Fall in love again? No way! Get lost!

On my birthday, my boyfriend set off dazzling fireworks for his childhood sweetheart.

A passerby captured the moment on video and quickly uploaded it online, where it quickly went viral, garnering an endless stream of well-wishes.

His friends joked about me, asking, "What do you think about this?"

I replied indifferently, "I just watched it. What else could I do?"

The video spread like wildfire online, with the comment section filled with praise for them as a perfect match.

As I listened to the joyful laughter of the fireworks in the video, the feast in front of me only made my heart sink deeper.

——

It was my birthday, and Alex had promised to come home early to celebrate with me, but he called in the afternoon to say he had an unexpected engagement and would be late.

I believed him and was still looking forward to celebrating my birthday with him when he got back.

Little did I know, his "engagement" was to accompany his childhood sweetheart, Vivian, in setting off fireworks.

How ironic it was.

In the video, Alex's face was filled with laughter, and his eyes were full of tenderness as he looked at Vivian.

This was a smile I had never received.

Before this, I thought he was just naturally not a smiling person, incapable of expressing affection.

I laughed in self-mockery, unwrapped the cake, and ate it in silence.

The greasy, sweet taste spread in my mouth, but suddenly, it felt pretty pointless.

I took my phone and called Alex.

He answered quickly, and his voice was as cold as ever. "What's up?"

As he spoke, I could clearly hear the sound of fireworks in the background.

After a two-second silence, I swallowed the cake in my mouth and asked calmly, "Where are you?"

"At the office. What's the matter." He seemed to have moved away from the riverside, and the sound of fireworks was gone.

His voice was still calm, showing no signs of the panic one would expect when lying.

I glanced at the video on my tablet and felt even more disinterested.

"Let's break up."

"You're making a fuss again."

I sneered, "Browse the videos online more often, Mr. Internet Celebrity."

With that, I hung up the phone.

Since I had proposed the breakup, I shouldn't stay at his place any longer.

I looked at the untouched dishes on the table, got up, and went to the kitchen to find some containers to pack them up.

Then I packed my belongings and took a taxi back to my small apartment, which I hadn't visited in a long time.

Finishing all this, I took a taxi back to my small house that I hadn't visited in a long time.

After I graduated from university, my parents bought me a small apartment in this city.

After getting together with Alex, he always said that our homes were too far apart, and it was troublesome for us to commute between them, so he asked me to move in with him.

Actually, the distance between these two houses was just the distance between him and me.

We looked close, but our hearts seemed to be separated by the Pacific Ocean.

Back in the long-lost small house, I tidied up simply and went to bed after washing up.

The next day, I found only a few messages on my phone.

[What's the matter with you now?]

[Come back when you've calmed down. Don't be too willful.]

It seemed he came home last night and found out I had moved out.

I didn't reply to his messages and just went about my own business.

This kind of thing wasn't the first time it had happened.

Vivian would call him whenever something was wrong. She would even ask him to accompany her when she was awakened by thunder at midnight and couldn't sleep.

I had questioned him and quarreled and argued with him.

But he said, "People with a dirty heart see everything as dirty."

Every time he abandoned me to go to Vivian, he would send me roses afterward to appease me. And I would continue to be deeply immersed in this relationship as if nothing had happened.

But I was tired this time.

###Chapter 2

As I stepped out of the company after work in the evening, I saw him standing outside.

Dressed in a suit, he just like a model on the runway. Passersby couldn't help but look at him.

If it were any other day, I would have gone up to him and asked him to get in the car to keep others from looking at him.

But this time, I just wanted to pretend I didn't see him.

I walked towards the station on my own, and Alex quickly caught up with me. He didn't mention the incident and said calmly, "It's Jason's birthday today. He invited us to have dinner together."

I stopped and looked at him. "Sure."

We got in the car, and there was a silence inside.

The wind blew in from outside the window, and I smelled a faint scent of jasmine.

It was the scent of Vivian.

The scent wasn't unpleasant. On a whim, I asked, "Do you like the smell of jasmine?"

Alex's eyes flickered slightly. "It's okay."

"Really?" I thought, "Then why have I always smelled this scent on you before?"

I didn't say anything more.

We arrived at the hotel, where they had been waiting for a while.

Seeing us come together, Vivian was obviously surprised.

"Good evening, Alex, Isabella. We've been waiting for you for a long time."

I smiled indifferently and looked at Jason. "I'm sorry. I came in a hurry and didn't bring a gift."

Jason is Alex and Vivian's childhood friend. Alex always took me with him to their gatherings, and gradually we became acquainted.

"I've given him a gift. You don't need to feel sorry."

Alex led me to the table.

