Chapter 2
Marcus’s friend didn’t expect me to arrive so quickly and hurriedly tried to pull him away from Annie.
Unfortunately, Marcus seemed to have drunk quite a bit and remained completely unmoving.
He muttered unclearly, “Get lost! Don’t touch me!”
This was the first time I had seen him this drunk.
His friend leaned close to his ear and said, “Tessa is here to pick you up! Wake up! You’re about to get married…”
The others, seeing the situation, also came forward to help. It took a great effort to finally pry Marcus’s hand away from Annie.
His body fell heavily onto the sofa, his face flushed red.
His friend finally let out a sigh of relief and introduced me.
“This is our high school classmate Annie. She went abroad in her sophomore year and just came back today. She happened to join our gathering. Marcus drank too much, don’t overthink it…”
If it were before, I might have lost control and asked them right there.
Knowing that Marcus and I were about to get married, why did they let Annie come? Why didn’t they stop it?
But now I just smiled indifferently.
Annie looked at me with a hint of playful curiosity in her eyes.
Until Marcus’s friend started to introduce my identity.
When he said the words “fiancée,” Marcus, who had been silent on the sofa for a while, angrily spoke up:
“She’s a friend!”
In that instant, my hand tightened under my sleeve.
My palm stung from my nails digging into it, trembling slightly.
The people around changed their expressions, looking at me with difficulty in their eyes.
This wasn’t the first time Marcus didn’t want to acknowledge my identity.
Earlier, when he refused to post on social media, refused to appear with me at the company, and refused to invite both families’ elders and friends to the wedding, I had already guessed our fate.
I was just unwilling to accept it, wanting to bet on our eight years of feelings one last time.
But I still lost.
I still maintained a smile, nodding to Annie.
“Hello, I’m Marcus’s friend Tessa. You look even better than in the photos.”
After I finished speaking, the room fell into complete silence.
Everyone looked at each other with various expressions.
Chapter 2
Annie smiled nonchalantly and reached for the fruit platter on the table.
However, Marcus, who had just fallen down, suddenly sat up straight again.
“Annie, you’re allergic to mangoes, you can’t eat that!”
Annie’s outstretched hand paused in mid-air, looking at his serious expression with amusement.
She said softly, “How are you still the same as ten years ago, silly? This is watermelon. You’re drunk.”
At that moment, something seemed to explode in my mind.
The fragments pierced my heart, leaving it bloody and torn.
So it wasn’t that he couldn’t remember, he just didn’t care about me.
For eight years, I had reminded him countless times that I was allergic to seafood, but his first choice for dates was always seafood restaurants.
I went from being angry at first, to compromising later, and even deceiving myself.
I told myself he was just too tired from work, his mind couldn’t hold anything else.
But today, reality once again slapped me awake.
Every detail was revealing the fact that he didn’t love me.
I expressionlessly helped him up from the sofa. As we were going downstairs to get a taxi, Annie chased after us.
Her gentle eyes smiled warmly at Marcus’s face.
She carefully instructed me:
“Marcus can’t hold his liquor well, and he’s allergic to the ingredients in hangover medicine. When you get home, make him a cup of honey water, but the water temperature can’t exceed 60 degrees. He’ll be fine soon, otherwise he’ll have a headache when he wakes up in the morning.”
Marcus had never told me any of these things.
I bit my lip and didn’t say anything, turning to get into the car.
But she called out to me again.
“Oh, why don’t I add you as a contact? If he feels unwell tonight, you can ask me.”
“Marcus doesn’t sleep well after drinking. You’ll need to keep an eye on him all night. If he kicks off the blanket, cover him immediately, otherwise he’ll definitely have a fever tomorrow.”
My nails were digging so hard into my palms they almost drew blood. My eyelashes trembled uncontrollably.
I stared at her innocent eyes for a while, and finally nodded.
We added each other as friends, and that’s when I discovered her WhatsApp Moments background was actually a photo with Marcus.
In the photo, the two of them from ten years ago looked young and naive, their eyes determined, fingers tightly intertwined.
As the car door closed, tears silently slid down my cheeks.
I had only heard others talk about the power of a first love before, and I had scoffed at it.
I believed that persisting with true love would always be reciprocated.
