Rachel's expression changed instantly. After a moment, she seemed to restrain herself and soften her tone.
"I was just helping him," she said. "What you're talking about is cheating. How can that be the same? Stop making a fuss, okay?"
I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and turned to leave. Rachel reached out to grab me, and suddenly there was a loud bang.
Rachel's father slammed his hand heavily on the table.
"Let him go. Let him leave!"
"So the freeloader who's been living off my daughter thinks he can put on airs now?"
"When the time comes, don't come crying and begging to be taken back!"
As expected, Rachel obediently stayed where she was and didn't chase after me.
The cold wind on the street rushed toward me, just like that winter when I first fell in love with Rachel at first sight.
Back then, my buddies warned me, "She's famous in our department—the poor campus beauty who does nothing but study."
"Plenty of rich kids have chased after her, and she doesn't even spare them a glance. Ask her why, and she'll say she doesn't have time for childish dating games."
"If you want to pursue her, that'll be harder than climbing to the heavens."
But I still liked her.
So I hid my identity, transferred into her major, and started shamelessly showing up everywhere just to make myself noticeable to her.
In private, I paid her tuition and living expenses through anonymous sponsorships, pulled every string I could to get her mentored by renowned doctors, and made sure she had opportunities to attend high-level academic conferences freely.
I turned down every wealthy socialite my father introduced to me and centered my entire world around Rachel.
In the end, as someone who was now her "equal in status," I naturally became her boyfriend.
After graduation, arrangements were made for both of us to enter my father's hospital.
I didn't move into the luxury apartment my father had bought long ago. Instead, I squeezed into a tiny studio near the hospital with her.
We once had a genuinely sweet period.
In the mornings, when I refused to get out of bed, Rachel would coax me, even helping me brush my teeth and wash my face.
In the evenings after work, we'd hold hands and go grocery shopping together.
Curled up on the couch watching TV, I'd hold her in my arms while she fed me fruit she had peeled herself.
But after Tyler returned to the country, everything changed.
He became Rachel's one and only priority.
The car she bought with her first paycheck—its passenger seat became Tyler's exclusive spot.
"Home is so close to the hospital anyway," she'd say casually. "Walking a bit counts as exercise for you."
One night after a late shift, I was followed by a deranged patient.
My hands were shaking, I called Rachel and begged her to come pick me up—but she was on her way to Tyler's place instead.
"Tyler caught a cold and has a terrible headache. He can only stomach the ginger tea I make," she said impatiently.
"Can you stop being jealous and unreasonable at a time like this?"
When the man lunged at me with a knife, I struggled in sheer desperation.
I grabbed a brick and swung it wildly—blood splattered all over my face.
The next day, after leaving the police station, Rachel never came.
Instead, I saw two plane tickets posted on Tyler's social media.
[Just a minor cold but feeling down—my best friend immediately took me traveling to clear my head~]
The destination was Maldives—the place I had begged Rachel to go with me countless times.
Every time I brought it up, she would say our priority was saving money for marriage, not spending it on indulgences.
But when it came to Tyler, all talk of saving money vanished into thin air.
I let out a soft breath and wiped away my tears.
Then I remembered every visit to her parents' home, where I ran around serving the entire family without complaint.
Her mother would always press the family heirloom jade pendant into Tyler's hand, sighing again and again about how wonderful it would be if he and Rachel were a couple.
One incident after another. One moment after another.
I had always thought that as long as I loved Rachel enough, I could endure it all.
But now, I was exhausted.
If in their family's eyes I would always be an outsider, then from this moment on, I no longer wanted to wrong myself for anyone.
