Chapter 1
On my twenty-first birthday, Rolland Arias booked a flight to Glathe for me.
He said he wanted to surprise me under the Northern Lights.
But I waited all night, and he never showed up.
Instead, I was bombarded with waves of comments scrolling across the screen.
[The side chick's still waiting for the male lead?]
[LOL! The male lead's proposing to our precious female lead right now.]
[This is true love. To keep the proposal safe for our baby girl lead, the male lead straight-up banished the side character to Glathe.]
[What a clown, that side character.]
[Hold up—she can actually see our comments.]
[So what? Glathe's worlds away from Ceumond. Even if there were flights, she'd never make it back in time—let alone with none running.]
By the time I raced back to Ceumond, Rolland's proposal to Dorthy Nunez was already a done deal.
Under the relentless stream of comments showcasing their lovey-dovey daily life, I finally let go for good.
I got engaged to my new boyfriend in Glathe.
On the day of the engagement, I heard Rolland had lost his mind back home.
Too bad—we were oceans apart.
The party ended without him showing up.
It was too late for him to stop it anyway.
It was 7 p.m. in Glathe.
That put it in the early morning hours of the next day, Ceumond time.
My birthday.
But no matter how many times I called, Rolland didn't pick up.
Was something holding him up?
I'd landed in Glathe the previous evening.
Not long before that, my boyfriend Rolland had casually asked if I'd like to celebrate my birthday there.
He mentioned that on the big day, the Glathe skies would feature a rare spectacle: northern lights dancing with a meteor shower.
That was when he'd spring his surprise on me, right beneath the aurora and shooting stars.
But he had some urgent work at the company, so I'd need to head out first.
He swore he'd join me before my birthday.
I waited and waited, but there was no sign of him—and now I'd completely lost touch.
With no other options, I dialed his friend Haywood Park.
On the other end, he stuttered and stalled before finally muttering, "Shawna, Rolland's tied up with something. Just hold on a bit longer..."
But prime aurora viewing is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
And renting a car to get to the spot would take a while.
Out of choices, I texted Rolland the address I was heading to, arranged for a car at the hotel, and set off alone.
It was peak season for aurora spotting.
I wasn't in a rush, so I drove slowly, with cars constantly zipping past me amid whoops of excitement.
Right as another one overtook me, I pulled over to the shoulder.
Because—
A thick wall of bullet comments suddenly appeared in front of me.
So dense it obstructed my vision, making it impossible to drive safely.
[The vicious side character's still out here driving.]
[LMAO, she's crawling along—definitely stalling for the male lead.]
[The male lead's proposing to our precious female lead right now!]
[Birthday special: Boyfriend pops the question to someone else.]
[This is true love! To shield the female lead's proposal, the male lead banished the side character to Glathe!]
[What a clown, that side character.]
[Hold up—she can see our bullet comments!]
I was no fool.
Their words were so pointedly directed at me.
Of course, I figured it out: I was the side character they were mocking in those comments.
And Rolland was the male lead.
I was not someone who got easily provoked into doubting her boyfriend.
But I couldn't stop my mind from replaying the chaotic background noise I'd heard during that call to Haywood.
Haywood wasn't like Rolland's other buddies.
He kept a rigid schedule and hardly ever stayed up past 11 p.m.
Yet when I called him moments ago, despite his hesitant stammering, his voice was crisp and wide awake—no trace of sleepiness.
If I didn't mishear, there was even a voice in the background calling out Rolland's name?
It was just... I was so caught up in pressing Haywood for answers that I tuned it out.
With my feelings churning like this, I couldn't hide the turmoil on my face.
Those bullet comments could clearly see me.
And they didn't miss a thing.
[The side character's turning green with envy!]
[She can see us, can't she? Totally!]
[Side character, chill out—the male lead's on the verge of proposing to our precious female lead!]
[You wouldn't believe how extravagant the male lead made it! He flipped out big time because the flowers at the proposal weren't the lilies our female lead baby adores. He only proceeded once he hunted down the perfect ones. Otherwise, it would've happened ages ago, and you wouldn't be out here fretting!]
[The side character deserves this. For hogging the male lead and making our female lead baby feel insecure and wronged.]
I still wouldn't buy it.
Rolland and I had been a couple for three years.
Sure, it started as a business arrangement, but we were childhood sweethearts as well.
Even after all that time, we were still inseparable, like we were in the early days of love.
The only hiccup was recently, when I was buried in prep for my grad school exams and hadn't swung by his office much.
But as soon as I wrapped that up, didn't he immediately book the tickets to Glathe?
The comments seemed to anticipate my thoughts.
[I adore how the side character's fooling herself.]
[Truth be told, the male lead shields the female lead baby like a pro. In the original plot, the side character doesn't learn they're together until she returns to Ceumond.]
[That's when she launches into a spree of disastrous moves!]
[He's the boldest man in all of Ceumond—boosting the female lead baby's security before breaking free from the forced marriage.]
As the comments veered into increasingly bizarre territory, my initial sadness gave way to a hazy confusion.
Until they sensed my persistent denial.
[Let's project it! We've got that projection feature, right?]
[I want to catch the vicious side character's live reaction.]
[Force her to accept it now, so she doesn't head back and bother our female lead baby.]
[They're the ideal pair, but this witch is hell-bent on ruining it. Ugh.]
[Whoa, previous commenter—is that even needed? For real, the side character hasn't done a thing yet...]
But in the very next moment, an entirely different scene materialized before my eyes.
[If not now, she'll pull it off later anyway!]