your childhood sweetheart is cheating on you!]

At the graduation party when we were 18, Lina confessed to Jack in public. The girl kneeling on one knee had hopeful eyes, but Jack only snorted in response. "Did you misunderstand something, Lina? It's not Christmas yet, so I haven't prepared any presents!"

Seeing Lina's reddened eyes, Jack looked away and hugged my shoulder. "I'm happy with my childhood sweetheart, Ariana! We'll get married after graduation! All of you need to attend our wedding!"

Lina stood up and slapped me hard in the face, sobbing as she left.

Now that I thought about it, his red eyes at that time were not out of sympathy for me but rather due to the pain Lina must have felt for slapping me.

Jack sent a voice message, "You can't kiss Lina, but I can kiss my fiancée. I'm getting engaged to Lina."

Immediately, all the comments that tagged me in the group chat vanished like a gust of wind. Only blessings remained.

Someone joked: [Look at the background. Someone had a night of passion (Doge emoji)]

Jack replied almost immediately: [Get lost! Don't joke like that!]

His tone was serious and full of protectiveness.

I suddenly thought of myself.

At a class reunion six months ago, a guy in our class asked me how I was in bed. I got exasperated and argued with him.

Jack blamed me for being boring. "We're all classmates. Don't take it seriously."

It turned out that he simply did not care about me.

As I smiled wryly, Lina posted a message in the group chat: [Our engagement and marriage registration are on Sunday. We'll finally be legitimate. (Sunglasses emoji)].

Everyone readily offered their congratulations.

Lina then tagged me again.

Lina: [@Ariana, I'm sorry. Eight years ago, Jack used you as a shield and made me slap you, and now, they're making fun of you again because of us.]

Lina: [Jack told me you volunteered to be my bridesmaid. Thank you! See you tomorrow, old friend!]

I was still wondering what being used as a shield meant when Jack's messages came through.

Jack: [Ariana! Why are you pretending not to see?]

Jack: [Can we not bring up those old, trivial matters?]

Jack: [Lina just got back, and you're already giving her a hard time to embarrass her?]

Jack: [Reply quickly!]

The messages were heartbreaking, giving me no chance to breathe. Finally, he wrote: [Fine, don't reply if you don't want to!]

He then tagged me in the group chat.

Jack: [Stop partying, @Ariana. Remember to take your morning-after pill (Doge emoji)]

Lina immediately followed with a message.

Lina: [I've wasted all these years abroad. I'm not even as open-minded as Ariana (Laughing while covering mouth emoji)]

I was about to reply when I realized I had been muted by the group admin, Jack.

Overwhelmed with anger, I called Jack, but I heard Lina's voice right after it connected.

"Jack, did you really think I couldn't compare to Ariana when you rejected me?"

Jack's familiar voice answered without hesitation, "Ariana? I've never considered her a woman. My dad's company was having problems at the time, and I didn't know if things would ever get better for our family. I didn't want you to suffer with me, so I made up an excuse to make you give up.

"I couldn't just go and fool around with other girls either. But everything is in the past now. I can support both of us. Lina, I'll never let you go."

After a series of soft kissing sounds, Jack said gently, "Let's get our marriage license first. We have a lifetime together, so there's no rush. I don't want to do you wrong."

I abruptly hung up.

Back then, Jack got drunk at the graduation party, and a few classmates carried him to a hotel. I stayed and looked after him. At the cheap motel that cost 20 dollars a night, he pulled me into his arms. The next day, he slapped himself hard when he saw the bloodstains on the sheets. "I'm sorry."

I thought that apology was for me, but now, I realized it was for Lina. He was sorry for rejecting her. He was sorry for sleeping with me.

I wiped away my cold tears and called a moving company.

The room I had painstakingly decorated over the years was cleaned up in just a few hours. Watching the garbage truck drive away, I put the spare key in the shoe cabinet.

My parents divorced when I was young, and I was kicked around like a football. If there was any advantage to it, it was probably that I could quickly accept any heartbreak. Even if my heart was aching, I could force myself to act like nothing was wrong.

I closed the door and called my dad. "I'll marry that disabled man. Consider it paying back what I owe you."

