My childhood best friend and I accidentally drank spiked drinks at a banquet. When I woke up, I stared blankly at the messy bedsheets. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't clasp my bra. He fastened it for me, his tone pleading: "Please don't tell my girlfriend, okay? There was something wrong with the drinks. What happened between us was just an accident." His girlfriend... is my best friend. 1 My best friend, Mia, a wealthy heiress, is celebrating her birthday today. She specifically told me to bring my childhood friend, Liam, along. "With the dreamy crystal chandeliers and the pink balloon bubbles at the party, the atmosphere will be perfect. Why don't you confess your feelings to him again?" Everyone knows I confessed to Liam once. Mia, who has only known him for two weeks, knows it too. I lowered my eyes, quietly stirring the latte art in my coffee cup with a spoon. "Better not. He told me never to confess to him again, or we wouldn't even be friends." Even though that's what I said out loud, another voice was clearly ringing in my head—Confess to him again. That evening, Liam drove to pick me up for the party. Sitting in his flashy red Maserati, he let out a low whistle. "Wow, Chloe, you look so beautiful today. If people didn't know better, they'd think you were the birthday girl." Wearing a cocktail dress, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Do I really look good today?" "Yeah." Receiving Liam's affirmative answer filled me with joy. Liam stepped out of the car and opened the passenger door. One hand rested on my shoulder, while the other hovered protectively over my head. I was a bit surprised. Whenever I rode in his car before, he never got out to open the door for me. Let alone make any extra, protective gestures. Sitting in the passenger seat, I kept stealing glances at him while he drove. Sensing my gaze, he seemed a bit distracted himself. He even took a wrong turn. When we finally arrived at the party, the birthday girl, Mia, spotted us the moment we walked through the door. "Chloe, Liam, you're finally here!" She skipped over to us. I had been holding onto Liam's arm. But he suddenly pulled his arm away. My hand hung awkwardly in the air. For a second, I almost thought he pulled away specifically because Mia came over. But the very next second, he took my hand again and led me into the party. 2 Before the party officially started, a few close friends gathered to play a card-drawing game. The cards were all filled with questions and games related to love and relationships. Exactly what was weighing heavily on my mind. When it was Liam's turn, the card he drew read: "Is the person you like present right now?" My fingertips trembled, and I held my breath waiting for his answer. If he said "yes," I was going to muster a lifetime's worth of courage and confess to him again tonight. "Yes." His tone was very light. But the moment that magnetic voice reached my ears, it was as if the lock holding Pandora's box shut clicked open. He said his type was here. He complimented my looks when he picked me up. He held my hand when we walked in. My palms started sweating, and I gripped the fabric of my dress tightly. Mia gently nudged my arm. I shot her a "stop messing around" look. When it was my turn, the card I drew read: [How long did your longest relationship last?] "I've never been in a relationship." I smiled bitterly, a sharp pain in my chest. "But I've loved someone for seven years... no, even longer." Sitting across from me, Liam looked up and stared at me intently. Everyone knows that my first—and only—confession to Liam was seven years ago. The people around us fell silent, their eyes darting back and forth between Liam and me. Someone bold enough couldn't resist chiming in, "Is this person here right now?" A question to which they already knew the answer. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, my gaze collided straight with Liam's. "He's here." This was practically a complete confession. I had always listened to Liam. Back then, when he rejected me, he added, "If you ever confess again, we won't even be friends." I obeyed for seven years. I never breathed a word about my feelings. But I didn't expect him to constantly bring it up as a joke. Maybe it was just his way of stopping me from confessing again. But I love him. So, through this winding, indirect method, I laid my heart bare to him once more. 3 A new round of drawing cards began. The card Liam drew read: [Pick a girl, give her a princess carry, and walk a lap around the room.] My heart pounded like a drum. The next second, Liam stood up and walked straight toward me. Fireworks exploded in my heart; I was thrilled. He's coming toward me. He's coming toward me. By the time I silently repeated that twice, Liam was only two steps away. I looked up, studying his sharp, defined features. I wanted to lean close to his ear and solemnly tell him again, "I love you." That way, everything that just happened wouldn't seem so frivolous. Liam's figure was right in front of me. Having sat nervously for so long, my body was stiff, and my feet stood up on their own accord. And in that moment— Liam brushed right past me. And stopped in front of Mia, who was standing beside me. I stood there helplessly, feeling as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head. The