I had been secretly dating my neighbor's younger brother, Jarvis Schroeder, for six years and planning to make it public.

While happily preparing a family dinner to give him a surprise, I heard a familiar voice coming from next door.

"Jarvis, your first love is coming back, what are you going to do with that substitute girlfriend?"

He did not say anything.

The atmosphere became somewhat tense and another brother said with a smile, "Speaking of which, Jarvis still has a great charm. Even the eldest daughter of the Collins can win him over. She has enjoyed the benefits of being a girlfriend for six years."

"Noelle, wanted to take advantage of you as soon as she came back and even invited you to celebrate her birthday. If you bring that substitute girlfriend with you, will she regret it?"

——

The next day, Jarvis really took me to Noelle's birthday party and showed me a loving attitude.

But when she ran out crying, he pushed me away and chased after her in panic.

I went home covered in wine stains and wounds and climbed up to the attic where he never let me in.

The photos of him and Noelle were hung all over the wall!

I felt so disheartened, then I thought about calling my brother abroad.

"Sebastian, I've thought about the marriage alliance, I agree."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for three seconds and then my brother's familiar worried voice rang out. "Serena, nothing happened to you, right?"

My heart felt warm, my nose felt sore and I almost fell into tears.

"What can I do? I just ... saw that the dog next door had laid two litters of puppies, but I'm still single and I'm not satisfied."

Sebastian burst out laughing, his tone much lighter. "Brilliant!"

"Oh, no, isn't Jarvis Schroeder living next door? He's been afraid of dogs since he was a child, and now he has a dog?"

I suddenly became speechless, I did not expect my brother to have such a good memory.

Fortunately, he did not ask too many questions and got back to the point. "When will you come back? How about meeting him first and making a decision later?"

I quickly responded, "No need. I'm confident in the person you and dad chose. You guys take care of the wedding first. I'll go back as soon as I finish dealing with things here."

"Okay."

"Are you going to invite Jarvis to your wedding? I heard that his first love is back. Maybe this guy will get married after you."

It turned out that everyone knew that he was waiting for his first love, but I was the only one who knew nothing.

I lowered my head and tried hard to suppress the sadness in my eyes.

"No, please, I had an argument with him."

Sebastian was taken aback and asked unconsciously, "Why did you argue with him?"

"Because of his dogs."

As soon as the words fell, there was a sound coming from the door and I quickly hung up the phone.

I lifted my eyes and met Jarvis' smiling eyes.

"What dog? Who are you talking to?"

"Talk to my brother about your dog."

"Where do I have a dog at home?" he asked in confusion.

In just a few seconds, he realized that I was hiding something from him. But instead of getting angry, he smiled and threw me onto the sofa.

"I'm a dog, so what are you, huh? A little bitch."

I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my hand and moved it to his waist.

"Is this the male dog waist you like?"

He got closer and closer, his breath spraying between my nostrils, almost kissing my lips.

The intimate behavior that used to make me blush and my heart beat faster now only made me feel uncomfortable and resistant.

As every touch and movement got wilder, a row of clearly visible teeth marks appeared on his collarbone.

I did not know where the wound on my leg hit, it seemed to be torn apart again, extraordinarily painful and tears uncontrollably fell.

Seeing me cry, Jarvis instantly panicked. "What's wrong, Serena, did I hurt you?"

He helped me up, looked me up and down and then noticed the several bleeding wounds on my calves. He felt so sorry that his tone began to tremble.

"How did you get it? How did you get so many wounds? Why didn't you call me?"

He seemed to have completely forgotten about what happened at the birthday party.

I remained silent, unsure whether I should remind him and uncover his mask of disguised affection.

"Be good, don't cry. I'll apply medicine for you."

He kissed me on the forehead and got up to get the medicine box.

"You're so bad at taking care of yourself, what will you do without me?"

I stared blankly at his back.

Yeah, what should I do without him?

I pursued him for twenty-two years, inseparable for six years.

However, what I wanted was never a false dream or a false you!

I could not sleep.

I woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, then I crawled out of Jarvis' arms and sat barefoot on the bay window to look at the moon.

I did not know when I fell asleep, but in the next morning, I woke up when Jarvis picked me up.

He smiled helplessly and asked, "Why are you sitting in front of the window instead of sleeping on the bed? And you're not even wearing any clothes ...."

Before he could finish his words, his expression suddenly changed. "Why is your body hot?"

I was in a daze, my mind was a mess and I did not want to answer.

I felt a cold sensation as he placed his palm on my forehead.

He furrowed his brows, then immediately wrapped me in the blanket and started to change his clothes without saying a word. He took my clothes and put them on me.

I weakly raised my hand and pushed him away. "I can do it myself, you, you help me get a cold towel."

I felt my tongue getting tangled as I spoke.

