- 2.
The doorknob gently turned, and a man stealthily crept in.
5:25 PM
<
I stared at him in the darkness, my eyes bloodshot.
He was clearly startled. “Oh, crap, you’re still awake…
Before he could finish, Blake’s urgent, sharp voice cut him off. “You’re drunk! Wrong room!”
Blake forcibly dragged the man out, speaking in hushed tones outside the door. I caught fragmented pieces of their conversation:
“She’s having an episode… Go back… there will be other chances…”
The man’s voice rose. “I even prepared the little pills! How can I…”
I don’t know what Blake said in the end, but the surroundings fell silent.
Throughout the rest of the night, similar situations happened twice more.
I stayed awake, sitting motionless on the floor. Blake didn’t come in to check on me.
I thought blankly, was it worth it for Blake to pretend for ten years, all for this day?
I had met Blake even earlier than he thought. I was in the middle of the road, bipolar disorder suddenly striking, rendering me unable to move.
Just as the traffic was about to rush towards me, a young man suddenly appeared and saved me.
Later, I inquired about him everywhere and found out he was known as the poorest student in school.
A gambling father, a sick mother, and him – kind and silent.
From then on, my entire youth revolved around Blake. From high school to college, I pursued him for seven long years until we finally got together.
When he had no money for food, I would eat cheap buns every day, giving him all my living expenses so he could have proper meals with meat and vegetables.
He envied other boys who had the latest sneakers. I endured harassment working at a busy diner for two months, buying him three pairs that mnade every guy in school incredibly jealous.
He was even beaten by ten thugs and almost lost his life. It was me who swallowed my pride and agreed to go into the woods with them so he could escape unharmed.
Last year, his mother’s illness worsened, requiring hundreds of thousands. I begged everyone, even kowtowed to my stepfather who used to bully me when I was little, just to raise the money.
I thought sharing hardships would lead to undying love, but it turned out to be a cruel prank by a rich man.
But why? WHY?!
Blake had forgotten to take his tablet, and new messages kept popping up:
“Young Master Blake is being so unfair. He said we could come, and now he won’t let us.”
“Don’t even get me started, I really want to know what it’s like with a woman having an episode… I heard some get super excited!”
“I really want to experience Young Master Blake’s life. He pretended to be poor in high school, had Harper working like a dog, sacrificing everything for him, and also had a beauty like Scarlett Zhao who, to save him, willingly went into the woods with other men. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Oh, come on, you playboy, you don’t even have a tenth of Young Master Blake’s devotion. Scarlett Zhao just returned to the country, and Young Master Blake not only bought her a car and designer bags but also purchased an entire piece of land in Grandview Estates, planning to build a mansion there someday. He doesn’t even care if Harper finds out and jumps off a building.”
These words were like sharp knives, tearing repeatedly at my already tattered heart.
Blake and I, broke and with nothing, crammed into a tiny studio in a sketchy part of town. He once held my hand and said that if we worked
hard together one day.
5:25 PM d
<
I always thought a bright, clean apartment with one bedroom and one living room was our unreachable dream.
It turned out everything was so absurd. I frantically picked up the fruit knife beside me.
Just as I was positioning it against my wrist, a sickeningly intimate moan suddenly came from the room next door:
“Blake~ Mmm…”
