Chapter 1

On the day of my wedding to Julia, her "best friend" Mike suddenly appeared before me.

He held a marriage certificate, his eyes red-rimmed as he said, "Matthew, you have everything. Could you just let me have Julia? She... she's already registered her marriage with me..."

I tossed my wedding ring to the ground, my posture contemptuous.

Turning around, I saw the panic in Julia's eyes.

I thought—she must have remembered our contract.

If anything went wrong with this wedding, all her assets would become mine.

Julia and I had known each other for five years, from a campus romance to marriage. Countless people envied our relationship.

Coming from similar family backgrounds, we looked perfectly matched—the ideal couple...

I'd heard this so many times I'd stopped counting, but I never took it to heart.

Because I knew Julia had someone else in her heart.

She and Mike had known each other for ten years—five years longer than me.

Strangely, she and Mike always called themselves best friends, as if their bond was so pure it hadn't been tainted by even a trace of romantic love.

Later, they got into the same university, the same major. But for some reason, during her freshman year, Julia pursued me—someone from a completely different department.

Back then, I still had some romantic notions about college love.

Julia was beautiful, good-tempered, refined and polite.

So, after two months of her pursuing me, I agreed.

After a week of bliss, I noticed someone extremely suspicious around her.

Mike—a decent-looking guy with a tall build.

He'd call me "Matthew" while draping his arm over Julia's shoulders, saying, "Julia, look at you! Finding such a handsome boyfriend so quickly. Got any tricks you could teach me?"

Mike was a head taller than Julia. When he draped his arm over her shoulders, his chin naturally came close to the top of her head.

The distance between them was intimate. Yet Julia seemed completely accustomed to it, not caring at all.

I saw it once, then naturally there was a second time, a third time.

I couldn't understand why Julia would have such an intimate male friend even after getting a boyfriend.

At first, I thought I was overthinking it. I brought it up with her privately a few times.

What I didn't expect was Julia's response, which left me speechless.

"Mike and I have been best friends for five or six years. We've always been like this. I can't just distance myself from him because I got a boyfriend—that would be an insult to our pure friendship!"

I also confronted Mike.

His answer made him seem utterly unreasonable.

"What are you talking about? Julia and I have been friends for so many years. How does that become a complicated relationship in your mind? That romantic relationship stuff is only suitable for Julia to have with guys like you!"

Mike paused at the end of that statement.

Tsk, fine. Your pure friendship—I'm staying out of it.

I broke up with Julia soon after.