When the Fireworks of Love Fade Away

My name was Belle Lindsey. I wanted to give my boyfriend, Noah Collins, who was in another city, a surprise, so I rushed to his city overnight.

When I arrived, he was making a cake with a girl.

They looked so intimate.

The moment he saw me, he quickly explained, "Don't get us wrong. She is my junior sister."

"Noah, you're so bad!"

It was the first sentence I heard when I entered.

It was a girl, with a hint of coquettishness in her voice.

Then I saw her grab a handful of cream and smear it on Noah's face.

Noah agilely dodged and wiped the cream on his hand on her face.

Seeing that the girl was about to get angry, Noah immediately said fawningly, "Alright. I won't tease you anymore. I'll stay put. You can do whatever you want."

The two of them were so intimate as if they were a couple.

Maybe they were enjoying themselves too much. Neither of them noticed me.

Then the girl turned around to get some tissues. She was startled when she saw me.

Noah heard the sound and looked over. After a moment of stunned silence, he hurriedly put down what he was holding and said, "Belle? Why are you here?"

I didn't say anything. I just looked at him quietly.

He quickly explained, "Don't get us wrong. She is my junior sister."

***

"It's her birthday today, and a few more people will join us later."

The girl walked over. The cream on her face had been wiped clean, and she smiled at me calmly, "You must be Noah's girlfriend, right? Hello, I'm Sophia Mason. We made a bet, and he lost, so he was punished. That’s why he’s making a cake. Please don't think too much about it."

I reluctantly nodded.

Noah took the suitcase from me and put it against the wall.

He asked, "Have you had dinner? If you haven't, I'll fix you something."

I looked at the messy kitchen and felt annoyed. "No need. I'll eat out."

"Then I'll accompany you," Noah said without hesitation.

Sophia tugged at his sleeve. "Noah, the cake isn't ready yet..."

Noah looked at me as if he was in a dilemma.

I didn't want to see him like that, so I picked up my suitcase and left.

After walking outside, I slowly squatted down, constantly massaging my belly, trying to relieve the stomachache.

Not long after I got on the high-speed train, my stomach started to ache faintly. I was already at my limit to endure the pain until now.

I hailed a taxi and went to the nearest hospital.

The doctor said it was a gastric ulcer, and I needed an IV drip.

I lay on the bed absent-mindedly, staring at the droplets falling from above. It wasn't until the pain in my stomach eased that I could think about what had happened.

They looked so intimate. No way she was just his junior sister.

I was certain something was going on between them.

Then I remembered Noah's abnormal behavior in the past few months.

Our daily video calls became shorter and shorter, and later, we simply stopped having video calls.

The reason he gave me was that the tasks assigned by his mentor were too heavy, and he was busy every day, so he didn't have time for video calls.

Noah was always with a strong desire to share. He used to share with me what he ate, what interesting things had happened, and his complaints about his teachers and classmates...

He used to share all these with me, but recently his replies were usually [I'm busy] or [Talk to you later].

After being together for so many years, I could almost immediately feel his changes.

But I still lied to myself. He was in his second year of graduate school. He had to do projects, find internships, and catch up with his thesis. Of course, he was busy.

I guessed he was busy indeed.

He was busy hanging out with Sophia.

He was busy making a birthday cake for Sophia.

The past between Noah and me came back to me.

I and Noah were high school classmates.

At that time, he was in the class next to mine, and I never talked to him, but I knew him.

He was handsome, sunny, and had good grades. Several of my classmates liked him.

We formally met in college.

We were admitted to the same university and joined the same club.

Fate amazed us, and soon we were together.

From freshman year to his current second year of graduate school, we had been together for six years.

We had a stable relationship, we knew each other well, and his parents approved of me.

I thought we would go on like this and get married.

But I didn't expect he had already changed quietly.

After the drip, I booked a room in a hotel near the hospital.

Noah sent a message to me at nearly eleven o'clock at night, asking when I would go back.

I told him that I would stay outside tonight, and he only replied with the word [Goodnight].

He didn't ask how I was feeling.

He didn't ask if I was OK staying outside.

I laughed at myself.

Sure enough, when he didn't care, he didn't care anymore.

When I was stunned, Noah posted on Instagram.

There were nine photos, and many of them were Sophia's solo photos. One of these photos was of five people together, and Sophia wrapped her arm around Noah's neck, smiling brightly.

He also posted the words, "Sophia, be happy."

I didn't question him. The long day had exhausted me.

Probably to make up for it, the next morning, Noah came to the hotel.

He said he had time today and could be with me. He wanted me to have a good time.

Looking at his happy face, I finally didn't say no.

New York had so many attractions.

In the end, he took me to a mountainous area, which was kinda famous locally.

There were many vendors along the way, selling all kinds of goods. It was kinda fun.

We saw a temple in the mountains. It was said that it'd be good luck for one's romantic relationship. He took me there.

There was a bridge built outside the temple, and the iron ropes on both ends of the bridge were hung with love locks.