When the Jenner family was in decline, I secretly reached out to my long-lost biological father to help the Jenner family and promised that I would pay back the debt.

Three months ago, my father's company faced a crisis and urgently needed a large amount of capital to tide it over.

"Either you make the Jenner family pay me back, or you get married to get some money! The Zachman family of Jakersville wouldn't have chosen you if their son weren't a cripple! But you sent yourself onto the other man's bed! I already told you that men are ingrates!"

Several times when my dad called for money, Jack was right beside me. I thought he could not hear, but I now realized that he had just been pretending.

Just then, a new update popped up on Facebook. Jack posted a photo of the sky full of fireworks, and Lina's silhouette looked especially happy.

Jack: [If I can't get you a star, I'll give you a starry sky. Welcome home, my princess.]

There was a comment below it. [What a stunning display of love! A few million dollars to get a pretty smile from a beautiful woman. Mr. Jenner sure is generous!]

I suddenly remembered the second month after Jack and I tasted the forbidden fruit. It was my 18th birthday, and he bought me a sparkler.

In the bright light, his face was full of sincerity. "Ariana, I will show you the most beautiful fireworks after we get through the hard times!"

I had no idea I was pregnant at the time, and I did not realize that the hard times ahead would be even harder.

In the hospital ward, Jack looked at my pale face after the surgery and said, "Sorry, Ariana. From now on, I'll buy the most expensive birth control pills and never let you suffer again!"

I should have realized it back then… I deserved this.

The memories were dispersed by the cold wind, and my frostbitten hands put my phone back into my pocket.

The last message on the phone was from my dad.

Dad: [You'd better behave yourself! The Zachman family will pick you up tomorrow.]

Dragging my suitcase, I plunged into the darkness. I would give myself one last cry. Jack and I would have nothing to do with each other after dawn.

After a night of turmoil, I finally found a hotel and settled in. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, my phone rang.

Jack's angry voice made my heart ache. "Where are you? All this just because Lina asserted her dominance in the group chat yesterday? Are you that petty? Everyone came to the class reunion to welcome Lina back! Do you have to be the outlier?

"Did you need me to carry you over? Because you didn't show, Lina's worried you're still holding a grudge over that slap! Hurry over and explain! Don't make Lina uneasy!"

His usually gentle voice was now filled with impatience. Jack had a bad temper, and I used to think I was his exception, but now that the real exception had returned, I realized I was just a deluded joke. However, I did not want to be a joke anymore.

"Why should I go? What does Lina's well-being have to do with me? And what right do you have to order me around? Jack, what gives you the right to call me? Do we have anything to do with each other?"

This was the first time I had ever talked back to Jack. I was not exactly mild-mannered. It was just that my love for him had worn down my edges.

Jack paused for a while before lowering his voice. "Ariana, are you jealous? Is this funny? I told you we were just fooling around. You have no right to be jealous! Besides, Lina and I are serious. No matter how big a fuss you make, it won't work. Ariana! I beg you! Will you stop causing trouble?"

I hung up immediately and got ready in front of the mirror.

Today, someone from the Zachman family was coming to pick me up. My mom taught me when I was little that I should be a worthwhile bargaining chip if I ever agreed to be one.

I planned to wait for the Zachman family downstairs, but I unexpectedly ran into Jack, Lina, and our old classmates in the hotel lobby.

Lina grabbed my arm and remarked with laughter, "So, this is why Jack changed locations! Ariana was waiting here! I knew Ariana wouldn't reject Jack. She didn't reply to his messages so that she could make a surprise appearance and get extra attention from us!"

Eight years had passed, and Lina's gaze toward me was still sharp and scrutinizing. "You disappeared for a whole night to dress up, huh? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were going to compete with me for today's spotlight!"

Lina's nails dug into my wrist, pulling me forcefully into her embrace as if it were a reunion hug after a long separation. However, she whispered in my ear, "Looks like I didn't make you back down yesterday. I gave you an eight-year head start, yet you still couldn't win over Jack. Clinging on now will only make you more pathetic."

Once she finished speaking, Lina suddenly shoved me hard, knocking me to the ground.