3
That day, I tried every way I could think of to clean those filthy things out of my body with my fingers.
10:01 AM
<
Until evening, Jack hadn’t sent me any messages.
At 8 PM, Emily posted a video on Instagram.
My best friend had discovered early on that Emily wasn’t a good person and told me to be more cautious.
She had secretly helped me add Emily with a fake account, something neither Jack nor Emily knew about.
In the video, they were playing an exciting game with a group of old classmates.
Emily lost quickly and was required to choose someone for a passionate kiss.
If the person she chose refused her, Emily would be punished by having to take off a piece of clothing in front of everyone.
Emily walked up to Jack with a red face: “Jack, you wouldn’t let me embarrass myself, would you?”
Jack looked at her, neither agreeing nor refusing.
The next second, Emily took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips.
Jack was stunned for a moment but didn’t push her away. He closed his eyes and accepted the kiss.
They kissed deeply for a long time before separating.
Around them were the teasing cheers of the crowd.
Emily laughed: “My lipstick left a mark on your lips. I hope your fiancée won’t get jealous enough to break up with you.”
Jack belatedly wiped his lips, his voice soft but firm:
“You’re overthinking it. How could she bear to break up with me?”
I suddenly felt nauseous and ran to the bathroom, vomiting for a long time.
That day, because of my fever, I curled up on the couch, drifting in and out of sleep until midnight.
I don’t know when Jack came back.
The living room light came on.
I was covered in cold sweat, unable to gather the strength to get up for a long time.
The next second, I heard Jack’s panicked footsteps: “Lily, why are you so hot?”
I wanted to open my eyes, but I found that even moving a finger was extremely difficult.
After that, I lost consciousness.
The next morning, I woke up in the hospital.
Jack was holding my hand, with faint dark circles under his eyes, as if he had stayed up all night watching over me.
Seeing me awake, he first looked delighted, then sighed: “How can you be so careless about taking care of yourself? What would you do without me?”
“You’re very weak now. The doctor said you need to eat more.”
“Look, I specially bought you food from your favorite restaurant.”
He deliberately lowered his voice to threaten me: “I queued for a long time to buy this for you. You better eat more, or you’ll be in for it tonight.”
<
me denverately lowered mis voice to threaten me: i queuea for a long time to buy this for you. You better eat more, or you ll be in for it tonight.
I turned over and said, “I don’t want to eat.”
He became a bit nervous: “What’s wrong, darling? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
I interrupted him: “Get out, I want to be alone for a while.”
Jack helplessly stroked my head: “Are you angry that I didn’t accompany you yesterday?”
“Baby, I’m sorry. I just wanted to marry you sooner, so I was busy planning our wedding yesterday. I want to give you the most perfect wedding.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were sick. I’ll make it up to you in the future, please forgive me.”
I bit my lip, holding back tears.
Liar.
How could he tell lies so calmly?
Jack said worriedly: “I know you don’t have an appetite, but please eat a little. Come on, I’ll feed you.”
I avoided him and pushed his hand away forcefully.
He couldn’t hold it steady, and the bowl fell to the ground, breaking with a jarring sound.
He was stunned and said angrily: “What are you throwing a tantrum about now? Is it because of those words I left on your body last night?”
I looked at him without saying anything.
He continued: “Stop making a fuss. Isn’t it normal for couples to play like this?”
“Why are you being so sensitive now? Can’t you even handle this? Look at Emily, she never throws tantrums like you!”
Hearing the name “Emily,” I couldn’t hold back anymore, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
He was stunned for a moment, hurriedly wiping my tears:
“You’re so grown up now, why are you still crying so easily.”
“Alright baby, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. Your husband was wrong. I’ll never do it again, okay?”
I threw a pillow at him hard: “Get out! I don’t want to see you!”
Jack’s head was hit by the pillow, and he gradually lost patience in comforting me.
He looked at me disappointedly, as if looking at an unreasonable child.
“Fine, I’m leaving.”
“You’re an adult now. You can’t throw tantrums like a child anymore.”
“I hope when I see you tomorrow, you’ll have calmed down on your own.”
After saying this, he left.
I felt a lump in my throat, unable to breathe properly.
From then on, I shut myself away.
Until a week later, when I walked to the bathroom and saw my haggard reflection in the mirror, I was stunned.
