Chapter 1
Eulalia North, Tobias's junior, 'accidentally' sent him an intimate pic.
Tobias, who always looked down on foolishness, actually took her side.
"It was just a message sent by mistake. She's not as calculating as you," he said.
In that instant, I realized our seven years together had come to an end.
While I was staying up late with Tobias to finish an experiment, his phone buzzed with a message.
"Can you reply for me? It's probably Professor Corinne Barr," he said.
Still half-asleep, I unlocked his phone and instantly snapped awake.
On the screen was a girl's selfie, taken in front of a mirror.
She was slender and almost completely naked.
It was Eulalia, Tobias's junior.
She teased: [Baby, which outfit should I wear tomorrow?]
Her tone was unmistakably suggestive.
The message stayed right there, never deleted.
Tobias was completely absorbed in the experiment, totally unaware of the tension simmering beside him.
Tomorrow was my birthday.
It was the weekend, and we were supposed to celebrate at the beach.
I got all dressed up, really looking forward to the party.
But right then, that message popped up.
I passed the phone to Tobias.
Tobias took a quick break from the experiment, gave the screen a little scoff.
"Wrong person," he said.
I gave him a sideways glance, then dialed her number without hesitation.
She picked up instantly.
"Baby, what are you up to?" she cooed.
Her voice was dripping with flirtation, sweet enough to make anyone cringe.
The curve of her lips was so stunning, it was almost unreal.
I flipped the camera to my own face.
Eulalia blinked in surprise, caught off guard.
"Wait, why is it you?" she stammered.
The screen glitched for a moment.
But it quickly went back to normal.
"I'm so sorry! I sent the message to the wrong person, I swear I didn't mean to," she blurted out.
I kept quiet while Tobias answered softly.
"Just be more careful next time," he said.
My heart just dropped.
I had known him for seven years.
I knew him inside out.
Tobias was a perfectionist with zero tolerance for stupidity.
But I was not all that clever myself.
Ever since we got together, I had been walking on eggshells, always afraid he'd break up with me.
But he'd hold me gently, so tender and caring.
"You're different," he'd say.
Others had pulled the same stunt and used the same excuse before.
He saw right through it, his face twisted in disgust.
I was crushed by it.
Tobias gave me a soft look, trying to comfort me.
He said, "That's not you. Those tricks don't work on me when it's someone else."
But today, something about him felt off.
I could sense a subtle change in his attitude.
There was a heavy, suffocating feeling in my chest that I just couldn't swallow.
I looked at Tobias.
"She's trying to seduce you," I said.
It wasn't a question.
The room froze for a second.
Eulalia froze on the other end.
She never saw it coming when I called her out so directly.
Her cheeks went crimson.
"No... no, Bellamy, it's not what you think! I swear, I sent it to the wrong person!" she blurted out.
Her voice cracked, eyes brimming with tears.
Her bare shoulders made her look so vulnerable, almost heartbreakingly helpless.
Tobias wrapped up the experiment and looked over at me.
He could tell I was pissed.
He smirked at me with that mix of helplessness and affection, hung up the phone, and playfully pinched my cheek.
"Yeah, she's trying to seduce me," he said.
His tone was so laid-back, like he was just placating a spoiled child throwing a fit.
Before I could even get mad, the lab door swung open.
Eulalia appeared in the doorway.
Beneath her oversized shirt, her long, pale legs were on full display.
"I wanted to explain it to you in person, Bellamy," she said.
Her eyes were sincere, but there was a trace of smugness in her voice that was almost impossible to catch.
"That message was supposed to go to my boyfriend. I sent it to the wrong person by mistake, honestly, I didn't mean to," she said.
"Seriously, Bellamy, please don't misunderstand. If you guys end up fighting over this, I'd feel awful," she added.
Tobias shot her a look.
"Don't overthink it. We're not fighting," he said.
Eulalia let out a huge sigh of relief, pressing a hand to her chest.
"Seriously, I was so freaked out! I'm just glad nothing happened between you two. When I realized I sent that message to the wrong person, I totally panicked," she said.
"Girls can be really sensitive about stuff like this. I was just scared you'd misunderstand, Bellamy," she added.
Tobias didn't respond, just quietly gathered his things.
But the more she kept talking, the angrier I felt.
After all her explanations, I ended up looking like the one being dramatic and overly sensitive.
"Ugh, are you still not done yet?" I snapped at Tobias.
I urged Tobias to hurry up.
The tension dropped to freezing, and Eulalia just stood there, stunned.
Tobias paused what he was doing, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Just a minute, don't worry," Tobias said gently.
Eulalia stood behind Tobias, looking at him all sad and helpless.