silent gazes of the people around me were practically screaming about how pathetic my wishful thinking was just a moment ago. "I wonder if I have the honor of carrying our lovely birthday girl today?" I turned sideways, staring at Liam in disbelief. But his eyes weren't on me at all. Mia looked hesitantly at me, standing right next to her. I forced an awkward smile. "I need to use the restroom." Muttering a random excuse, I hurried out of the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liam already bending down, scooping Mia up into his arms. I hid in a bathroom stall. I leaned my head against the wall and covered my eyes with my hands. It's fine. It's just another failed confession. It can't possibly be worse than seven years ago. Good thing I didn't say it out loud this time. When I finally snapped out of it, my palms were wet with tears. My phone suddenly buzzed with a message from Liam. [The party is about to start. Mia's looking for you. Where did you go?] I wiped my cheeks and walked out of the stall. The reflection in the mirror had lost all its vibrant color, looking like a completely different person from the one who had carefully applied makeup that afternoon. The tears had ruined my eye makeup. I just used a tissue with warm water to wipe away all the eyeshadow and false lashes. Then I faced the mirror, forced a somewhat lively smile, and finally dared to open the door and go back out to celebrate my best friend's birthday. 4 In the dazzling hall, a massive, multi-tiered cake stood right in the center. People were crowded around it, three layers deep. "They're so perfect for each other. A match made in heaven." "When he confessed just now, I think I was more excited than she was." The people around me were clicking their tongues, marveling at the perfect couple. A sense of unease washed over me. Following their gaze, I saw Mia and Liam. Liam was holding Mia's hand, cutting the cake layer by layer. "Confess? Who confessed?" I grabbed a stranger next to me, asking frantically. "The main couple tonight, obviously. Hey, who are you? Let go of me." The person pushed me away in disgust. The crowd started chanting, "Kiss! Kiss!" Liam wrapped his arm around Mia's shoulders, cradled the back of her head, and kissed her passionately. My mind went completely blank. Even though it was incredibly noisy around me. It felt like I was trapped in a vacuum, suffocating any chance I had to scream. Standing in the middle of the crowd, I stared blankly at the two people under the spotlight. Tears fell unconsciously down my freshly wiped cheeks. "Ah, Chloe's finally here!" Mia, the center of attention, called out in surprise when she saw me. She walked toward me with a bright smile. Liam followed right behind her. "If it weren't for Chloe, I never would have met Liam! You're our Cupid." She handed me the biggest piece of cake. "What Cupid? What are you talking about?" I didn't believe it. I didn't believe a single word that stranger or Mia said. "Chloe." Liam suddenly spoke up. "I just confessed to Mia, and she said yes." ... A long, agonizing silence. "Liam... stop joking." "After you introduced us, I've been pursuing Mia for two weeks." Liam's voice even trembled slightly with excitement. "She just accepted." Tears, tasting faintly of blood, slid down my throat. A bitter, salty taste. "So for these past two weeks, when the three of us hung out... was I just the monkey you were both playing with?" I heard my own voice, harsh and strained. "We didn't mean to hide it from you, we just didn't know how to tell you..." "Listening to me share my feelings about liking Liam, and then sneaking around behind my back... treating me like a clown—is that fun for you?" I said, staring right at Mia. "Chloe, I..." Two weeks... I was played for a fool for two weeks by the two people I trusted most. So the arrow shot by Cupid... Only ended up making me bleed. 5 A group of friends we knew gathered around. They all knew I had confessed to Liam. Liam had told them himself. A few of them spoke up to break the awkward silence. "Chloe, today is Mia's birthday, don't make a scene." "Liam rejected you seven years ago. You can't expect him to never date anyone." "Why don't you give me a try? I'm single too." The group chimed in one after another, their words cornering me. These people sucked up to the Sterling family's power. Even their previous politeness toward me was entirely because of Liam. And there were definitely a few who were just waiting to watch the drama unfold. As long as we started fighting, everyone would think I was just a jealous, bitter woman who couldn't handle rejection. