When fate plays its hand

Chapter 1

After the Love Has Gone

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Chapter 1

I prepared plenty of dishes on Christmas day, waiting for Helena Hawthorne to come home for dinner.

However, she never noticed any of them as she continued packing her things into a suitcase. She then said coldly, “I won’t be spending Christmas with you this year.”

I didn’t say a thing as I started eating in silence.

Right at the stroke of midnight, Helena’s! ove posted a photo on his Instagram feed. Helena was leaning against his shoulder in an intimate manner in the photo as fireworks lit up the sky behind them.

The caption read, “She said that as long as I wanted it, she’d leave everything behind to be with me.”

I didn’t get hysterical or question her anymore this time. Instead, I just double–tapped on the post to like it.

A second later, Helena called me, sounding like she was anxious and panicking. “Don’t get mad. I’ll definitely spend the next Christmas with you…”

I laughed self–deprecatingly and said, “It’s a pity that we won’t have till next year anymore.”

By the time Helena came home, it was already the next day.

Last time, I’d have been waiting anxiously for her at the main gate of the building, but this time, I didn’t,

I then got a text message from her. “Where are you?”

I was in the middle of having my lunch. I just replied to her simply, “Come back yourself. I’m having lunch.”

A while later, I was washing the dishes in the kitchen when Helena came in with her suitcase. She sounded tired as she huffed and puffed. Then, she stared at my back and said, “I haven’t had lunch yet. Can you cook something for me?”

Had this been in the past, I would have immediately made her some food, but this time, I just said, “I don’t have the time. You can eat at one of the shops downstairs.”

Helena glared at me. Still, she suppressed her anger as she said, “I know that you’re still mad at me for last night, but can you please quit throwing a tantrum like this? I’m really hungry now.”

I finished washing the dishes and dried my hands next. “I’m not mad.”

t

Helena didn’t believe me. “Jaxon is all alone in this city, so I need to be with him, whether as a friend or

not.”

I answered faintly, “Sure. I understand.”

Helena stared into my eyes as if she was trying to see through me. She then said in a tired voice, “You’re making me exhausted like this. Can you just stop it with your tantrum?”

I looked back at her. “I’m not throwing a temper tantrum. You don’t need to explain things to me.”

She looked at me for a whole minute. Then, she retrieved a model airplane from her suitcase and handed It to me. She looked down at me and said casually, “Your Christmas present.”

The model airplane wasn’t wrapped up in gift paper. In fact, there were even some creases in the original packaging. It was a drastically different situation from the intricately wrapped gift Jaxon Fletcher had

Chapter 1

shown off on his Instagram.

I didn’t show any expression of delight on my face as I took it from her and said politely, “Thank you.” I didn’t say anything else after that.

A hint of dissatisfaction appeared in Helena’s eyes. She asked me angrily, “Is that all?”

I answered simply, “That’s all.”

Helena’s face was white with anger. She held her hands out toward me and demanded, “Where’s mine?”

It was only then that I thought about it. So, I said apologetically, “Sorry, I forgot. I’ll Venmo you some money so you can buy whatever gift you want by yourself.”

I then took my phone and transferred s

money to her.

Helena’s eyes widened, as if shocked that I’d even forget her gift.

After all, we’d promised each other that we would always exchange gifts during Christmas. I’d remembered it every single year and made sure I went all out with her gift even though she’d forget at times.

The situation became a little awkward. I grabbed my coat from the couch and opened the door, ready to leave.

Helena quickly called out to me and stopped me from leaving. “Where are you going?”

replied simply, “Out drinking with friends.”

Then, I shut the door behind me, completely ignoring Helena’s shouts.

After getting together with Helena, I’d stopped drinking because she said she didn’t like it when I drank. My friends had then stopped calling me out for drinks since they knew my girlfriend was strict about it and I’d just be a killjoy at their gatherings.

Finally, I could drink all I wanted.