Chapter 1

Christopher and I were childhood sweethearts.

He promised we'd marry once we were old enough, vowing to stay together forever.

During a college sports event, Christopher tripped me to help a struggling student win 30 dollars in prize money.

I fell and broke my ankle.

After two weeks in the hospital, Christopher finally visited, but only to justify his actions. "Queenie is from a poor family. She even works on weekends to make ends meet. She really needs every penny she can get.

"Don't be so petty, Emily."

He had no idea that, after he left, I told my mom, "I don't want to marry Christopher."

Christopher.

You broke your vows first.

*****

"Emily, do you really have to be so petty about this?

"Queenie isn't like you. Her family's not wealthy. She earns her tuition working weekends. She needs that money more," Christopher Bennett snapped.

So he could just let Queenie take that 30-dollar prize without any pressure, while I spent a whole half-month in a hospital room filled with the smell of disinfectant?

Christopher, standing by my hospital bed, couldn't stop mentioning the same name since he walked in.

Queenie Quinn.

Queenie's name was quite interesting.

It was a homophone with her surname.

At that moment, I wasn't sure whether Christopher, my childhood sweetheart and fiancé, was calling her real name or her nickname.

Christopher was the head of the External Relations Committee at our school.

Queenie was a freshman this year and a new member of the committee. She showed up at many events.

Queenie always said, "My GPA is tied to the scholarship. I'm participating in all these activities to compete for the scholarship. Emily, don't get me wrong."

So Queenie just happened to be at every event where Christopher was?

Every time, Queenie would explain to me with the same excuse, trying to cover up the truth, even though I hadn't asked her anything yet.

She seemed so worried that I would misunderstand her relationship with Christopher. As she blushed and defended herself to me, the onlookers started to look at me differently.

It was as if I had secretly bullied Queenie.

That day, after the event ended, Christopher had a few drinks.

I went to pick him up, and the atmosphere was quite awkward.

Christopher, drunk out of his mind, was leaning on Queenie's shoulder, barely able to stand.

Queenie was supporting Christopher, and the other students from the committee were teasing them. The closer I got, the clearer I could hear someone jokingly calling Queenie Christopher's girlfriend.

The laughter in the crowd disappeared as soon as someone spotted me.

Everyone's eyes darted around, exchanging glances.

Queenie handed Christopher over to me, her face flushed red.

She bit her lip and stammered, "Emily, Chris was wasted. Don't think too much of it."

"What do you mean exactly?" I said coldly.

I was supporting the six-foot-tall Christopher, but it wasn't difficult at all.

"Drunk" Christopher could even adjust his posture to match mine. As we moved farther away from the private room, his mind seemed to wander as well.

He was clearly pretending to be drunk.

We were all classmates, not at some fancy drinking party.

Who was Christopher pretending to be drunk for?

It was pretty obvious.

I was furious. As soon as we left the place, I pushed Christopher away.

Realizing he couldn't fool me, Christopher straightened up guiltily and hurried forward.

We got into the car one after another.

I raised the partition and asked, "Why did you pretend to be drunk?"

Christopher let out a dry laugh. "What can I do? They like to force drinks on people.

"You know how it is, which is why I asked you to come and help me out of the situation."

Just then, Christopher's phone rang.

He quickly unlocked it and replied to the message.

I caught a glimpse of a nickname on Christopher's phone: "Kiki."

Lying on the hospital bed, I interrupted Christopher wearily.

"Christopher, do you still remember that we're supposed to get married after graduation?"

Christopher had been talking about how resilient Queenie was, like a little white flower growing vigorously from a pile of rubble.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Why do you keep bringing this up?" he said, sounding quite impatient.

My heart sank.

I felt there was no need to continue talking with him.

"If you don't want to get married, let's just break up as soon as possible," I said.

Christopher reacted strongly, furious. "Emily, are you ever going to stop? You bring up breaking up just because I say a couple of things to you?"

Christopher slammed the door and left.

I actually tried.