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Chapter 3

Her timid look made me look like the bad

guy.

“How could I be angry? Please enjoy your meal. I just remembered I have some unfinished work, so I’ll take my leave.”

With a calm smile, I picked up my bag, ready to leave.

“Come on, are you still upset about Alex setting off fireworks for Vivi?”

Jason mentioned deliberately, his gaze filled with provocation.

Hearing him bring up this, Vivian spoke up, “I’m sorry, Isabella. I was in a mood back then, and

Alex just wanted to cheer me up with that. Alex, you should apologize to Isabella.”

Alex frowned upon hearing this, “I just set off some fireworks. Why should I apologize?”

His words caused the atmosphere to freeze.

Vivian smiled subtly at me from where he couldn’t see, as if silently declaring her possession over Alex.

It was laughable. The person who did wrong had no idea that he was in the wrong.

Just like before, he never realized his own faults.

He thought he could just casually appease me and move on from this.

I smiled, “Yes, you’re right. The fireworks were quite a spectacle. Keep it up next time.”

With that, I left without looking back.

The moment I closed the door, I heard Vivian’s voice. “Alex, go apologize quickly. Isabella is obviously angry.”

“Don’t mind her. She’ll be fine in a few days.”

His words stabbed at me like a sharp sword.

What on earth had I done before to make him so confident?

I walked out of the hotel slowly.

The cool breeze of the early autumn night was refreshing,

I strolled along the bustling streets, with couples passing by, their affectionate displays genuinely

enviable.

Before Vivian came back, Alex and I were just like them.

We held hands tightly, unwilling to let go for fear of losing each other.

So, why did things turn out this way?

I felt heavy breathing, a bit suffocated.

Seeing an ice cream truck on the side of the road, I thought for a moment and bought an ice

cream.

The moment I got the ice cream, I suddenly remembered his words vaguely.

“You know you get a stomachache from eating ice cream, but you still can’t resist it.”

I took a bite in a daze, and it was salty.

“Your ice cream tastes off,” I said to the ice cream truck owner, my voice trembling.

The owner glanced at me and handed me a tissue. “Miss, maybe you need to wipe your tears first.”

I looked up, my eyes blurred, and I realized that tears had fallen on the ice cream.

No wonder it tasted salty.

I sniffed, turned around, and went home.

I received a message from Alex as soon as I got home

[Have you arrived home?]

I glanced at it and didn’t reply.

Soon, he sent another message: [Everyone didn’t have a good meal because of you today. Let’s invite them to dinner another day.]

I still didn’t reply to him.

He seemed to have lost patience and called me directly.

I put down my phone and turned a deaf ear.

When I came back after washing up, the phone had already fallen silent.

Before going to bed, I habitually browsed through the WhatsApp statuses and unexpectedly saw a photo Vivian posted five minutes ago.

The driver was driving in front, and Alex and Vivian were sitting in the back seat of the car.

In the photo, he was resting his eyes languidly, while Vivian was shyly looking at the camera in a posture that leaned against him.

The caption of the photo was: [It turns out I am still your first choice after so many years.]

gave a self–mocking smile and replied to her: [Congratulations.]