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I met my first love at a class reunion seven years after we broke up.    He had a successful career, was holding his girlfriend's hand, and had a huge expensive diamond ring on his hand.    Everyone taunted me:‘You dumped Conrad, now you regret it, don't you? It's too late!’    But after dinner, Conrad drunkenly hugged me and cried:‘If you want to get back together, you can do it anytime.’  1 A class reunion is always a battleground for gossip to converge.    Not to mention the former couples in attendance, with the most disparate statuses being Conrad and me.    Everyone was

Reunited with My First Love After Seven Years Apart

Washington Mansion was a gathering place for the wealthy, inaccessible to ordinary folks.


I was busy trying to pry his hand off, but he turned the tables and gripped my wrist tightly.


A temperature both foreign and familiar.


It reached straight to my heart, just like when we were together.


After trying twice to break free without success, I looked up at Conrad's dark, inscrutable face. "Mr. Conrad, what do you want to say?"


He pressed his lips together, his eyes as black as still pond water, gazing at me silently. I couldn't read the emotions within them.


A chilly wind blew past, lifting my hair.


I forced an awkward smile. "Do you think like the others that my money isn't clean?"


"I'll give you fifty grand a month. How's that?" Conrad interrupted coldly.


Conrad raised his eyes, his gaze filled with the same mockery and derision I'd seen countless times at the class reunion. He sneered, "You need money, I'll give it to you. Fifty grand, a hundred grand, I can afford whatever you want. How much do you need?"


I suddenly raised my hand and slapped him across the face in the quiet night.


The crisp sound rang out, leaving five distinct finger marks on Conrad's pale cheek.A piercing scream echoed from nearby. The car door flung open, and a woman scrambled out in panic.


"Live your life well, don't be too greedy."


"Yeah, he wanted to keep me as his mistress."


I curled up on the couch, enduring wave after wave of stomach cramps as I slowly sipped the water from the cup.


Then I suddenly sprang up and rushed to the bathroom, throwing up all the water I had just drunk.


Sally patted my back, scolding me: "Your stomach was already bad, and you still drank alcohol."


I took several deep breaths, wiping away the water that had dripped to my lips while washing my face. My esophagus burned.


"Is a man you've loved for so many years worth it?"


I raised my eyes, looking at the woman in the mirror with wet eyelashes, black hair messily stuck to her forehead, and a pale complexion.


Sally's mumbling drifted over faintly—


"If you hadn't broken up with him, would he be like this today?"


I vaguely remembered that many years ago, I too had once been that radiant and eye-catching.


But later, I fell too hard. By the time I had crawled out of the pit, battered and bruised, everything had changed.As Sally and I walked arm in arm back to our apartment after closing our final deal with Washington Mansion, we received a call from Conrad's brother.


"Melody, if you're having any financial difficulties, I can help you find a job."


I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.


"They're getting married next month. Vivienne is a great person, and her family is well-off. You..."


"I won't bother him anymore, don't worry," I interrupted.


He went quiet for a moment, as if racking his brain for reasons.


"We just want Conrad to have a good life."


My friends of many years had clearly chosen sides, all standing with Conrad.


After hanging up, Sally looked at me with teary eyes. "They don't understand anything."


Since I needed to stay in this city for a while longer, I found a job near home.


03