02
I called Nathan, only to find that he had blocked me.
Thankfully, I was acquainted with several of his friends. After making a series of inquiries, I managed to track down his whereabouts.
In the private room of a pub, a group of men and women were reveling in a lively atmosphere.
“Nathan, Aurora has been asking around everywhere about where you are. Are you truly set on casting her aside?”
Nathan, reclining on the sofa, exhaled a ring of smoke and said casually, as if discussing something as trivial as the day’s weather, “I’ve simply lost my appetite for sleeping with her.”
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Standing outside th
12:55 Fri, 7 Mar M
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I called Nathan, only to find that he had blocked me.
Thankfully, I was acquainted with several of his friends. After making a series of inquiries, I managed to track down his whereabouts.
In the private room of a pub, a group of men and women were reveling in a lively
atmosphere.
“Nathan, Aurora has been asking around everywhere about where you are. Are you truly set
on casting her aside?”
Nathan, reclining on the sofa, exhaled a ring of smoke and said casually, as if discussing
something as trivial as the day’s weather, “I’ve simply lost my appetite for sleeping with her.”
Standing outside the private room, just as I mustered up the courage to push the door open, my hand froze.
“Aurora is stunning and sexy. Nathan, how could you possibly have lost your appetite for sleeping with her?”
Nathan stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. “No matter how stunning she is, I’ve slept
with her for three years. If it were you, wouldn’t you be bored?”
Nathan’s friend, his eyes lighting up with excitement, let out a lewd laugh. “Well, I’d have to
sleep with her to know for sure. Nathan, you don’t mind, do you?”
Nathan was indifferent “She’s just a plaything. I don’t mind. But, be firm when you dump her.
Otherwise, she will act like chewing gum, annoying and disgusting.”
His words hit me like a bucket of icy water, drenching me in shock and paralyzing me in
place.
Suddenly, I was jostled from behind and pitched forward into the private room.
My knees struck the floor with a painful thud, and I sprawled there, looking a sorry sight.
A sweet and innocent female voice sounded.
“Oh no! Why were you lingering at the door instead of coming in? I didn’t even notice you. Are
you all right?”
My knees were throbbing with agony. Gritting my teeth, I lifted my head and happened to
stare into Nathan’s inscrutable eyes.
I just hoped that his remaining conscience would prompt him to lend me a hand. After all, he was well aware of the old knee injury.
The Christmas before last, Nathan was set to fly overseas for work. I’d rushed to the airport, desperate to give him the ginger cookies I’d baked.
In my haste, I’d forgotten that it had just snowed and the ground was slippery. I took a nasty fall and hurt my knee.
Fearing I’d derail Nathan’s work plans, I kept my injury a secret. I spent a solitary week in hospital, only just able to hobble out of bed and start walking again.
Upon his return, he was extremely concerned about me. He forced me to stay in bed for three months and personally applied medicine to my wound every day.
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During that time, I felt like a pampered princess. Even when I needed to use the toilet, Nathan
seemed ready to carry me there.
I teased him, “What would you do if I really ended up disabled?”
He tapped my forehead seriously and replied, “I’d carry you everywhere and show everyone just how clingy you are.”
So, from that time on, he must have thought I was clingy, right?
Someone in the private room shouted, “She’s here!”
“Hello!”
“Hi!”
The voices of Nathan’s friends rang out in unison, just like every time I met them before.
I instinctively opened my mouth, but before any words escaped my lips, I heard that sweet
and coquettish voice again.
“Nathan, look, they’re so annoying. They can’t resist teasing me!”
My words got stuck in my throat, and my face blushed with embarrassment.
Nathan’s friends were greeting Jane, not me!
She had been the toast of the school, the object of adoration for numerous men.
And, of course, she was the woman Nathan held dear.
He promptly stood up and strode over.
“Are you hurt?”
His voice was brimming with worry and tension, an echo of the tone he’d used when he’d come to the hospital to see me after my injury.
