Chapter 14

Thomas eventually held me, disregarding my flailing attempts to break free.

“I never imagined that the colleague you often mentioned, the one you were so close to, would be Amelia. After that, I thought about telling you, but you seemed to like her even more after she gave you that cake. How could I say anything?

“Should I have told you that the friend you now like was my ex-girlfriend? Or warned you that she might be deliberately approaching you, so you wouldn’t be deceived?

“Bella, I don’t want to lose you. I know you need my honesty, but I also know that once I speak, you’ll fall apart.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand. Concealing the truth was the dumbest way, but it was the only thing I could think of at the time.”

After the birthday, Thomas privately warned Amelia, asking her what she really wanted.

Amelia said she was doing nothing, just a coincidence, merely making a friend.

She also said that I was a good person, and only after spending time with me did she understand why Thomas chose to be with me.

Thomas only asked her to stay away from me.

She agreed readily, yet she called Thomas several times afterward.

Thomas never answered and eventually blocked her.

Perhaps because of this, she became angry and started to provoke me by using the notion of a first love.

As she wished, the snowball wrapped in lies grew larger and larger, finally collapsing today.

He showed me his phone, and I swatted it away, demanding loudly, “Do you think knowing now won’t make me fall apart?”

“I’m sorry,” he gently patted my head, as if soothing a child, “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear this from you. I can overlook your past with her, but I can’t stand being treated like this. For over a month, I’ve lived like a clown, even empathizing with my fiancé’s first love… It’s truly ridiculous…”

I crouched down, looking at him helplessly, “I’ve mentioned her to you several times, talking about her and her first love, and you had so many chances to tell me… How can I trust you? You say she’s in the past, but you’re still emotionally affected by her now. I haven’t wronged you on that, have I?”

Thomas sighed, kneeling halfway down, “The reason I’m emotionally swayed by her now is because it involves you. I’m afraid you’ll overthink, afraid you’ll be influenced by her. I just want to be with you, and I don’t want to deal with anything else.”

“So that’s your reason for hiding it?”

“…”

He lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and said, “I don’t know what else she told you, but from my perspective, the beautiful experience she speaks of is a past I can’t bear to recall.”

He wouldn’t even want to mention it.

Because it represents his foolishness, ignorance, and boundless humility.

Spoiled by his parents, Amelia was used to everyone revolving around her, unable to tolerate even a hint of neglect.

For that, he exhausted all his energy in that relationship, and the so-called love had long been worn away in the process.

“But when you heard she was going on a blind date, you arranged to meet her.”

I suddenly remembered the magazine’s advertisement page, and my heart sank further.

“Yes, I did meet her, but it was to tell her to stop bothering you. Do you think my concealment was for some ulterior motive? That’s absurd. My heart is only with you now; how could I possibly be divided?”

Such sweet words.

I shook my head, “Thomas, don’t you understand? You shouldn’t have gone to her. What you should have done was be honest with me. This isn’t about Amelia; it’s a trust crisis.”

“…You don’t trust me anymore?”

Thomas wiped his face, looking up with slightly reddened eyes, “What do I need to do for you to forgive me?”

Seeing him like this, I felt like crying again.

It’s not that I don’t trust him; it’s that I don’t know whom to trust anymore.

Lowering my head, I noticed my empty wrist and suddenly remembered something, my fingertips trembling, feeling somewhat powerless.

“I ask you, on Valentine’s Day, why didn’t you give me a ring?”

Thomas looked momentarily confused, then tiredly at me, “What ring?”

-“He once, for me, in the freezing winter, skipped class all morning, searching the streets for a ring.”

Suddenly, I felt a deep pain, from the inside out.

Thomas anxiously asked what was wrong.

I forgot I was still crouching, and as I retreated, I stumbled and sat on the ground.

Perhaps my face was ashen, and Thomas stood there stunned, not daring to come closer.

I looked at him through blurred eyes.

“Thomas, let’s break up.”