Chapter 2

The first year we were together, Liam was truly good to me.

He remembered my period and made me Chicken soup. He planned thoughtful gifts and surprises for my birthday. He spent his weekends taking me shopping, to the movies, out to eat—every spare moment was ours. Back then, I thought we'd be happy forever.

Yet from the second year on, everything gradually started to change.

He became increasingly busy—busy with club activities, his coursework, all kinds of competitions.

And then, Sophie Brooks showed up.

Sophie was a year behind us—cute, bubbly, good with words. Teachers and classmates loved her.

When she first started school, she got assigned to Liam's club, and since they had to work together, they ended up hanging out together a lot.

At first, Liam kept me in the loop. He'd tell me about their club projects, their study sessions.

I couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy, but since they were just senior and junior, I kept quiet and decided to trust him.

But gradually, they started spending more and more time together, and it was obvious Liam was paying less and less attention to me.

He'd forget our plans, seemed distracted whenever we talked, and always put whatever Sophie needed ahead of everything else.

Then came that morning. My roommate Chloe and I were walking back from early study hall. We'd just reached the tree-lined path on campus when I saw something that made my chest tighten.

Liam and Sophie were walking side by side, way too close. Sophie had a notebook in her hand and kept pointing at something, talking animatedly. Liam listened with a smile on his face. Every so often, he'd reach over and ruffle her hair—so casual, so intimate.

Their laughter carried across the few meters between us, each peal like a tiny needle in my chest.

Chloe nudged me with her elbow, one eyebrow raised, and jerked her chin toward them. "Seriously? Her again? What's their deal? They're together more than you two are."

I stared at Liam's familiar back, my throat tightening. After a long silence, I finally managed to say, "She's his junior. They study together a lot."

"His junior?" Chloe scoffed, clearly not buying it. "They laugh like that when they study? Stand that close? Let him touch her hair like that? Lena, don't kid yourself. Something's going on."

"Stop it," I blurted out, but honestly, I was starting to doubt myself.

"We've been together for ages. He always checks in with me. Just last night, he told me he'd be studying with her today," I added.

"Checks in?" Chloe shook her head, a hint of frustration in her voice. "Some people use that as cover. Give you a heads-up so that if you complain, you're the unreasonable one. It's sneaky. Look, Lena, I know you love him. But don't lie to yourself. You need to see where his heart really is."

"Chloe, that's enough," I said, gripping my backpack strap, forcing myself to stay calm. "I trust him."

"Alright, alright, you're too caught up to see what's really going on. You're hopeless." She waved it off and dropped the subject. But her words had already planted a seed. A crack had formed in my trust, and it was only going to grow.

From that day on, I got more and more paranoid. If Liam was a few minutes late texting back, my mind raced. If I smelled an unfamiliar perfume on him, I'd grill him about where he'd been. If he mentioned Sophie too often, I'd lose my temper.

But Liam always said I was overreacting, that I was getting harder and harder to handle. We started arguing all the time.

Our big blowup yet happened on a rainy weekend evening.

He'd promised to take me to the new art market, but right before we were supposed to leave, he sent me a cold text, [Sophie hit a wall with her paper. I need to stay and help her edit. Just go by yourself.]

I stared at my phone, my nails digging into my palm.

This was the third time this month. From our three-year anniversary dinner, to the concert tickets I'd been looking forward to. Now this market date, he always had a "good reason" to put Sophie first.

"Liam, do I even matter to you?" I called him, unable to keep the tremor out of my voice.

"Can't you just grow up?" he shot back. "I told you, she's my junior. She's here all alone, and it's hard for her. What's the big deal if I help her out? You weren't like this before. When did you get so petty?"

"Petty? Really?" I let out a bitter laugh, but the tears wouldn't stop falling.

I continued, "What hurts me is you breaking your promises over and over, always putting someone else ahead of me! Liam, we've been together for three years—does that really mean less to you than her stupid paper?"

"You're impossible!" he shot back, then hung up on me.

The dial tone buzzed in my ear like a dull blade, slicing into me.

I couldn't hold it in anymore—tears fell from my eyes like beads spilling everywhere.

I didn't even text back. I grabbed my coat and stormed out of the dorm. And the night rain kept pouring down, icy drops soaking me, but none of it hurt as much as what I was feeling inside.

I walked aimlessly, just wanting to find a restaurant and eat something decent. Let some good food soothe my broken heart for a little while.

But I had no idea that something totally unexpected was about to happen to me.

I was just approaching my usual Cantonese spot on the corner when I heard a scraping sound above me. Then the whistle of something heavy falling.

The agony from the impact hit me so fast, I didn't even have time to scream before I lost consciousness completely.