Chapter 1

To spend Thanksgiving with my girlfriend and her family, I pulled several all-nighters to finish my project early.

I drove through a heavy rainstorm just to make it back in time.

Halfway home, my old beat-up car broke down on the highway.

I had no choice but to call my girlfriend, asking her to pick me up in the new car I had recently bought.

Instead of an answer, the vehicle app on my phone kept sending alert after alert, notifying me of abnormal, rhythmic vibrations inside the car.

My calls went unanswered for an entire hour.

An hour later, her childhood best friend posted an update on social media.

“The most perfect and thrilling Thanksgiving gift ever!”

Attached was a photo of the backseat of my new car.

On the leather seat lay a bouquet of flowers, a luxury watch, and a half-opened box of condoms.

At that exact moment, I was utterly exhausted.

1

“Logan, have you lost your mind? Why are you calling me so late? Don't you ever let people sleep?”

The sharp voice came from right behind me, even though she had just claimed she was in bed.

I turned around to see Clara walking toward me, her arm wrapped tightly around Hunter's.

Staring at her, I spoke into the phone with a flat tone.

“Should I be losing my mind?”

The pouring rain had soaked me to the bone, and the scene before my eyes extinguished the very last trace of hope in my heart.

It was already past one in the morning by the time I took a cab back to my apartment building.

I stood in the cold, completely drenched, before my girlfriend finally bothered to call me back.

In the dead of night, I watched my girlfriend hold another man's arm as they walked toward my apartment.

I did not even dare to imagine how they would have mocked me if I had not shown up.

Hearing my voice, Clara looked up and froze in shock for two full seconds.

She hastily let go of Hunter's arm, her voice trembling with panic.

“Logan, don't get the wrong idea! We just had a team dinner tonight, and I had a little too much wine. Hunter was just driving me home.”

“I'm wearing high heels, so he was only supporting me so I wouldn't trip.”

Her frantic excuses were nothing more than a guilty cover-up.

In the past, Clara was always bossy and dismissive, never bothering to explain anything to me.

Now that her heart was racing with guilt, she suddenly had endless words.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, Hunter looked down at me with pure disdain.

“Bro, you know Clara and I grew up together. We share the same circle of friends, so we always hang out together.”

Every single time their boundaries blurred, they brushed me off with the exact same line.

For years, I had constantly brainwashed myself, telling myself they were just childhood friends who were a little closer than usual.

Now, I could only stare at the two of them with cold detachment.

Before I could even open my mouth, Clara stepped in front of Hunter to shield him.

“Alright, Hunter, you should head back. He's always like this, so petty and narrow-minded. Just ignore him!”

“Oh, here are the car keys. It's late, so drive carefully on your way back. Safety first.”

Clara pulled the car keys from her purse and handed them to Hunter, offering him gentle, tender instructions.

Meanwhile, I had just driven over five hundred miles in the storm for eight grueling hours, all to spend the holiday with her family.

I was standing right in front of her, soaked from head to toe and shivering, yet she did not offer a single word of concern.

Whether someone loves you or not is always crystal clear.

In her eyes, Hunter's smallest inconvenience was a top priority, while my suffering was completely invisible.