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. I snatched a wine glass from someone next to me. The crowd gasped, thinking I was going to throw the wine or start pulling hair. Liam rushed forward and grabbed the glass from my hand. "What are you doing?" he demanded, his tone hostile. The wine in the glass spilled onto my dress in the struggle. I don't know how I found my voice. But I managed to compose myself and speak. "Congratulations." I took the glass back, downed the remaining dregs in one gulp, and tilted the empty glass toward him. "Wishing you a lifetime of happiness." I turned around. And walked out of the hall. Leaving the glass by the door. From beginning to end, I never looked back inside once. I didn't want this filthy friendship and relationship anymore. But then again, they were never mine to begin with. 6 I blocked Liam and Mia on everything. I stayed home and slept for days. Then I suddenly received an invitation from the Sterling Corporation. I had almost forgotten about this. My grandfather intended to gradually hand over the company's management to me, and I was the one assigned to negotiate our bid for the Sterling Corporation's new project. Which meant I had to see Liam again. After the Sterling Corporation's bidding conference, my family's company, Terry Machinery, successfully won the bid. While signing the letter of intent, Liam's eyes kept lingering on me. As soon as I signed, I wanted to leave immediately. Liam held out his hand: "Congratulations on winning the bid." I pressed my lips together, hesitated for a moment, but still reached out my hand. But the moment my hand touched his, I instinctively dropped it and turned to walk out the door. Liam blocked my path: "Are we just throwing away years of friendship like this?" "If there are no issues with the bidding proposal, I don't think we have anything else to discuss." I turned to leave again. "There are some issues." Liam reached out to block my exit. "Stay for the business dinner after this; it's the perfect time to go over the details of the contract." "Can't I go over the details with your secretary?" "Some things need to be made clear today." This project was crucial, and there was no room for error. I had no choice but to stay and wait for Liam to finish his subsequent meetings. His secretary led me to the banquet hall downstairs. Mia and I saw each other almost simultaneously. I looked away, walked over to a sofa on the side, sat down, and turned my back. But Mia walked over to me, smiling brightly. "Chloe, about me and Liam... are you still mad?" "I should have smashed your birthday party that day, to save you from asking such delusional questions." I lifted my eyelids and gave her a cold look. Mia's expression shifted several times before she finally looked at me with a wronged expression. "Chloe, I apologize." Mia picked up a glass of wine, downed it in one gulp, and handed another glass to me. "But there will be many opportunities for collaboration between the Vance family and the Sterling Corporation in the future. There's no need to make things so hostile, right?" "Business collaboration" was the polite way of putting it. The ugly truth was that a single project thrown our way by the Sterling Corporation was enough to cover the Vance family's revenue for half a year. I knew this perfectly well. "Are you threatening me?" I forced a tight, insincere smile, took the glass from Mia's hand, and drank it. "What are you talking about? A glass of wine washes away all grudges," Mia smiled, tapped her glass against my empty one, and was then called away by another group of people. 7 Back when Liam and I were close, I didn't think much about the business implications. Now, it was time to carefully calculate them. But the more I thought about it, the tighter my chest felt. A waiter walked by, and I intercepted a glass of wine from his tray and placed it in front of me. Glass after glass, I forcefully drank until only one glass remained on the tray. I drank the last glass too fast, choking until the corners of my eyes turned red. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind me and took my glass away. I turned around. It was Liam. "You've had too much." "None of your business. Give it back." I unsteadily held onto the sofa, trying to snatch the glass back from him. Liam dodged me and downed the remaining wine in the glass himself. Standing up too fast caused the alcohol to hit my brain, and my consciousness began to blur. Liam supported me. I instinctively felt annoyed and tried to shake off his hand. The commotion drew the attention of Mia and a group of people. "Should I find someone to take her home?" Mia offered. "No." Liam pondered for a moment. "There are executive suites upstairs. I'll just take her up to rest. We still have contract details to discuss." Except, after Liam took me up to the room, he never came back down. Because the wine was tainted. It was spiked. My complete memory ends at the banquet hall. After that, I only remember fragmented, shattered pieces. When I woke up again, I looked at myself in the mirror. My body was covered in mottled red marks. Liam's lean, muscular back bore several bright red scratches. There was skin under my fingernails. I looked at Liam, utterly lost. "How... how could we?" He fastened the clasp of my bra for me, bringing his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Please don't tell Mia, okay? The wine we drank had something in it. What happened between us was an accident." I stared at Liam blankly. Broken phrases floated vaguely in front of my eyes. But I distinctly remembered what he said when he pinned me to the bed: "When we were doing it... didn't you say you broke up with her?" "I only said that so you wouldn't feel guilty," Liam scoffed, jumping off the bed. "I couldn't just let you find some random guy to handle it. I should have recorded you, so you could see how incredibly wild you were acting."
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