The remaining two seats were opposite each other. I didn't know if they arranged it on purpose.

I let go of his hand and walked straight to the seat opposite.

Alex's expression changed slightly, but he didn't say anything and sat down next to the empty seat beside Vivian.

I knew what his friends were thinking.

They never approved of Alex and me being together and were always cold to me.

Before, I wanted to get along with them, and I would give them gifts I carefully selected for every holiday.

But I've never seen anyone really use the things I gave them. They probably didn't want to accept me from the bottom of their hearts.

I was too naive to see such an obvious thing until now.

I didn't say a word and ate quietly.

Alex chatted with them with ease, peeling shrimp without stopping.

He never eats seafood unless someone peels the shell for him, and he will reluctantly try a bit because he finds it troublesome to peel it himself.

However, he didn't mind the trouble now. He peeled a whole plate of shrimp, moved it in front of Vivian, and then slowly took a wet wipe and wiped his hands carefully.

This was a treatment I had never had.

Seeing this, I felt depressed.

I decided to let him go, but I still felt sad when I really saw him like this.

Jason also noticed his actions. He looked at my expression and nudged Alex, teasing, "Don't favor one over the other. Peel some shrimp for your girlfriend too."

Alex seemed to realize it for the first time, looked at the empty plate on the table, and said, "Order another plate."

"No." I took a sip of my drink and said calmly, "I don't like shrimp."

"How about fish then?"

"I don't like it."

Alex looked at the table, his eyebrows slightly wrinkled. "What about chicken?"

"I don't like it either."

He looked surprised, seemingly not expecting me to say this without hesitation.

Meeting his gaze, I took a napkin calmly, wiped my mouth, and added, "I don't like anything you said."

"Isabella, are you angry?" Vivian said cautiously, "Why don't you eat this plate of shrimp? Please don't be angry with Alex."

###Chapter 3

Her look made me look like the bad guy.

"How could I be angry? Please enjoy your meal. I just remembered I have some unfinished work, so I'll take my leave."

With a calm smile, I picked up my bag, ready to leave.

"Come on, are you still upset about Alex setting off fireworks for Vivi?"

Jason mentioned deliberately.

Hearing him bring up this, Vivian spoke up, "I'm sorry, Isabella. I was in a mood back then, and Alex just wanted to cheer me up with that. Alex, you should apologize to Isabella."

Alex frowned upon hearing this, "I just set off some fireworks. Why should I apologize?"

His words caused the atmosphere to freeze.

It was laughable. The person who did wrong had no idea that he was in the wrong.

Just like before, he never realized his own faults.

He thought he could just casually appease me and move on from this.

I smiled, "Yes, you're right. The fireworks were quite a spectacle. Keep it up next time."

With that, I left without looking back.

The moment I closed the door, I heard Vivian's voice. "Alex, go apologize quickly. Isabella is obviously angry."

"Don't mind her. She'll be fine in a few days."

His words broke my heart.

What on earth had I done before to make him so confident?

I walked out of the hotel slowly.

The cool breeze of the early autumn night was refreshing.

I strolled along the bustling streets, with couples passing by, their affectionate displays genuinely enviable.

Before Vivian came back, Alex and I were just like them.

We held hands tightly, unwilling to let go for fear of losing each other.

So, why did things turn out this way?

I felt heavy breathing.

Seeing an ice cream truck on the side of the road, I thought for a moment and bought an ice cream.

The moment I got the ice cream, I suddenly remembered his words vaguely.

"You know you get a stomachache from eating ice cream, but you still can't resist it."

I took a bite in a daze, and it was salty.

"Your ice cream tastes off," I said to the ice cream truck owner.

The owner glanced at me and handed me a tissue. "Miss, maybe you need to wipe your tears first."

I looked up, my eyes blurred, and I realized that tears had fallen on the ice cream.

No wonder it tasted salty.

I sniffed, turned around, and went home.

I received a message from Alex as soon as I got home

[Have you arrived home?]

I glanced at it and didn't reply.

Soon, he sent another message: [Everyone didn't have a good meal because of you today. Let's invite them to dinner another day.]

I still didn't reply to him.

He seemed to have lost patience and called me directly.

I put down my phone and turned a deaf ear.

When I came back after washing up, the phone had already fallen silent.

Before going to bed, I habitually browsed through the WhatsApp statuses and unexpectedly saw a photo Vivian posted five minutes ago.

The driver was driving in front, and Alex and Vivian were sitting in the back seat of the car.

In the photo, he was resting his eyes languidly, while Vivian was looking at the camera in a posture that leaned against him.

The caption of the photo was: [It turns out I am still your first choice after so many years.]

I gave a self-mocking smile and replied to her: [Congratulations.]