2

Gu Xian's friends didn't expect me to arrive so quickly and hurriedly reached out to pull him away from Xu Man.

Unfortunately, Gu Xian seemed to have drunk quite a bit and was completely unresponsive.

He slurred his curses: "Get lost! Don't touch me!"

It's the first time I've seen him this drunk.

His friend leaned in and said in his ear, "Jiang Ran is here to pick you up! Wake up! You're getting married soon..."

The others saw this and stepped in to help, exerting great effort to finally pry Gu Xian's hand off Xu Man.

His body crashed heavily into the sofa, his face flushed.

Only then did his friend breathe a sigh of relief and introduce him to me.

"This is our high school classmate Xu Man, who went abroad during sophomore year. She just came back today and happened to join our gathering. Gu Xian drank too much, don't think too much..."

If it were before, I might have lost my composure and questioned them on the spot.

Knowing that Gu Xian and I are about to get married, why did they let Xu Man come, why didn't they stop it.

But now I just smiled indifferently.

Xu Man looked at me with playful curiosity.

Until Gu Xian's friend began to introduce my identity.

When the words "fiancée" were mentioned, Gu Xian, who had been silent on the sofa, angrily spoke up:

"A friend!"

Instantly, my hand clenched tightly under my sleeve.

The palm was pierced by my nails, causing a faint tremble.

Everyone around changed their expressions, looking at me with a sense of awkwardness.

This wasn't the first time Gu Xian didn't want to disclose my identity.

Earlier, when he refused to post on WeChat Moments, refused to appear together at the company, declined the invitation of both families and friends for the wedding, I had already guessed our ending.

I was just unwilling to let go and wanted to gamble on eight years of love.

Still, I lost.

I continued to force a smile and nodded to Xu Man.

"Hello, I'm Gu Xian's friend Jiang Ran. You're even more beautiful than in the photos."

After I said this, the room fell into a complete silence.

Everyone exchanged glances with varied expressions.

Xu Man shrugged it off with a smile, reaching for the fruit plate on the table.

But just as she did, Gu Xian straightened up and sat upright once again.

"Little man, you're allergic to mangoes; you can't eat them!"

Xu Man's hand paused mid-air, her expression amused as she looked at his serious face.

Softly, she said, "You're just like ten years ago, silly. It's watermelon; you're drunk."

At that moment, something seemed to explode in my mind.

Fragments pierced my heart, leaving it bloodied and raw.

Turns out he wasn't forgetful, he simply wasn't concerned about me.

For eight years, I've repeatedly reminded him that I'm allergic to seafood, yet his first choice for dates was always seafood restaurants.

I went from anger in the beginning to later compromise, even deceiving myself.

I told myself it was just work exhaustion, that his mind couldn't hold anything else.

But today, reality slapped me awake once again.

Every detail was exposing the fact that he didn't love me.

Expressionless, I helped him up from the sofa, and as we headed downstairs to hail a cab, Xu Man chased after us.

With gentle eyes, she beamed at Gu Xian's face.

Carefully, she instructed me:

"Little Xian doesn't handle alcohol well, and he's allergic to the ingredients in hangover remedies. When you get home, help him make a cup of honey water. The temperature can't exceed sixty degrees; he'll be fine soon, otherwise he'll have a headache when he wakes up tomorrow morning."

These are things Gu Xian never told me.

I bit my lip without saying a word, turned, and prepared to get in the car.

She called out to me once more.

"By the way, why don't I add you on contact? If he feels unwell tonight, you can ask me."

"Little Xian doesn't sleep peacefully after drinking, so you need to keep an eye on him tonight. If he kicks the blanket, you must cover him immediately; otherwise, he'll definitely have a fever tomorrow."

My nails almost dug into my flesh, my eyelashes trembling uncontrollably.

I stared into her innocent eyes for a long time, finally nodding.

We added each other as friends, only to discover her profile background was actually a photo with Gu Xian.

In the photo, the two from ten years ago appeared young and naïve, their eyes determined and fingers tightly interlocked.

As the car door closed after getting in, tears silently slid down my cheeks.

I used to hear others talk about the effect of a first love, and I scoffed.

Believing that sincerity could always earn sincerity in return.

But at this moment, my belief wavered.