Only to catch Maud kissing another man.
Alfred lost it. He charged forward like a man possessed and slammed his fist into the guy's face.
But in the next second, Maud stepped in front of the man, shielding him, her brow furrowed in irritation.
"Alfred, what the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like a rabid dog!"
Alfred stood frozen, disbelief etched across his face. "You're defending him. Over me."
"Defending him? He's my boyfriend."
Maud looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Then she looped her arm through the other man's and walked away.
After that, Alfred watched helplessly as the girl he loved drifted further and further from his world.
Maud started wearing high-end makeup, spending more and more time with men outside their circle.
She even—
He saw her with his own eyes, climbing into a Porsche late one night.
They had the worst fight they'd ever had, followed by a brutal cold war.
"Maud, what happened to you? You've become so shallow, so materialistic. You're not even the same person anymore."
"Who are you to judge me?" Maud shot back with a bitter laugh. "Alfred, take a good look at yourself. You're acting like you own me. Am I your girlfriend? Because last time I checked, I'm not."
"I'm not your girlfriend. Save your breath."
In a blaze of anger, they severed ties completely.
The day Maud left the country, she walked into the airport on another man's arm, laughing and chatting without a care in the world.
Alfred stood not far from the entrance, watching her silhouette disappear. The rims of his eyes were red.
His knuckles were white from clenching.
That night, he drank himself into oblivion.
He was dead weight, slumped like a ragdoll. I tried to get him home but couldn't carry him no matter what I did.
In the end, I booked a room at a nearby hotel.
The moment I hauled him through the door, Alfred found some reserve of strength I didn't know he had. He pinned me against the wall, then pressed me down onto the bed.
His voice came out raw and hoarse.
"Maria. Be my girlfriend."
"I can tell. You like me."
"You've been by my side all these years because you wanted this, didn't you? Well, here's your chance."
That day, I genuinely believed that fate had finally tipped in my favor.
But it wasn't long before Alfred looked at me with that cold expression of his and said, "Let's keep this between us."
I didn't quite understand. "You mean... a secret relationship?"
"Yeah."
He took a sip of his drink, his tone still detached.
"I'm not ready to announce it to everyone. We'll wait for the right time."
He knew that whatever he asked of me, I'd agree.
So keeping our relationship hidden—
I wasn't going to refuse that, either.
Like a fool, I savored my hard-won happiness in secret, tasting every stolen crumb of it.
Until the night we were tangled together, and Alfred let a name slip from his lips without thinking. "Maud..."
It hit me like a bolt of lightning.
The whisper was barely audible.
But I heard it. Every syllable. It was Maud Matthews' name.
My boyfriend, in our most intimate moment, had been fantasizing about another woman.
Sophie kept chattering away on the phone, jumping from one topic to the next.
"Maud just got back to the States last month. Word is, some of the old classmates are throwing a reunion. You'd better not skip it."
"Besides, Alfred was basically the golden boy of Cloudvale University. I heard he's going too."
I looked around my apartment at the boxes packed to the brim.
"I probably... won't be able to make it."
"I'm heading back to Harbor City before the end of next week."
Sophie's interest perked up instantly. "Harbor City? What for? Oh wait, that's right, Harbor City is your hometown, isn't it?"
