Celeste couldn't say a word in retort but got angry. "So you still think something's going on between us?"

She glared at me. "Austin, if there was something between us, would you even be with me?"

I looked at her silently.

This was the person I loved the most, stabbing my heart with the shout.

"Then why aren't you together, Celeste? Don't you want to be?"

Celeste was choked by my words. Her face showed shame and panic.

Finally, she retorted, "You just think tonight's joke went too far. And you have shame."

She snorted. Her tone was defensive. "Is there anything else besides the shame? Do you even care about me?"

She started crying. She took the room key from her bag, and asked, "I haven't asked you. Why do you have a room key with you? You claim it's for our anniversary, but you just had dirty thoughts, didn't you? You pervert! Pervert!"

Looking at her like this, she suddenly seemed like a stranger to me.

Was this the person I had lived with day and night for seven years?

Or had I never really known her?

"Yes, I'm a pervert."

I took the room key and threw it on the sink. "Mr. Martin isn't a pervert. Go find him."

"Mr. Martin" was her note for Xavier.

And Xavier's note for her was "Ms. Jones."

They claimed to be just friends, but their ambiguity was heartbreaking.

Celeste was infuriated. She pointed at me for a long time before bursting into tears. "Austin, how dare you!"

She grabbed her bag and stormed out, slamming the door loudly.

Soon, I heard the sound of a car starting downstairs. I stood still for a long time before slowly returning to the living room.

A cake with two cartoon characters and a big smiley face was in the fridge.

There were a few words on it. "Happy 7th Anniversary."

I had made the cake myself. Celeste left early in the morning. While she was picking out clothes and shoes, I was in the bakery, imagining tonight.

When she called me to go to the class reunion, I thought there was no big deal. We'd just be a little late.

After the reunion, I would take her to the hotel. I would propose first, then go home to eat cake together.

But now, it made me like a joke.

I sat on the sofa, the smiley face mocking me. I stared at the cartoon characters until the cream began to melt.

Celeste's message came at that moment.

It's just a few words.

[I'm at the bar. Come pick me up.]

I rubbed my face and took a taxi to the bar.

Even if she was just a friend, a girl alone at a bar at night was unsafe. Besides, she was my girlfriend.

But I didn't expect to see Celeste crying, clinging to a man's neck when I arrived at the bar.

That man was Xavier.

Xavier saw me first. He gave a mocking smile and stroked Celeste's back. "Celeste, your boyfriend's here."

The bar was noisy, but I felt my heart pounding.

I strode over. I pulled Celeste away and punched Xavier in the face.

Xavier staggered from my punch. I grabbed his collar, gritting my teeth. "Where the hell are you touching?"

Before Xavier could answer, Celeste grabbed my clothes. "Let go!"

My grip loosened. She shielded Xavier, questioning me, "Austin, are you crazy? Why do you hit him?"

Xavier was protected by her. He gave me a taunting smile, speaking gently, "Celeste, don't be mad. Your boyfriend might have misunderstood something."

His smile deepened. "Celeste slipped while getting something. She fell into my arms. I just helped her. There's nothing between us. Don't misunderstand."

I gritted my teeth, my temples throbbing. Ignoring Xavier, I asked Celeste slowly, "You called me here to show me this?"

To see her in another man's arms, protecting him?

Tears still on her face, Celeste slapped me. "Austin, are you reasonable? I said we're just friends. If you hadn't pissed me off, would I be at the bar? A drunk harassed me earlier. Without Xavier, I wouldn't be safe now!"

She questioned me, "You're still my boyfriend. Where were you when I was being harassed?"

I didn't expect she had been in trouble. I instinctively wanted to explain, "The traffic was heavy..."

But I stopped halfway. "Why did you come to the bar?"

Celeste rarely came to bars. Once, when I came with a friend, she got very angry. She said only players came here, and my coming was disloyal to her.

Since then, I never set foot in a bar again.

Celeste's crying paused. She was panicked.

Xavier explained, "Celeste called me. She cried hard, saying you two had a quarrel. I was here, so I asked her to come over."

Celeste got defensive. "Yeah, it's because of you! You embarrassed me. When I left, you didn't even try to stop me!"

She had drunk a bit. The smell of alcohol was obvious. Her gaze was a bit unfocused.

But she remained defiant. "People say there's a seven-year itch. I didn't believe it before. You wouldn't have treated me like this before!"

To Celeste, all the mistakes were mine.

I didn't want to argue with a drunk. I grabbed her hand. "Let's go home first."

Celeste flung my hand away. "You don't care about me, right? You don't trust me, right? Go back yourself. I'm not going back. That's not my home!"

She pushed Xavier onto the sofa and grabbed a bottle of wine from the table. "Come on, Xavier. Let's drink until we drop tonight!"

Xavier sighed helplessly. His tone was full of indulgence. "I really can't handle you."

He looked at me. "Why don't you sit down and apologize to Celeste? As her boyfriend, you did go a bit too far."

Celeste was dissatisfied and asked him, "Are you his friend or mine? I don't need his apology. He shouldn't have bothered me tonight!"

She took out her phone. She tapped a few times and showed me the screen. "Didn't you want us to get a room? I booked one. We'll go soon!"