For a moment, in a daze, I instinctively reached out my hand towards him as he approached.
But in the very next instant, I watched as he brushed right past me and made a beeline for Jane. Gently, he took her hand and examined it with meticulous care, checking for any signs of injury.
My outstretched hand seemed to turn to stone in mid–air.
Jane shot Nathan a flirtatious glare and replied pointedly, “I’m not that fragile. A little bump won’t hurt me.”
“I can’t be sure if you’re injured until I examine you. Sit down for now, and let me take a look.” While carefully supporting Jane, Nathan passed me and growled impatiently, “Knock it off, Aurora. There’s no use in keeping up this act.”
All the color drained from my face.
One of Nathan’s friends reached out and helped me to my feet, guiding me to sit down on the side.
“Aurora, you’re drenched in sweat. Here, use these.”
He handed me two pieces of tissue. Despite the cold and distant tone he’d just used, I to the tissue from him politely.
Nathan’s friends would no longer regard me as the woman destined to be Nathan’s wife. The searing pain in my knee was so intense that it caused beade
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The searing pain in my knee was so intense that it caused beads of cold sweat to break out all over my body. If it weren’t for the fact that I needed Nathan’s help, I would have rushed to the hospital without hesitation.
This second injury seemed even more excruciating than the first.
The thought of potentially becoming a cripple filled me with dread.
After all, the very man who had once promised to carry me everywhere if I were disabled
was now tenderly holding another woman in his arms.
To lighten the atmosphere, someone proposed playing a game of Truth or Dare. Nathan turned to Jane and asked her if she was okay with it. Only when she gave a nod of approval did he agree to join in.
Unfortunately, she ended up losing in the very first round.
<
12:55 Fri, 7 Mar
The End of a Forbidden Affair
“Jane, truth or dare?”
Jane cast a glance at me. “Truth.”
“When did you fall in love with Nathan?”
Nathan stared intently at Jane.
Evidently, his profound interest was piqued.
Jane pondered for a while. “Well, it should be the Christmas before last. At that time, I had
resigned myself to spending the holiday all by myself. On my way back to the apartment, I
caught sight of him standing downstairs. The snow had soaked his clothes, but the white roses
in his arms were carefully protected. I invited him upstairs. To my surprise, he could make ginger
cookies. He told me that he learned the recipe just before coming, solely with the intention of
letting me savor the cookies he baked personally. I simply couldn’t fathom why he would go to
such lengths to be so kind to me.”
She stared at Nathan affectionately. He gently stroked her head with a doting expression.
“Because you deserve it.”
“Instead of spending Christmas with his family, he flew all the way to be with you. Jane, Nathan is really nice to you!”
“I didn’t expect that Nathan would learn to make ginger cookies, especially for you! Jane, how
was Nathan’s cooking? Were they delicious?”
Jane nodded, beaming with joy.
Everyone was excited and curious, but I felt a chill run through my body.
So, on the Christmas before last, Nathan had flown abroad to accompany Jane.
While I was alone in the hospital, he was with her, merrily making ginger cookies.
More ridiculously, I was the one who had taught him the recipe.
No wonder he had never made them for me even once after he learned how.
It dawned on me that from way back then, I’d merely been a pawn in their amorous game.
A shiver ran through me, just like that time I’d tumbled in the snow and trembled in the frigid wind, the cold seeping right down to my marrow.
The once–sweet memories of the past three years now seemed nothing but a cruel jest.
“Hey! Aurora, you lost.”
Jane’s words pulled me back to reality.
With an innocent expression, she asked, “Would you choose truth or dare?”
“I choose…”
I wanted to choose truth. After all, my injured leg wouldn’t allow me to take any challenges. But when I looked up and met Nathan’s warning gaze, the words on my lips immediately
altered.
“I choose dare.”
Having been with Nathan for so many years, I could discern that he was apprehensive I
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