His daily schedule was always chaotic, and it was the first time she had ever seen him wake up this early. Hearing footsteps, Alvin turned around, saw her, and asked, “Do1 look handsome in this outfit today?”
He was a natural at wearing clothes. Even a casual black shirt looked good on him. Today, after making an effort to dress up, he looked even more handsome, his lazy glance enough to make a group of young girls swoon
I didn’t know why he suddenly started caring so much about his appearance. In the past, she would have been charmed and her heart would have raced, but now, she simply nodded calmly, “Mm, very handsome.”
Alvin didn’t notice anything unusual about her. He smiled slightly and said, “Thave a gathering today. You stay home and be good. When I get back, I’ll bring you your favorite dessert.”
With that, he turned and left.
After watching his disappear into the hallway, Ira was about to go get a glass of water when she saw his phone left on the table.
When she picked it up, she accidentally pressed the power button.
The screen lit up, revealing a new message.
It was from someone saved under “Maria.”
“Dear Alvin, It’s been eight years since we last met. I’m really looking forward to seeing you today.”
After reading the message, I froze in her tracks.
So today was the day Maria, his first love, was coming back to the country.
No wonder he had woken up so early and gone to such trouble to dress up. He was bumming happily as he walked
Just then, the door opened.
Alvin, who had turned back halfway, came back and snatched his phone from her hands. He glanced at the message on the screen, his footsteps pausing for a moment. He couldn’t help but glance at Ira, who was sitting at the dining table.
“Baby, did you see my phone just now?”
Ira slightly raised her gaze, her expression calm. “No, why?”
He smiled and seemed to relax, saying it was nothing before turning and leaving again.
This was the first time I felt like she didn’t understand him
He had always been in love with Maria, and every girlfriend he had was just a stand–in for her. Logically, he shouldn’t care about her at all. So why did he care whether she had discovered the truth?
Was he afraid of losin–her?
It didn’t want to overthink it. Besides, she had known from the beginning that she was destined to lose his love.
After breakfast, tra sat down at the computer and opened her drawing software.
She was a comic artist, and things were about to get busier.
After all, once she returned home, she would be busy with wedding preparations
She spent the whole morning drawing, and by noon, she sent her work to the editor
In the attemoon, she tidied up the room and found some items related to Alvin Couple–themed cups, krychains, scarves, jackets…
These were things she had gradually bought over the years, and they filled an entire large box
Seeing these items reminded ber of the times when she bought new things and insisted that Alvin wear them. He would always look at her helplessly.
These are the kind of things little girls like. Do you really want me to wear them outside and let the guys laugh at me?
Thinking of this, Ira dragged the box downstairs and tossed everything, box and all, into the trash.
Now, no one would ever laugh at him again,
Having quickly dealt withit, tra was about to return upstairs when she suddenly bumped into a cool, familiar embrace.
Alvin had come back without her noticing. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and used the other hand to push aside the sweaty bangs on her for “What did you throw away? why are you sweating so much?
“Just useless junk”
tra didn’t find as she gave a casual excuse, and Alvin didn’t suspect anything. He simply pulled her up
As the elevator door opened, a sanitation truck was passing by, numbling loudly,
rupstairs with him.
forehead.
Looking at the box of items being taken away by the truck, fra finally withdrew her gaze.
Their house usually only had one or two bags of regular trash. When had there ever been such a large bag of garbage?
It would have been easy to spot the oddity, but Alvin didn’t ask a single question.
It was probably because he didn’t care.
Today, when Alvin smiled, his eyes were filled with genuine happiness.
He had met Maria, and it seemed that he was truly delighted.
When they entered the house, Alvin immediately noticed that the place seemed emptier than usual.
He glanced around, looking surprised.
“Did someone rob the place? Why does it feel like a lot of things are missing? Where’s the cup? And the throw pillow is gone too?” Just as Ira was abour to answer, Alvin’s phone buzzed several times.
He glanced at the messages and quickly d dismissed the matter. He walked toward his study and, before closing the door, called out, “Baby, I’ve got some things to take care of You go ahead and sleep, you don’t need to wait for me.”
Ira didn’t askanything and went back to the bedroom alone.
The wall clock’s hour hand passed twelve, and her phone, which she had placed under her pillow, began vibrating wildly
#love you, my baby Happy Birthday!
To the most beautiful Miss Ird birthday! Don’t forget to eat cake!
The messages continued to pour in, all birthday wishes
From dad, Mom, her brother, friends, classmates–everyone from far and wide had sent their greetings
wet the boyfend who was supposed to be closest to her seemed to have forgotten all about it.
Clam Bonus TocToe Every Daps
Because he had more important things to do.
tratamed out the movie she had been watching hallwr though, then clicked on the message notification at the bottom right conser of her laptop scoren
It was Alvin chatting with Maria.
He didn’t realize that his account was still logged into the laptop
Tra could see all the conversations.
She watched helplessly as they talked about the past, the present, and even the future–there were even old videos from their youth.
In the long, dense series of messages, Alvinnever once mentioned her.
Well, after all, she was just a stand–in to comfort him. What was there to mention?