My eyelids were swollen, with dark circles under my eyes, and bloodshot eyes that couldn’t be hidden.
10:01 AM
<
In just a few days, I looked completely different from the once youthful and beautiful me.
Looking in the mirror, I questioned myself, how did I end up like this?
I angrily took off my clothes, walked into the shower, and scrubbed my body vigorously.
I put on a sexy red dress like I used to, applied beautiful makeup, not missing even a single strand of hair.
As I was about to go out, I received a call from my academic advisor.
She had always taken good care of me and admired my talent in art design.
Now, her tone was serious: “Lily, I’m calling to confirm one more time. You received an offer from that French university you applied to for your Ph.D. Are you really going to give it up because of marriage?”
“The professor there thinks highly of you. Are you sure you want to give up your future to stay in the country and get married?”
When I was in college, I had been preparing for studying abroad for my master’s degree, spending day and night in the library.
But when I finally won Jack over, I started to waver.
Jack was the student union president at that time, cold and proud, from a wealthy family.
I would be secretly happy if I could talk to him once a week.
When we were dating, it was mostly me taking the initiative.
Sometimes if I didn’t take the initiative to message him, he might not even think of chatting with me.
I put in a lot of effort, trying hard to maintain our relationship.
Later, when we finally reached the stage of talking about marriage, I became even more reluctant to leave.
But now…
I bit my lip, gripped the phone tightly, and said decisively: “Professor, I’ll go!”
My advisor’s excited voice came from the other end of the phone: That’s great, you’ve finally come to your senses.
That day, I talked with my advisor for a very long time, confirming the time for going abroad and future plans.
After hanging up the phone, I immediately booked a flight ticket for going abroad.
The departure date was the same day as the wedding.
I gritted my teeth and told myself, Lily, you have to be strong.
Since Jack wants to run away from the wedding and humiliate me,
Why don’t I take the first step to run away from the wedding and turn him into a joke?
In the following days, I kept everything from Jack, applying for a passport and visa, preparing for studying abroad.
Because I was so busy, I had almost forgotten about Jack’s affairs.
Five days before the wedding countdown, when Jack suddenly said he wanted to take me to meet his parents, I was a bit stunned.
In the past, when Jack said he wanted to take me to meet his parents, I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep all night, constantly worrying about whether they would like me or not.
I even dragged my best friend to the mall for a whole day to choose what to wear when meeting his parents.
<
But now, I found that I didn’t care as much as I had imagined.
I shook my head and said, “I don’t want to go.”
He grabbed my hand: “Lily, be good, don’t make a fuss. This was planned long ago.”
“Although my parents don’t interfere with my love life, only if they approve of you can we have a proper wedding.”
“Don’t you want to receive my parents‘ blessings?”
Not wanting Jack to notice my intention to run away from the wedding, I nodded half–heartedly.
When I was dragged by Jack to his parents‘ house.
Jack knocked on the door for a long time.
Emily opened the door.
She was wearing pajamas and slippers, casual as if this was her home.
I was stunned, my palms turning cold.
Jack looked at her, his voice gentle: “Why are you here?”
Emily naturally took the gifts we had bought for Jack’s parents:
“You’re being too distant. We’ve grown up together since childhood, of course I should come to see what kind of girl your fiancée is!”
She looked at me, pretending to be surprised:
“Isn’t this the campus beauty queen from our school? Did she fall for you so easily?”
“How long have you been chasing her? A year? A month?”
Jack said softly, “Not necessary”
Emily suddenly burst out laughing.
She held Jack’s hand and said, “Alright, let’s not talk about her. Uncle and Auntie have been missing you so much.”
Emily linked arms with Jack and went to greet his parents.
It was as if she was Jack’s fiancée.
And I was like a mistress peeking at their happiness.
Every time I tried to speak, Emily would eagerly interrupt me.
I was left out in the cold, not knowing whether to stand or sit.
At the dinner table, Emily naturally sat next to Jack.
She casually arranged for me: “Hey you, find a seat yourself.”
The only seat left was far away from Jack.
Jack didn’t notice my awkwardness, chatting and laughing with Emily.
In the past, I would definitely have made a scene.
But now, looking at him like this, I suddenly felt it was pointless and didn’t want to say a word.
During the meal, Jack’s parents complimented me on my looks.
