Chapter 3

I feel like a ridiculous, laughable clown.

That night, I couldn't believe what I was seeing as I obsessively reviewed every detail.

In the end, I completely broke down.

In a fit of anger, I threw away Nolan's luggage and smashed our carefully decorated little home.

The next morning, Nolan returned with a bouquet of roses.

This was the first bouquet he had given me in our four years together.

He pretended not to notice the mess everywhere.

He leaned against the couch, looking exhausted.

"I'm hungry. Go make me some noodles."

With tears in my eyes,

I enlarged the photo from Melody's social media post and held it up in front of him.

"Nolan, why are you giving me the second-hand roses that Melody didn't want? Am I some kind of cheap person to you?"

He was stunned for three seconds, then flew into a rage.

"Harmony, you've been secretly investigating me! Do you really have so little faith in me?"

"Don't forget, everything I do is for our future."

I flipped through their photos one by one,

Crying and demanding Nolan give me an explanation.

Furious and embarrassed, he smashed my phone.

He dragged me in front of the mirror with a look of disgust.

"Harmony, take a good look at yourself. What right do you have to compare yourself to Melody?"The most regrettable thing I've ever done in my life was being with you!"

With one sentence, he shattered the last glimmer of hope in my heart.

I collapsed to the ground, completely devastated and utterly hopeless.

I didn't even notice when my arm was cut and started bleeding.

Nolan glanced at me once, then slammed the door as he left.

He never came back.

I was the one who initiated the breakup with Nolan.

I cried my eyes out every day, looking so haggard I was barely recognizable.

My grades plummeted as a result, and I nearly had to postpone graduation.

It was my mom who noticed something was wrong. She packed up a bunch of home-cooked meals and took a 15-hour train ride to see me.

She tidied up my messy room and put chopsticks in my hand.

"Eat first, then go talk to him and clear things up."

I didn't want to.

I just wanted to wallow in my misery.

Suddenly one day, my mom collapsed on the floor.

I frantically rushed her to the hospital, only to learn that her kidney disease had worsened into kidney failure.

At that moment, my world came crashing down.

Sitting on the long bench in the hallway, half of my body felt numb. I couldn't utter a word.

Nolan was the first to rush over.

He didn't say a single unnecessary word.

He quietly contacted the best internal medicine doctor, made arrangements, and secured a room.In his spare time, he would stay by her bedside.

Attentive and thoughtful, he put his heart into everything.

On the day Mom was discharged, Nolan approached me with a silver ring.

"I don't know how to make you feel secure. This cheap ring is the biggest sincerity I can offer."

"I'm begging you to believe me. Just give me a little more time. I'll cure your mom and give you everything you want..."

All my pretense of strength crumbled in an instant.

I threw myself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Nolan put the ring on my finger while kissing me through his tears.

"Harmony, can we forget about all the unhappy things?"

"Don't doubt my sincerity. Everything I do is for you, for our beautiful future."

Once again, I was lost in Nolan's tears.

I forgot about his betrayal, forgot about the pain he caused me, and reconciled with him.

Mom's condition worsened day by day.

Nolan became the only person I could rely on completely.