Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After I got home, I sank into the sofa and scrolled through Fu Yao’s profile post by post.

She loved answering questions.

And she liked starting them with “Thanks for the invite.”

[Those of you who married young, how are you doing now?]

[Thanks for the invite.]

[My family of origin was pretty good, above middle class, I guess. In the first thirty years of my life, I turned down quite a few boys, including some who were truly, truly outstanding.

I met my ex-husband overseas. It was his second marriage and my first. His circumstances were much better than mine, and his family was very pleased with me. They thought I was clean and pure, so I was willing to take a break from school to have his child.

After the divorce, I’ve been doing all right too. One marriage let both of us see things clearly. My ex had a princess hidden in his heart, and I have a knight who is loyal to me. Neither of us lost.]

A knight loyal to her…

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and kept scrolling.

[If you could turn back time, what year would you go back to?]

[Thanks for the invite.]

[Probably the year in high school when he confessed to me. If I had another chance, I would definitely say yes.

I stayed abroad for five years and have been back in the country for almost two months.

That day, he had just returned from a business trip, and we ran into each other at the airport. He helped me find an apartment and helped find a school for my child.

Even when I was in the hospital, he took care of me while also picking up and dropping off my kid for me.

After I was discharged last month, I said I wanted to go to a temple. Without a word, he accompanied me to South Peak.

It was raining that day, and the mountain road was hard to walk, but I felt very safe.]

Countless details flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern, and every single one matched.

I clutched my chest as a fine, dense pain seeped out from between my ribs.

Last month, it had only rained for one day, because that was the day I drove my advisor’s car to pick up materials and got rear-ended.

The other driver was vicious. The moment he got out of his car, he started pounding on my window like crazy.

I hurriedly called Xie Qingyue, but all I got in response was one busy tone after another.

By the time the traffic police arrived, the rain had grown even heavier. An umbrella couldn’t hold it back at all.

I stood by the road in the pouring rain, so cold my teeth were chattering.

Later, when I finally got through to Xie Qingyue, he lowered his voice and told me he was busy right now and would call me back in a while.

At the time, I had even heard the faint sound of a bell being struck. I thought I was hallucinating.

While I stood in the rain, terrified and helpless, he was kneeling devoutly before the Buddha, praying only for his white moonlight to be healthy and safe.

The latest Q&A post read:

[Do you believe in getting back together after breaking up?]

[Thanks for the invite.]

[Working hard on it right now… At the moment, he’s choosing to stay by his current partner’s side because of responsibility.

So I don’t think I’m the other woman. When a man’s love drifts between two women, the one who came late is the other woman.

And I was clearly the one who came first. Besides, I can feel that all of his love is on me.

We just finished dinner. He called a designated driver to take me back. The car still smelled like my favorite jasmine aromatherapy.

He had too much to drink and suddenly looked at me and said, A can only be A, but B can be anyone.

I’m going to pretend I didn’t understand, because I know I’m A.

I’m planning to buy two bottles of wine and talk with him all night. Really, just talking.

All our high school classmates know that his current partner is greedy and lazy, just counting on him to support her.

Compared to a woman like that, there’s nothing wrong with me being a little confident, right?

Maybe as we talk, he’ll give up responsibility and choose true love.]

Perhaps because of that white moonlight post, this update had an especially large number of comments.

[I seriously want to call the police. It’s that powerless feeling of not being able to reach through the screen.]

[Who is B?! Save B! Save my sanity!!]

[Backdoor Sister is getting way too confident! Find me that B! I need to tell them at the top of my lungs!]

[And that unlucky person whose position she stole! Notify them too!]

[Did she specialize in digging graves in her past life? In this life, she’s digging up someone else’s job and someone else’s partner?]

[If I see another post like this, my funds and gold investments are going to skyrocket.]

…

How unfortunate.

The unlucky person was me.

And B was me too.

I realized it with absolute clarity.

It wasn’t that Xie Qingyue had suddenly stopped loving me.

It was that Xie Qingyue had never loved me at all.

Because in his heart, there was someone from his youth he could never have.

And I had always been used to compete against an illusory shadow.