Back when I first met Zachary, I still didn't know his real status.
He had come trundling to a stop in front of me while driving a rundown-looking van, and my younger brother had beaten him up after mistaking him for a kidnapper.
Later, we learned that a tractor had scratched his Bentley, so the other party had offered him this van as a temporary substitute, and that was how he ended up in our village.
He had insisted on staying with us while recovering from his injuries. Occasionally, he would pluck some wildflowers by the roadside and offer them to me.
One day, as I was out in the field plucking corn, he had sidled closer with a smile and said, "You look pretty even while plucking corn. If you become my girlfriend, you won't have to do such labor anymore."
Assuming it was a joke, I had agreed without a second thought.
It wasn't until he finished recuperating and came to pick me up in a Bentley that I found out he was actually the son of a wealthy family.
Back in the present, Sandra set down her cutlery and questioned, "Then why did you suddenly decide to break up with him?"
"He's always coming to my school in luxury cars, to the point that other people are talking about how I've snagged myself a big fish. However, he never clears things up whenever he hears them. In fact, he even jokes with his friends, saying that I was the one who threw myself at him."
Pursing my lips, I lowered my eyes and felt my nose starting to tingle once more. "Previously, I worked part-time and saved up two months of my salary to buy a nice dress for myself. I then spent two hours putting on makeup before meeting with him.
"Yet, he didn't even bother taking a good look before dragging me off to a hotel. When his watch accidentally got caught on my dress, he thought it was too troublesome to carefully tease it free and just ripped it out, tearing my dress.
"Every time something like this happens, he just buys me a plushie or necklace afterward as compensation."
I gazed down at the cooled stew in my bowl. "This time, he shouted for me at the school entrance again, causing everyone to look at me. At that moment, it was like an epiphany dawned on me. It had been eight years, and I no longer wanted to bend over backward to please him anymore."
Hearing that, Sandra sighed and let the matter drop.
After the meal, she brought me to a karaoke, where I sang myself hoarse.
Nonetheless, no more tears fell.
We also ordered some alcohol, but after two mugs of beer, my head started to feel a little heavy.
Realizing that something was off with me, Sandra didn't linger any longer and sent me back to my dorm around 10 something at night.
The lights in the hallway were switched off, so I had to fumble in the dark to open the door. However, the moment I noticed Kelly's empty bed, my heart sank.
Thankfully, I didn't have the energy to allow my imagination to run wild. After taking off my jacket, I collapsed into my bed and was asleep almost immediately.
A little after midnight, I was woken up by the shrill ringing of my phone.
I didn't check the caller ID before answering, at which point one of Zachary's best friends spoke up, sounding panicked.
"Melissa, you'd better hurry up and come to Zachary's house! He drank way too much just now, saying how he didn't want to live without you. He's in a terrible state right now, and I don't think he's going to make it!"
There was a loud buzzing in my ears as my heart began to pound wildly.
Hastily ending the call, I didn't even brush my hair or change my clothes before I hopped onto my electric scooter and rushed to Zachary's home.
On the way there, I was so panicked that I accidentally drifted into the wrong lane and almost crashed into a truck. I didn't even hear what the driver was shouting at me as I twisted the accelerator and continued speeding down the road.
Once I arrived at Zachary's apartment building, I raced upstairs as quickly as I could, not even caring that I was panting from being out of breath.
However, the instant I pushed open his front door, I froze.
Zachary's whole group of friends was there, surrounding the couch on which he was sitting in the middle. Meanwhile, Kelly was perched on his lap, handfeeding him grapes that he ate without a second thought.
In the past, he would always tell me how he didn't like grapes and wanted me to cut and peel mangoes for him instead. Yet, whenever I approached him with a platter of cut mangoes, he wouldn't eat them. He would only rub my head and coo, "How obedient."
When Zachary spotted me, he raised a brow before twisting to grin smugly at his friends. "I told you she'd definitely come. Looks like I win the bet."
