I had been dating Sebastian for ten years. He proposed seven times. The first time, my dad was in the ICU. I refused. The second time, my mom was entangled in a lawsuit. I refused again. Later, after both my parents passed away one after another, I was depressed for a long time and had no desire to get married. After the seventh time, he never brought it up again. So this year, I decided I would be the one to propose, but he didn't show up. He said, "Work is busy. Let's talk about it tomorrow when we meet." I walked down the street alone, feeling dejected, when I saw him with his arm around a girl. The next second, the two of them kissed passionately. Their friends remarked, "Sebastian, you two are so in love. You've been together for ten years now, right?" Hearing this, Sebastian smiled and nodded. But I felt like I'd been frozen in place. They'd been together for ten years? Then what had these ten years between Sebastian and me been? I didn't cry or make a scene. I just silently sent Sebastian a message: [So ten years ago when you first proposed to me, you were already with her?] From the first time I rejected Sebastian's proposal, I'd always felt guilty. But I never imagined he'd betrayed me long ago. Sebastian happened to look down at his phone just then. We weren't far apart. I could see him frown. After that, Sebastian looked up. He spotted me. But he showed no panic. He just glared at me with displeasure and mouthed, "Stop being ridiculous." I couldn't help but laugh. My boyfriend was kissing another woman in his arms, and he thought I was being ridiculous? I looked down, sent a message, then turned and left. Actually, I'd known three years ago that he didn't love me anymore. On my birthday last month, I'd hinted to Sebastian that I wanted to get married. He just gave a perfunctory "mm-hmm," no proposal, no follow-up. In that moment, my heart ached. That was the first time I'd thought about breaking up. But I couldn't bear to. I really couldn't bear to. Just then, I received Sebastian's reply: [Sophie lost a game. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?] Sophie? How intimate he sounded calling her that. I still remembered the first time he met her, he told me, "You don't know how annoying my boss's daughter is at the company. She doesn't know anything but keeps pestering me with questions all day." It had only been a few years, and now she was "Sophie." Perhaps because I didn't reply, Sebastian sent a few more messages. [Are you upset I didn't celebrate with you? I told you work was busy.] [Can't you tell this is a company dinner?] From Sebastian's tone, it sounded like I was the one being unreasonable. So I replied: [Yeah, I can tell. So someone like me who's unreasonable doesn't deserve you. Let's break up.]
After sending that message, I turned off my phone. I didn't want to say another word to Sebastian. Actually, when it comes to love, the one being loved has the most say. I knew Sebastian was just as reluctant as I was to let go. After all, we used to consider each other people we couldn't lose for the rest of our lives. When my parents got into trouble one after another, we needed a lot of money. Sebastian worked desperately back then, making every dollar count for two. All the money he saved went to me. Even his parents said, "You're lovesick, aren't you?" Sebastian didn't deny it. He just smiled and said, "She's worth it." How could she not be worth it! Thinking about this, my tears fell uncontrollably. Looking at this home I'd decorated myself, I cried even harder. I cried like this for a long time. Before I knew it, I'd finished packing my things. Although I'd decorated this home, Sebastian bought it. Now that we were breaking up, naturally I had to leave. But I didn't expect that everything truly belonging to me fit in just one suitcase. I was staring at the suitcase in a daze when the door was pushed open. Sebastian and Sophie burst in. Seeing me and the suitcase, he said, "Still making a scene?" "Don't tell me you're breaking up with him because you saw us hugging?" Sophie looked at me with a mocking smile. "Rachel, you're really funny. A man as great as Mr. Collins—if you break up with him, I'll make my move, you know." "Stop it." Sebastian looked at Sophie affectionately, then gently pulled her to sit on the sofa. "Rest for a bit. I'll make you some sobering tea." Sebastian seemed to have forgotten my existence as he attended to Sophie without a care. I thought our thirty years of friendship would bind me for life. I didn't expect this one incident to kill my heart. Thinking this, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. "What are you laughing at?" Sophie had somehow appeared in front of me. Meeting her disdainful gaze, I spread my hands. "None of your business." Leaving Sophie behind, I grabbed my suitcase to leave. But the moment I turned around, a scream rang out. The next instant, I saw Sophie sitting on the floor. In the blink of an eye, Sebastian was at Sophie's side. "What happened?" Sophie's eyes immediately reddened as she pointed at me. "Rachel, do you hate me this much? I already told you it was just a business dinner with Mr. Collins. Did you really have to hurt me like this?" "I was just joking with you. Did you take it seriously?" As Sophie spoke, she raised her hand. Seeing blood flowing from it, I silently applauded her performance. She was already the boss's daughter. She could just crook her finger and have him by her side, couldn't she? Using this kind of method instead—how ridiculous. I didn't want to be disgusted, so I said nothing and quickly left. I drove aimlessly through the streets. My phone seemed to have a button pressed, ringing constantly. I knew it was Sebastian, so I didn't even look. Finally, the car stopped downstairs from my parents' old house. When my phone rang again, I answered it, and Sebastian's accusatory voice came through. "Rachel, you've gone too far. Come to the hospital right now and apologize to Sophie, or don't blame me for breaking up with you." "Sebastian, just be tough for once and actually break up with me, okay? Why else would you be calling if you don't want to break up?" I shot back sarcastically. Sebastian had no response. After about twenty seconds, he finally spoke. "Rachel, you shouldn't have hurt Sophie. You know very well I love you and want to be with you. Why are you so intolerant?" I'm intolerant? Three years ago, when Sebastian didn't propose to me for the first time, I panicked a bit. When I found Sebastian, I saw him shopping with Sophie.
