Summary
At a department dinner, Lu Linzhou—my boyfriend of five years, though no one at work knew it—tagged me in the company group chat.
“Everyone else has paid their share without being asked. Do I really have to chase you?”
My best friend, Xia Qing, added a screenshot of her transfer.
“Are things a little tight, Qiao? If you really can’t afford it, I can cover you.”
Our coworkers piled on immediately.
“I’ve never seen anyone so shameless. We have to ask in the group chat just to get her to pay!”
“If you can’t afford dinner, don’t come. I bet she only came to get close to Mr. Lu.”
“At least Xia Qing knows where to draw the line. No wonder Mr. Lu takes such good care of her.”
The man publicly humiliating me was my boyfriend of five years. The woman helping everyone kick me was my best friend.
A red notification dot appeared on WeChat Moments.
Xia Qing had posted a screenshot showing that her transfer had been returned. Her caption read: *The girl who never has to split the bill when she eats with him.*
Lu Linzhou promptly liked it and left a comment.
“When a princess like you graces us with her presence, of course dinner’s on me.”
I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat. My finger hovered over the screen.
He tagged me again in the group chat.
“We’re not close enough for me to buy you dinner, are we, Ms. Lin Qiao?”
After a long moment, I opened the shopping app and canceled the anniversary present I’d bought him. Then I transferred him my share in the group chat.
If we weren’t close, what was the point of celebrating five years together?