Chapter 1

The night before the school's coming-of-age ceremony, my girlfriend Rachel brought the class's scholarship student to find me, immediately demanding that I give my custom-made suit to the scholarship student.

She said, "Ulysses comes from a poor family and can't afford a suit, and you don't lack one piece of clothing. Oh, and the shoes and watch—you need to give those too."

I laughed in anger. "Just because he's poor, I have to support him? So when he gets married and has kids, do I have to help with that too?"

Ulysses' face darkened.

Rachel flew into a rage, insisting I must have the clothes, watch, and shoes ready by tomorrow, or she'd cancel our engagement.

I fell silent, then turned to call my grandfather.

The engagement needed to be cancelled, but I would be the one to cancel it first.

"You want to cancel the engagement? Why?" Grandfather asked me.

"Because we're not compatible. Rachel and I grew up together, and I thought I understood her well, but I've recently discovered I don't know her as much as I thought."

Grandfather on the other end of the line was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's arrange a time for both families to have dinner together and clarify the matter of dissolving the engagement."

I agreed and walked into the classroom to study.

After evening self-study ended, many classmates were clamoring that tomorrow's coming-of-age ceremony called for celebrating hard at a bar tonight.

The teacher didn't stop them either!

"You all go ahead. Ulysses is in a bad mood, so I'll keep him company."

My childhood friend Rachel's single sentence dropped the classroom's lively atmosphere to freezing point. Everyone looked at me, including the teacher.

They all knew Rachel and I had grown up together and were engaged.

I looked at Rachel, my eyes involuntarily stinging.

Twenty years—she had left an indelible mark on my heart, yet in hers, I apparently couldn't even compare to Ulysses, whom she'd only known for a year.

"Rachel, the atmosphere is so good, don't be a buzzkill," a classmate tried to persuade. "And Emmanuel..."

"Don't mention him!" Rachel's face suddenly turned cold. "If he hadn't deliberately humiliated Ulysses just now, Ulysses wouldn't be in a bad mood."

With those words, the few classmates who wanted to speak up didn't dare say anything more.

Ulysses looked at me provocatively and patted Rachel's hand. "Rachel, you go ahead. I'll be fine."

After speaking, he deliberately put on a dejected expression.

Rachel immediately hugged his arm with heartache.

"Don't say anymore. I'll stay with you all night."

Hearing this, my face changed drastically.

Stay with Ulysses—for the whole night!

At this moment, I felt both heartbroken and furious. I wanted to loudly question Rachel about whether she still remembered I was her fiancé, bound to her by engagement.

Seeing my poor expression, the surrounding classmates quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Rachel's just joking. How could she stay with Ulysses all night?"

"Yeah, everyone in the whole school knows Rachel and you grew up together and are engaged. We're all waiting to attend your wedding."

"I'll definitely give you a big gift when the time comes."

Rachel said coolly, "Sorry to disappoint everyone. Our wedding may not happen."

After speaking, she walked away with Ulysses' arm in hers. After two steps, she turned back to me.

"I've given you a chance. Whether you can seize it is up to you."

I smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I've already made my decision."

Twenty years, and we'd finally become strangers.

"That's too much."

Classmates expressed their indignation on my behalf.

"Yeah, she's engaged to you. How can she say she'll stay with Ulysses all night?"