Chapter 3

"What?"

Audrey froze, her hand holding the fork hovering in mid-air.

I met her startled gaze and turned my phone screen toward her, showing her Christian's Snapchat post.

Audrey opened her mouth, her eyes shifting guiltily.

"Christian has a sensitive stomach, so we barely touched the food last night. Since it was already paid for, I didn't want it to go to waste, so I packaged it up."

She spoke with such righteousness, making it seem like I was the one being unreasonable.

I took a deep breath. My appetite was completely gone.

Audrey took a sip of her orange juice and tried to explain.

"Christian actually gave me his resignation letter. He's moving abroad for his master's degree after our wedding. “

“I only had dinner with him last night because I'm his boss and his friend. It was just a normal farewell. Plus, he's sick and has no family here. He's quite pitiful."

"Nathan, please don't let irrelevant people ruin what we have, okay?"

She knelt in front of me, taking my hands in hers, her eyes filled with gentle pleading.

My throat tightened, and a heavy weight pressed onto my chest.

In the end, I said nothing. I dumped the entire breakfast into the trash can and walked out to the car to go to the hotel with her.

When we arrived, Audrey's parents and her extended family were already standing outside the lobby.

I tried to put on a polite smile, but before I could walk up, I heard her Aunt Clara loud voice.

"Audrey! Where is Nathan? Didn't that boy promise he’d have a few drinks with your uncle today?"

I froze in my tracks.

Audrey's father quickly grabbed Aunt Clara's arm and whispered something in her ear.

Aunt Clara slapped her thigh and laughed embarrassedly. "Oh, look at me! My eyes must be failing me in my old age. I didn't even recognize you, Nathan!"

The atmosphere turned incredibly awkward. Audrey’s mother stepped in to smooth things over, and the group shuffled into the private dining room.

But as soon as we sat down, Christian walked in.

The moment he entered, the stiff atmosphere in the room instantly vanished.

The waiter brought in bottles of whiskey and wine. Christian raised his glass, immediately laughing and drinking with the elders like he was part of the family.

Meanwhile, I was left sitting in the corner, completely ignored.

Audrey squeezed my hand under the table, whispering guiltily, "I know you're allergic to alcohol, Nathan. “

“But my uncles love to drink, and I didn't want them to feel ignored. That's why I asked Christian to come and help."

I nodded calmly and stood up, grabbing my coat.

"You guys have fun. I won't ruin the mood."

Suddenly, I remembered last month when Audrey said she was going on a business trip.

I saw her train ticket was to her hometown. I had offered to go with her to visit her family, but she had flatly refused.

She said she was strictly there for business, wouldn't have time to keep me company, and told me not to make a mess of things.

Now I realized that during that "business trip," she had brought Christian to meet her family.

And under the proud gaze of her relatives, she had let everyone believe Christian was her fiancé.

Every single one of these "little things" was suffocating me.

Audrey chased me out of the private room, her face twisted in a deep frown. "My entire family is in there! Where do you think you're going?"

"You have Christian to keep them company. Isn't that enough?"

Hearing this, Audrey's face darkened with impatience.

"What are you talking about? It's your own fault for being useless and allergic to alcohol! If you could drink, I wouldn't have had to call Christian!"

"Why are you being so dramatic? Do you even want to get married or what?"

The last time we had a massive fight, it was over the $300,000 marriage fund.

My parents had convinced me that Audrey was a good girl, that we had been through five years of ups and downs, and that if I let her go, I might never find true love again.

But now, I realized that some people are meant to be let go.

I looked at her face—so familiar yet so incredibly strange—and spoke clearly.

"You're right. I don't want to get married anymore."