Jarvis easily pushed my hand away and said, "How many times have I helped you put on your clothes? Are you embarrassed because you're sick?"

After helping me change my clothes forcefully, he carried me onto the car and headed to the hospital.

Just when queuing for registration, Noelle walked in with red eyes and happened to meet Jarvis' eyes, speechless.

"Jarvis ...."

Jarvis' face changed and he immediately left the queue, holding onto her shoulders and asking nervously, "What happened?"

"I'm so clumsy, I burn my hand while cooking beef steak," she spoke as she lifted her sleeve, revealing the redness and swelling on her arm.

A sense of worry appeared in his eyes. He lifted her arm and blew it delicately.

"From now on, don't do this kind of rough work anymore. You can tell me whatever you want to eat," he said.

Noelle nodded, tears turning into laughter.

"Jarvis, you're the only one who will treat me so well."

The man raised his hand and rubbed her head. "Silly girl, of course, I'll treat you well."

She smiled coquettishly and glanced at me who was sitting on the bench.

But he seemed to have forgotten about me. He queued up for her to register and had a warm chitchat. He did not even look back at me until he left.

See, this was the difference between a substitute and the real person.

No matter how affectionate his attitude might be to me, as soon as Noelle appeared, I, as a substitute, would disappear into nothingness.

I smiled bitterly at myself, then I forced myself to stand up, lined up for registration and went to the outpatient department.

My fever was too high and my body was too weak so I needed IV fluids to get better.

I forced myself to endure the dizziness and went to get the medicine, then to the infusion point.

I was so tired during the infusion that I fell asleep.

I did not know how long I slept until I was woken up by a little boy next to me.

"Miss, why didn't your family or your boyfriend accompany you to the hospital? You just lost blood while sleeping. My mom called the nurse for you. But we have to leave now. It's very dangerous for you to be alone."

I thanked the little boy and his mother and I gathered my energy to look at the IV fluids bottle.

It was already afternoon when my IV fluid bottle was empty and Jarvis still had not contacted me, not even a single phone call.

I stood up and planned to go home by myself, but I fell back down because of dizziness and powerlessness.

There was nothing I could do, so I dialed Jarvis' phone number.

When he heard that I was still in the hospital, he was stunned for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Serena, Noelle was injured and crying in pain, also she couldn't bear the smell of disinfectant in the hospital, so I thought about sending her back first and looking for you then ...."

Before he could finish his words, Noelle's sweet voice came through the end of the phone.

"Jarvis, are you not done yet? I'm so hungry ...."

Although he immediately covered the audio receiver, her clear voice still reached my ears.

"Serena, it's not what you think. Go home first and I'll come back later to explain to you."

I pursed my lips.

I was not even interested in hearing his so-called explanation. It was just a repeated deception towards me.

I could only say, "It's okay, I can do it myself."

No one in this world who would not be sad and devastated to lose someone in their life.

So did I, Serena Collins, who lost my sweetheart.

After hanging up the phone, I called someone to help me pick me up at the hospital and take me home.

That night, Jarvis did not go home as he promised.

Late at night, my boss asked me to handle an urgent document and a notification suddenly popped up on my phone.

As soon as I clicked on it, I found that Jarvis reposted Noelle's X post.

A picture of shadows cuddling together, with a sweet caption attached.

[Who says no one will wait for you? The one who truly cares about you is the one who will always be there for you no matter how far you go!]

Just as I clicked the like button, the post had been deleted.

However, the next moment, another notification popped up again from his X account.

He blocked my main account and reposted it again, but he forgot to block my secondary account.

I laughed and unfollowed both his accounts.

That night, without Jarvis, I slept very well and felt much more energetic.

I rushed to the company on time and handed my resignation letter to the director.

She was actually reluctant to accept my resignation letter, but knowing that I would be going back to my hometown to get married, she could only give her blessing and hug me.

After completing the handover, my colleagues who were also reluctant to accept my resignation started making noise and asking me to treat to a meal.

Of course, I would not excuse myself, I had already booked a place for dinner and karaoke.

I did not know if Noelle and I had some kind of fate. Just when I went to the bathroom in the middle of our karaoke, I bumped into her again.

Facing my surprised expression, she appeared much calmer.

"What a coincidence! You're here to have fun too?"

I smiled at her politely. I did not feel like there was anything to talk about between us, so I planned to go back to the private room.

But she did not seem to think so. She blocked my step and said intimidatingly, "Do you hate me that much? Why? It's a pity, I thought we have a lot in common, Serena. We even have to dip beef in vinegar."

Her words made me tilt my head slightly to look at her.

I had always been curious why Jarvis always dipped beef in vinegar when he served it to me?

He told me that it tasted good this way, but I could never get used to it.

Now it seemed it was also an excuse. He dipped the beef in vinegar to continue the habit he always did with Noelle to me.

My stomach suddenly churned. I felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

But she continued to chatter on.