Noah bought two locks. "Let's hang them."

I paused a second before taking it and asked him, "When did you start believing in these things?"

In the past, he would scoff at similar plots in TV dramas.

In his words, doing these cheesy things was a waste of time. Guys who did those should be home, staying with their girlfriends.

I told him that it was one's wish, a kind of romance.

He laughed at me for being naive.

See? He didn't know what romance was.

Who did he change for?

Noah replied casually, "Sophia told me. She watches too many TV dramas and says this is romantic. I figured that now that we're here, we might as well give it a go."

I smiled and didn't say anything.

After we finished climbing the mountain, we went to a restaurant at the foot of the mountain to eat.

He asked me to order while he kept looking at his phone, occasionally replying to something with a smile on his face.

"Who are you chatting with? You seem so happy," I asked him.

He looked up and smiled, "Sophia is sending me travel guides. You don't know this, but she grew up in New York and is very familiar with the town. With her guides, we can save a lot of trouble in the afternoon."

I stared at Noah for a long time.

He slowly stopped smiling and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Have you noticed that you've been talking about Sophia all day long?"

Noah suddenly became unhappy and put his phone down on the table. "Belle, can you stop being suspicious? Sophia is my junior, and we're in the same department. Isn't it normal that I have contact with her? Besides, she already has someone she likes. Don't spread rumors and ruin her reputation!"

I didn't argue with him.

He might realize that he was a bit too aggressive. After a while, he calmed down and said softly, "I'm sorry, Belle. You came all the way here, and I got angry with you.

"But I really have nothing with her. I will be hurt being falsely accused by you."

He looked at me with sincere and aggrieved eyes.

I was stunned. Did I misunderstand him?

Before I could put my doubts aside, I saw a sticker on the back of his phone.

He had been holding the phone, so the sticker was covered by his palm, and that was why I didn't notice it.

Now that he put the phone on the table with its back facing upward, I saw the sticker on the back.

The sticker was a simple drawing of a girl, and her face was not clear, but the hairstyle looked a lot like Sophia's.

I said lightly, "I remember you don't like cute things like stickers."

Noah subconsciously turned the phone over. "Sophia forced us to put it on on her birthday. If you don't like it, I'll take it off now."

"Noah, forget it."

Noah stood up at once. "You just won't believe me."

He left angrily.

I sighed and suppressed the bitterness in my heart.

Then I left.

Noah came back very late, with the smell of alcohol on him.

He went to take a shower as soon as he came back.

His phone was placed on the coffee table, and I had no intention of prying into his privacy.

But the screen kept lighting up.

By some strange impulse, I entered the password.

The password was his birthday.

I clicked on his WhatsApp.

My chat records with him were no longer pinned on top. I was replaced by Sophia.

She sent those messages to him.

[Noah, have you arrived home? Are you feeling better?]

[In the future, if you're upset, you can talk to me.]

[As long as you turn around, I will always be here.]

I scrolled up and saw that their chat history was very long, almost as long as our six-year record. Who could have imagined that they only met three months ago?

They met because they were assigned to the same project by their mentor. Sophia was lively and enthusiastic, often coming to talk to him. He was cold at first, but later, he unconsciously began to talk to her more and more, from small things like what they ate today to big things like future development.

Last month, I had my period, and it was so painful. I was very upset and wanted to talk to him. But he ended the video chat within just ten minutes. Yet he could video chat with Sophia for two hours, even though he said to me he had no time.

There were many moments when he said he was busy, but he was actually spending time with Sophia.

He had many photos in his album that I had never seen.

He and Sophia had been to many places, and those places were where we once agreed to go.

I exhaled, feeling a moment of relaxation in my heart.

I actually felt that everything had finally come to an end.

I didn't have to be suspicious anymore. To be honest, I hated myself in such a state.

Noah came out after taking a shower, his hair already half-dried.

I still had his phone in my hand.

His pupils contracted. "Did you look at my phone?"

I nodded.

He snatched it back. "Belle, respect personal privacy, OK?"

"It was my fault to check your phone without your permission, but that's not what we need to talk about now."

He frowned. "What do you want?"

"You and Sophia..."

Before I could finish my words, he impatiently interrupted me, "Since you have already seen what's on my phone, you should know that there is nothing between us."

"So, is it nothing to give a girl gifts, take her to an amusement park, and chat with her until midnight?" I sneered.

Perhaps realizing that he was in the wrong, he impatiently ran his fingers through his hair. "Things have already come to this. What do you want?"

I decided to give him one last chance. "Cut off all contact with her forever."

Noah was resolute. "No way."

"Then let's break up."

Coincidentally, his phone rang, and I saw the caller ID. It was Sophia.

He answered the call, and I didn't know what she said. I could only hear her crying.

Noah's expression changed slightly, and he said, "I'll be right there in a sec. Wait for me."

He hurriedly changed his clothes, and right before he left, I stopped him and said, "Noah, if you walk out that door now, we're really done. Think carefully."