Chapter 3

The next day, I was awakened by the sound of Asher and Crystal talking.

"Asher, your sister won't be angry that you brought me to your home, will she?"

A sickeningly sweet voice, with a deliberately innocent tone.

I could guess with my toes that it was Crystal's voice.

Looks like Asher brought her home.

The next second, Asher's voice rang out: "It's fine, she won't mind."

How ironic.

I pushed open the door and walked out, immediately spotting Crystal sitting on the couch with her legs crossed.

And Asher, serving her tea and water.

She was wearing the matching slippers that belonged to Asher and me.

Seeing me come out, she looked at me with a challenging expression.

"Sis, you're awake. Asher insisted on bringing me over for a visit. We didn't disturb you, did we?"

Her eyes innocent and kind.

Her words apologetic, but her body hadn't moved an inch from the couch.

Calm and collected as if she were the lady of the house.

I gave her a cool glance, not saying a word.

Seeing that I didn't speak, Asher frowned: "Crystal is talking to you. Are you deaf?"

Defending another girl in front of his own girlfriend.Only Asher could pull off something like this.

Seeing that I still wasn't speaking, Crystal instantly became pitiful, with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Sister, are you angry? It was brother Asher who insisted on bringing me here."

"Please don't be mad, sister. I'll leave right now."

With that, she really did pick up her bag and started walking towards the door.

"Crystal!"

Asher couldn't stand by any longer and quickly grabbed her arm.

"Asher, don't stop me. If sister doesn't welcome me here, then I should go." Crystal choked up a bit.

Asher frowned, shouting angrily: "What's wrong with you today? Crystal is a guest, how can you treat her so coldly?"

"Why did you bring her here?" I asked calmly.

Did you bring her to stake your claim? Or to watch me make a fool of myself?

I didn't say the latter part out loud. My pride wouldn't allow me to.

"Crystal just got back to the country and hasn't gotten anything sorted out yet. I brought her over to see if there was anything she needed."

He paused, then added: "Besides, you're both girls. Whatever you use, she can use too."I couldn't feel more incredulous, as if I'd just heard the world's most ridiculous joke.

I looked at him with a mocking smile, my tone dripping with sarcasm, "So you're saying you want to give all my stuff to her?"

"Yeah, why not? You don't use these cosmetics and skincare products anyway, so what's wrong with giving them to Crystal?"

Asher spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world, completely oblivious to any issue.

I laughed bitterly, my voice ice-cold, "What if I refuse?"

Asher's face instantly darkened, his tone turning harsh, "You don't have a choice. You're going to hand them over whether you like it or not."

With that, he gathered up all my unopened items and took them to Crystal.

I stood frozen in the living room, watching Asher fuss over Crystal, when suddenly I felt a lump in my throat.

He used to treat me the same way.

When we were together, no matter what I wanted, he would move heaven and earth to get it for me.

I used to tease him about wasting money on buying me so many cosmetics and jewelry.

He would say, "If you want it, I'll get it for you. I just want to make you happy."

But now, he was doing all of this for another woman.

I turned away, my heart feeling like it was being shredded to pieces.

From start to finish, he never looked at me once, nor did he say a single word to me.It wasn't until just before leaving that Asher seemed to realize his actions might have been somewhat inappropriate.

He finally softened his attitude, saying with a slight hint of apology, "I'll buy you new ones later. For now, let Crystal borrow these."

I stared at him coldly, unmoved.

He paced over to me, slowly opening his arms.

It seemed he wanted to hug me.

Right, in the past, whenever he made me angry, he could solve everything with just one embrace.

As his hands were about to touch my shoulders, Crystal suddenly let out a scream from the side.

"!"

Asher immediately withdrew his hand, quickly walking towards Crystal.

The motion of pulling back his arm was so swift and clean, without a hint of hesitation.

I smiled self-mockingly.

It turns out he did love me, just not that much.

I also walked towards Crystal's direction. Upon closer inspection, I saw that she had broken a plaster doll.

My eyes instantly welled up with tears.

That was the one we made when Asher and I first got together. We had promised to make one every year.

But later, Asher always found various excuses to put it off.

I gradually stopped mentioning it.

So this plaster doll, in my eyes, was like a token of our love.

In Asher's eyes, it was the same."I'm sorry, sis. I didn't mean to."

"I just thought it was pretty and wanted to take a look. I lost my grip and..."

"Please don't be mad, sis..."

There it was again, that sickeningly sweet voice, that cookie-cutter innocent act.

My blood boiled as I raised my hand abruptly.

Asher immediately restrained me, slamming me to the ground.

"What are you doing?! It's just a worthless plaster doll. You want to hit Crystal for that?!"

"Worthless...?

The plaster doll might be cheap, but it represents our five years together.

Are you saying our five years of love are worthless too?"

I stared at Asher in disbelief, each word cutting deep.

Asher seemed to realize he'd said the wrong thing, hanging his head and avoiding my gaze.

"That's not what I meant, Callie..."

He tried to explain further, but was interrupted by Crystal's anxious voice nearby.

"Asher, let's go. I'm going to be late for an interview."

As if snapping out of a trance, Asher muttered, "Callie, I'll explain later," before hurriedly leaving with Crystal.As Crystal was about to leave, she shot me a smug look,

as if to say, "See, Callie? Even after five years together, he still loves me more."

You're right, he does love you the most.

So I'll give him back to you.