It was Independence Day, a day meant for celebration, but more importantly, it marked my welcome home party after years abroad. I eagerly waited for my boyfriend of five years, Nathan Cross, to arrive. Yet, when he arrived late, he wasn’t alone. By his side was a young woman with a smug smile plastered on her face.
As she stepped forward, she sneered at me, a mix of mockery and innocence, “Hannah Collins, you must be quite old now after going abroad for a doctorate,” she quipped.
“At your age, aren’t your parents pressuring you to marry?” Her next words sliced through me like glass, “Oh, I forgot—your parents are long gone, aren’t they?”
I froze, my smile faltering. But instead of defending me, Nathan, who has always loved and cared for me, only chuckled. He ruffled her hair affectionately and said, “Olivia Grace is just a kid. She doesn’t know better. You are more mature. Don’t take it to heart, okay?”
My chest tightened. I later caught them locked in a passionate kiss in the corner of the venue. “I’d never marry her,” Nathan murmured, his voice rough with desire. “And you—don’t you dare marry anyone else.”
Later, I left him and married someone else, just like he wanted. But before I could entirely escape, he ran abroad for a few days without sleep to steal the marriage, kneeling before me with bloodshot eyes and trembling hands.
“Please, don’t marry him. Don’t leave me.”
***
At the celebration party, my boyfriend Nathan sent a message that he might be late.
His friends teased me earlier, “Nathan may have prepared some gifts for you. Look at that diamond ring when you got engaged. Nathan really spends a lot of money on you!”
I smiled, my heart swelling with warmth at the thought of him. When we met later, I was thinking about how to jump into his arms. After three years of being in a long-distance relationship while studying abroad, I was already going crazy thinking about him.
Nathan arrived late two hours later when the celebration party was about to break up. There was a young woman by his side. I ran towards him and stopped my steps. I saw that the engagement ring that originally belonged to me was now on the young woman’s hand.
His friend stared wide-eyed and came to Nathan’s side to ask in a whisper, “Are you crazy? What are you doing bringing her here!”
Nathan was rather unimpressed, “What’s wrong with that? Olivia wanted to come, so I brought her here.”
Noticing me staring at the ring, Nathan flashed a hint of panic before explaining carelessly, “You weren’t using it anyway, so I let Olivia wear it for fun.”
“Hannah, you must not mind, right?”
I froze. That ring, he used to be furious if anyone else touched it. Now surprisingly reduced to a toy.
Looking at the boyfriend in front of me, I suddenly felt strange. The thoughtful man he was before would never talk to me like this.
Olivia glanced at me and provocatively threw the ring on the ground, “I wouldn’t want to keep something an old woman’s worn anyway.”
The ring bounced on the ground for a few rounds before finally jumping into the fire.
Nathan didn’t even look at the ring and hurriedly put her hand into his own, checking them frantically.
“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
I arched my body and instinctively tried to pick the ring up.
The memories of words Nathan said when he proposed to me seemed to flood my mind,
‘Hannah, I love you. I swear I’ll love you until the sea runs dry.’
His promises of eternal love and a future together now felt like cruel lies.
Noticing the sights of my friends around me, I stopped my movements. Not to look too lousy.
***
My face must have betrayed my turmoil because my friends quickly intervened.
“Olivia, that was out of line! Apologize to Hannah right now!”
Olivia was unconvinced and bristled, “Why should I? She probably cursed her parents to death anyway. I’m afraid that wearing this ring will stain the bad luck!”
“You-!”
This matter is a permanent pain in my heart.
I don’t dare to imagine how Nathan told his lover as a joke about the past that I was most reluctant to mention.
I couldn’t bear it anymore and raised my arm high to strike.
Nathan subconsciously pulled her behind himself.
“What will you do!”
Almost simultaneously, my friends went over to protect her without thinking,
“She is just a kid! Don’t take it personally!!” said my friend.
“Yeah, she didn’t mean any harm, Hannah. I know how she is!” said another.
I paused. What an ironic layout.
I stood there, numb, as the people I once trusted turned against me. My best friends and boyfriend were now on her side and I stood against them.
After three years abroad, it turns out that without realizing it, things have changed.
Nathan scolded me sternly, “Have you made enough of a scene? Olivia has a point, right? You’re the one who caused your parents’ deaths! Is there anything wrong with that? A trip abroad, the scenery of the good life enough. These things have made you forget that, huh!”
The air was sucked from my lungs. Tears stung my eyes as the weight of his words pressed down on me. Nathan always knows where to hurt me the most.
Yes, he was right.
As a child, I insisted on a sugary treat, which led my parents to turn the car around. Naturally, they wouldn’t have met a truck driver who didn’t follow traffic rules. And wouldn’t have gotten into a car accident. If not for me, they would still be alive.
Three years abroad by myself, I endured fear, loneliness, helplessness and poverty. There were no “good times” to be had.
The moment tears crossed my cheeks, I realized. I was still crying.
Realizing that he had said too much, Nathan subconsciously wanted to come over to comfort me. However, Olivia pulled him back.
The several pairs of eyes on the opposite side of the room were all staring straight at my mess.
A familiar helplessness flooded in. I fled to the restroom, clutching the sink as sobs wracked my body.
Memories of our relationship flashed through my mind. Actually, I should have noticed. We were talking less and less, calling less and less frequently. Often, there wouldn’t be more than three sentences in the chat box in a week. I had long since forgotten the last time I had made a video call with him.
I gathered my courage and returned when I unexpectedly saw my boyfriend kissing Olivia.
Olivia was full of disinterest, “It doesn’t matter if you marry her, ah. I will find someone else to marry if you do!”
Nathan was visibly upset, fiercely bit her lips and said,
“I am not marrying that old woman! Don’t you dare marry someone else either!”