Facing my questioning, the exhaustion in Sebastian's eyes was clearly visible. "Rachel, I'm not like you. I'm at Collins Corporation. To do this job well, I have to follow the boss's wishes." "When did you become so inconsiderate?" "So accompanying your boss's daughter shopping is part of your job?" "Yes." The Sebastian I knew wasn't someone who would sell himself like this. So we had a huge fight. Sebastian said my thinking was vile. "I'm just shopping with Sophie, and you think I'm cheating? Rachel, when did you become like this?" These words feel so ironic now. Perhaps at that time Sebastian really hadn't thought about being with Sophie, but his internal scales had already tipped then—he just hadn't realized it himself. "Sebastian, you have surveillance cameras at home. Check the footage and you'll know everything." "No matter what the truth is, we've already broken up. Don't contact me anymore." Without waiting for Sebastian to respond, I hung up directly. Looking at this familiar house, I felt a wave of emotion. Mom and Dad were right—never count on a man. After tidying up a bit, I went to sleep. I slept very soundly that night. The next day I contacted my boss and accepted the offer to work in another city. My boss was puzzled. "Can you bear to leave your boyfriend?" Everyone at the company knew I had a boyfriend I'd been dating for ten years. Sometimes they'd tease me. "Your boyfriend probably doesn't love you. Ten years and he still hasn't married you?" I knew they were joking, but I felt guilty. I remember once when I'd been drinking, I pretended to be drunk and proposed to Sebastian. But he dodged. His expression at that moment couldn't lie. Some obsessions, like anything else, must be abandoned when it's time. "Yeah, we broke up." Hearing me say this, my boss was at a loss for words. Finally he forced a smile. "Alright, I'll arrange it. And I've arranged a handsome guy over there for you." My boss made me laugh. Handling the work transition took three days. During those three days, Sebastian didn't contact me once. Instead, Sophie added me on SnapChat. I hadn't planned to accept, but Sophie somehow found my phone number. Not knowing the unknown number was her, the moment I answered, Sophie's mocking voice came through. "What, scared? Afraid to accept? Don't want to admit you couldn't keep a man for ten years?" "Sophie, if I'm not mistaken, you've known Sebastian for ten years too, right? If he loved you so much, would he still not have broken up with me?" "Don't you know I already proposed breaking up?" "But Sebastian still thinks I'm just making a scene. Miss Collins, seems your skills are pretty average too." My mouth has never been forgiving. Sophie had only seen my silent side and thought I was easy to bully. Now my words made her cry. "Rachel, just you wait." "Fine, I'm waiting." Right after hanging up, my boss sent a message. The plane ticket was ready, for two days later. The contact person at the branch office had also added me. This time I was really leaving. Before leaving, I went to many places. Only after making this round did I realize all these places were ones Sebastian and I had visited together. So you really can't put all your eggs in one basket, otherwise when you look back, no matter what you think of, it feels like thinking of that bastard. But I didn't expect Sophie's "just you wait" meant she'd expose me online.
I received a call from an old classmate just as I was returning from the cemetery. "Rachel, when did you and Sebastian break up? Why are they saying you're Sebastian's mistress and that you've been harassing him? You came to the class reunion last year, didn't you?" Hearing this, I froze. As my roommate for four years of college, she understood immediately. "Shit, Sebastian cheated?" "Yeah." "Check online quickly. I'm so fucking..." My roommate was so angry she started cursing. I didn't waste time either and quickly checked my phone. That's when I saw Sophie had started a livestream. She already ran an account documenting her daily life as a rich kid. Over the past few years, riding the trend, she'd accumulated quite a few followers. Her livestream had been running for half an hour, and I was already trending. Someone had dug up everything about me and posted it. When netizens learned both my parents had died, they said people like me deserved dead parents. Seeing my mom had been involved in an infidelity case, they said, "Like mother, like daughter. This is a habitual offender." Sophie was leading the narrative, and everyone was cursing me. Seeing my photo turned into a memorial portrait, I felt nothing. But seeing my parents dragged out and insulted, I couldn't take it. With trembling hands, I called Sebastian. "Did you see it?" "I saw it." "So you have nothing to say?" Facing my questioning, Sebastian sighed. "Why did you make Sophie angry? And you..." "And what? Didn't you watch the surveillance footage?" I never imagined Sebastian could be like this. My questioning made Sebastian somewhat defensive and angry. "Yes, I watched it. I know Sophie deliberately framed you, but so what? Are you blameless? If you hadn't targeted Sophie, would she have framed you? Would she have exposed you like this?" Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh. In the end, it was all my fault. I laughed at myself. "Sebastian, when did we break up?" "Stop making a scene. We won't break up. You and I have been together ten years. We..." Sebastian stopped here, paused for a while, then sighed. "We'll get married." How ridiculous. Watching his ambiguous partner slander me while he did nothing, yet still saying he'd marry me. At this moment, I felt like I didn't know Sebastian anymore. "My parents were very good to you. They're already dead. Now that people are insulting them like this, you're just going to watch?" "Rachel, this kind of heat dies down quickly. As long as Sophie calms down, she won't target you anymore..." Sebastian kept talking, every word standing on Sophie's side. I suddenly remembered something my boss said: "People don't become rotten overnight." It seems I never saw clearly. I didn't listen to Sebastian continue and hung up directly. That day my boss said he'd help me fight back, and even my classmates said they'd testify for me. I was deeply moved that they stood by me, so I asked them to record videos. Then I also found evidence of my relationship with Sebastian over the years. Looking at those traces of our time together, my tears still fell uncontrollably. When I was tired of crying, I laughed at myself. "Sebastian, I don't love you anymore." I was hung out online for two days without fighting back. On the day I left, I posted a video online. Caption: [Turns out a person can really go from deeply loving you to not loving you at all, and even make cheating sound so refreshingly innocent.] After doing all this, I boarded the plane to leave.
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