Chapter 2

James and I had been together for seven years.

When I was interviewing for my first job in New York City, I almost arrived late because the subway system was so confusing with all its twists and turns. I wandered around for ages without finding the right exit.

In desperation, I grabbed a random person on the street to ask for directions.

As it turned out, this person worked at the company where I was interviewing and directly took me there.

Later, we became colleagues, and then we became a couple.

New York City can feel like a cold place, but because of him, these seven years have had a bit of warmth.

He wasn't just my boyfriend; he was also my dining companion, movie buddy, and travel partner.

After getting together, like many people in New York, we started saving money, eagerly anticipating the day when we could have our own little nest among the city's dazzling lights.

To save up for a down payment on a house, we lived frugally for seven years, leaving early and returning late every day, never missing a day of work, not even taking a single sick day.

On rainy days in the run-down neighborhood, the narrow alleys would be filled with muddy water, making my shoes dirty.

Walking through it so often, even my obsession with cleanliness seemed to have worn away.

On social media, people our age were traveling to various places, seeing beautiful sights, and eating all kinds of delicious food.

During holidays, we only dared to stay in our damp, dark little room, sharing a single portion of cheap takeout between the two of us.

During these seven years, James would often stroke my head and say with concern in his eyes: "Emma, I'm sorry you have to struggle like this with me."

"Once we buy a house, we'll get married right away, and I promise I'll treat you well."

Every time I saw the sincerity in his eyes, I felt it was all worth it.

But now that all the money had been given to Lily to pay off her debt, we couldn't buy the house anymore. Would we still get married?

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

James came in with a cup of hot chocolate: "I'm sorry, please don't be angry, okay?"

He put the hot drink on the table and tried to hug me.

Seeing the apologetic look in his eyes, in the past, I might have softened. But this time, I found the person in front of me repulsive.

Being with James for so many years, his good qualities were obvious.

He wasn't flirtatious and was quite family-oriented.

He was good to me and my family too. When my dad suddenly had a heart attack, if it wasn't for him, I might have just panicked helplessly.

But all his maturity and rationality seemed to disappear when it came to Lily.

Thinking about how he had repeatedly favored Lily in the past, I felt anger rising inside me. I avoided him and crawled into bed.

He seemed a bit helpless: "Don't always be like this."

"That money... I'll find a way to earn it back. If I have to, I'll drive for Uber or deliver food after work."

"You know, Lily grew up with me. When we were poor, her parents helped our family a lot. When her dad passed away, he asked me to take good care of her. Now that she's in such big trouble, how can I just stand by and do nothing?"

"You can understand that, right?"

James cared for his childhood friend, but where did he put me when he was protecting her?

Lily ate and dressed well every day. If she had borrowed money to save a life or do something meaningful, I could still understand.

But she only borrowed money to satisfy her vanity, buying luxury bags and traveling everywhere. How could I understand that?

I looked into James's eyes, tears welling up: "What about me?"

"I struggled with you for seven years, and now we have nothing left. Did you think about me?"

We stood in silent confrontation.

Suddenly, I felt utterly exhausted. I grabbed my pajamas and ran to the bathroom, hoping a shower would help alleviate the frustration in my chest.

After showering and returning to the room, I found Lily sitting on my bed watching a TV series, occasionally bursting into laughter.

For me, today felt like the sky had fallen.

For her, it seemed like nothing had happened.

Her laughter was grating, as if mocking me for being a fool all these years.

I walked straight up to her and said only two words: "Get out."

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