As she continued to watch the endless stream of conversations tetesh, Tra pressed the power button and shut down the laptop.
She slept through the right without any dreams
The next day. Tra was woken up by the doorbell
-Rubbing her eyes, she walked to the living room and saw Alvin, who had somehow woken up early, holding a bouquet of flowers toward her.
“My baby, did you order a cake? Why do you suddenly want cake?”
The room was silent for a few seconds before Ira slowly spoke up.
“My birthday should have been celebrated with a delivery from my friends.”
Hearing this, Alvin froze in place.
He instinctively glanced at the calendar on the wall and then realized that today was July 12th.
He had actually forgotten her birthday!
A flash of guilt crossed Alvin’s eyes. He quickly put down what he was holding and gently pushed Ira back toward the bedroom
“Today’s your birthday, let’s go out and celebrate, What would you like to eat?
“No need, I’d rather stay home,” I refused the suggestion.
Alvin, however, Insisted on going out to celebrate and even took a dress from the wardrobe and handed it to her.
Unable to refuse him, tra had no choice but to go wash up and leave with him.
dabirthday cake, tuming
The two went to their favorite restaurant for moming tea, then watched the latest movie together, and later wandered around a few stores.
At some point during their outing, tra went to the restroom, and when she returned, she saw him on the phone, asking his family to help order an expensive necklace.
The necklace happened to be one that Ira had noticed in a magazine two weeks ago
Seeing him in eager, Ira felt a mix of emotions.
She didn’t quite understand what was going on in his mind.
He remembered the necklace she had glanced at; yet, he had completely forgotten the most important thing–her birthday.
Could he really not tell the difference between what was important and what wasn’t?
On second thought, maybe he could tell.
Before Maria returned, he had treated Tra as a stand–in, so he paid attention to every little detail about!
But now that Marla was back, all his attention was directed toward her
So, all things related to tra had been pushed aside and forgotten
Ira couldn’t seem to muster any energy that maming, everything seemed lackluster to her.
Alvin noticed her distracted mood and rubbed her head. “My baby, why do you look so down? Are you not happy with my plans fortoday?
Now that she thought about it, he always rubbed her head like that Subconsciously, he always treated her like a younger sister, not as a lover,
Tra shook her head and was about to say she was tired and wanted to go home, but Alvin hailed a cab and gave the driver an address for a mountain resort. Seeing the surprise in her eyes, he raised an eyebrow,
“Aren’t you always saying you want to meet my friends? Everyone’s tree today, so I’ll take you to meet them. Maybe it make you feel better.”
This unexpected plan left fra momentarily stunned.
In the past, Alvin had been unwilling to introduce her to his family or friends. She had thought about meeting his friends, but every time, he found all sorts of trasons to reject her. Eventually, she gave up on bringing it up.
Now, just when she was about to leave Califonia, he was taking her to meet them out of a sense of guilt.
It seemed like everything fa lite happened by chance
She quietly stared out the window at the fleeting scenery and didn’t say anything more.
The tad stopped halfway up the mountain.
Alvin took her by the hand and led her into the resort, pushing open the heavy gate
with a few loud bangs, colorful fireworks and ribbons shot up into the air, and a crowd of people rushed out, laughing and shouting, “Happy Birthday!”
Sering the spectacle, Alvin harriedly pulled into his arms, gently removing the ribbons from her head while shooing away a few of his friends who had gotten too close.
“Be careful, don’t scare my little girl. She’s a bit…” He was cut off abruptly.
His eyes landed on a familiar face in the crowd, and his expression immediately changed.
Maria was smiling confidently, wallding toward them.
“Mr. Alvin, it’s been so many years since I went abroad, and I haven’t been to a group gathering in ages. I heard you were celebrating your girlfriend’s birthday today, so I thought I’d join the fun. I hope I’m not unwelcome?”
Alvin coldly scanned the room, and everyone who met his gaze quickly averted their eyes, pretending to be indifferent to the situation.
Seeing the atmosphere tum tense, tra extended her hand with a polite smile.
“Welcome, nice to meet you. I
I’m ira”
Maria stared at her for a long moment, as if realizing something, then smiled slightly and shook her hand.
“Hello, I’m Maria, Alvin’s… friend.”
“Miss Isa, has anyone ever told you that we look a little alike?“.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Alvin’s hand around her arm tightened sharply.
ica remained calm, her expression unchanged. “Is that so? Then we must be very destined.”
Seeing the atmosphere suddenly cool down, the group around them immediately began to liven things up.
A grouped familiar faces gathered to drink and play games, creating nicos.
Ira didn’t know anyone, nor did she care to join in the excitement, so she simply sat quietly on the sofa.
Although Alvin stayed close to her, his attention was still fed on the table to his lett
Following his gaze, irasaw Maria, who was laughing and lusing the most fu
At first, Alvin seemed to be controlling himself, but as soon as Maria picked up her drink, he could no longer
er sit still. He suddenly stood up, grabbed the glass.
from her hand, and spoke with an imitated to
“You’re allergicto alcohol, Why are you drinking? Are you out of your mind?”
His voice was loud and agitated, and the entire soom fell silent. Everyone turned to look at them.
