Chapter 3

After I finished my morning routine and stepped out of the bathroom, Ethan was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

Ever since I realized Ethan was actually the main character in the novel, every little thing he did for me, stuff I used to take for granted, felt weird and uncomfortable.

He put the warm milk all the way at the far end of the table, then turned around to fry some eggs.

He put the milk so far away. He totally didn't want me to drink it.

I shot a resentful look at the live comments, all gushing about Ethan being the perfect man.

Perfect my ass. He belonged to the main girl, not mine anyway. And he was definitely not anyone else's either.

Once everything was on the table, Ethan sat down and took a sip of milk. After that, he pushed the other glass toward me. "It's ready now."

He only gave it to me after checking the temperature, making sure it wasn't too hot. Was he actually worried I'd burn myself?

And as that thought crossed my mind, the live comments exploded.

[Is Ethan really worried that the side character might get burned, so he let the milk cool before giving it to her? If he's so nice to her, why do they break up later?]

Someone replied underneath: [Yeah, Ethan is worried she'll get burned, but it's because if she does, he'll get blamed and have to deal with her drama all over again.]

[Of course they break up. It's because the side character is such a drama queen. The main girl is sweet and innocent, nothing like her.]

Yeah, they were right about me. I pushed the milk back toward him. "I don't want it."

Even if I starved to death, died out there, or jumped off this building, I was not touching a single drop of his milk.

Ethan slid a fried egg onto my plate and looked at me. "What's wrong? I even made the milk sweet for you."

He had always been meant for someone else. Why did he always remember all my little requests?

He was so easy to boss around. It almost made me not want to break up with him.

My stomach growled, betraying me. I shot Ethan a look.

He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, with a teasing grin. "If you skip breakfast and pass out at work, your staff will panic all over again."

Damn it. Why did Ethan always have to tease me about my embarrassing screw-ups?

Fine. Free food was free food. I couldn't say no.

After we finished eating, Ethan started clearing the table. "I'm heading back to campus for a few days."

So he was actually going to sleep somewhere else for a while. What attracted him to go back to school?

The live comments were blowing up.

[Is the heroine finally making her entrance? Looks like the main couple's romance is about to heat up.]

[Finally, the main guy gets to break free from the drama queen's grip.]

So the heroine was at school. Once he left, he's not coming back, was he?

I didn't try to stop him. I shot him a mocking smile. "Fine."

*****

There was a flashy sports car parked right outside the company. It was obvious who it belonged to.

As soon as I stepped out, Alex hooked his arm through mine. He asked anxiously, "Emily, what's going on? I landed last night and saw your message. Why are you two suddenly breaking up?"

I slid into the passenger seat and poured my heart out to him. "He's been crashing at his dorm lately. He wants to live separately."

Alex paused, thinking. "Isn't he a senior? Maybe he's got his graduation defense coming up?"

I thought about it. "Yeah, I guess that's true. But honestly, I still feel like he's not really into me.

"He'll probably end up falling for someone else. I'm so bossy and hard to deal with, always making him do stuff and yelling at him."

Alex raised his voice. "Emily, are you possessed or something? Where'd you get that idea? Did that guy brainwash you or what? You're amazing. Seriously, you deserve everyone in the world to love you."

I hugged him tightly, feeling emotional. "Alex, you're still the best to me."

Alex corrected me, "Please, call me Charles."

I sighed. "Maybe when it comes to love, people can't help feeling insecure. You get what I mean, right, Alex?"

Alex shot back, "It's Charles."

Alex glanced over and saw me sitting there in the passenger seat, silent, looking like I'd been through hell. Suddenly, Alex's eyes lit up with an idea.

He said, "If you want to know if he really cares about you, that's easy. You never told him I'm gay, did you?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"That makes things easy."

I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Alex grinned. "Let's go out, snap a bunch of pics, and you can blow up your Instagram with them. With a handsome guy like me hanging around, let's see if Ethan gets jealous."

I gave him a once-over. "You're definitely handsome, but you're kind of getting up there in age."

Alex shot me a glare, his voice sharp. "You little brat, say that again and see what happens."

*****

That afternoon, we snapped a ton of photos together.

We went for a drive, played with cats, and grabbed some ice cream. I also hit the shops with Alex acting as my personal bag boy, and chilled in my living room playing video games.

Seriously, we looked like a couple on a date.

When I got home that night, I posted a nine-photo grid on Instagram with the caption: [Literally the best.]

After posting, I kept refreshing every two minutes. But Ethan's icon never popped up.

He had probably already met the main girl. Maybe they'd already swapped numbers. They were probably chatting it up.

So he wouldn't waste his time on me, a side character.

*****

In the middle of the night, my stomach suddenly started cramping up. I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain.

I binged on ice cream today, and my stomach problems flared up again.

Out of habit, I grabbed my phone and texted Ethan, [My stomach hurts.]

I blacked out and couldn't even tell if I was asleep or passed out.

Groggy, I felt someone helping me up. He gave me some water and helped me take my medicine.

Once my face finally relaxed and I drifted off to sleep, Ethan let out a sigh of relief. He sat by my bed, tucking the blanket around me.

He gave my cheek a gentle squeeze, grumbling softly to himself, "Doesn't he know you can't eat cold stuff? He can't even look after you, and he thinks he can marry you?"