Chapter 1

Ethan Hayes' first love got divorced and returned to the US, inviting us to a welcome dinner.

To avoid embarrassing him, I specially changed into the new dress he gave me.

But as soon as I entered the private room, everyone looked at me and burst out laughing.

I thought my hair was messed up, so I went to the restroom to fix it.

Upon returning, however, I overheard Vanessa Reed teasing me:

"Ethan, so you haven't told Claire Bennett yet that all the gifts you've given her over the years have been secondhand items that I didn't want anymore?"

Others echoed this sentiment:

"Yes, the dress she's wearing, is it the one that Vanessa and you went to the hot spring hotel the day before yesterday and it fell into the toilet?"

"It's hilarious that she wore it specifically to assert her dominance."

"Ethan, Claire is your wife, after all. Can't you at least take pity on her and get her a new wedding ring?"

Ethan scoffed.

"If she didn't look somewhat like Vanessa, why would I have married her? It's already an act of great kindness of mine to have her as my wife."

"A substitute is only fit for secondhand use."

He turned and placed the pink diamond, the size of a pigeon's egg, on Vanessa's hand, saying gently:

"Newly bought, ten million. Congratulations on becoming single again."

I touched the small diamond ring on my ring finger, worth less than a thousand yuan, and laughed self-deprecatingly.

Four years of sincere friendship.

It turns out that in his heart, I was nothing more than a cheap substitute.

……

I walked into the private room and smashed the wedding ring into the wine glass in front of him.

"So not only the dress, but even the wedding ring you gave me was a cheap secondhand item that Vanessa didn't want?"

The private room fell silent instantly.

Ethan showed no sign of guilt.

He rubbed the spilled wine off his face with his fingertips, a casual smile playing on his lips.

"Since you've already heard it, why are you asking the question when you already know the answer?"

I clenched my fists, trying my best to keep my voice steady:

"So when you said before that you designed this ring yourself to commemorate our love, were you lying to me too?"

Before he could speak, Vanessa covered her mouth and laughed:

"It wasn't entirely a lie; it was indeed designed by Ethan himself."

"However... it was just one of the dozen or so rings he designed for me to practice on, which was discarded when we celebrated our seventh anniversary."

“After all, Ethan said that something so cheap is not good enough for me.”

The others also laughed and tried to smooth things over:

"Hey Claire, even though the gifts Ethan gave you were all secondhand, they weren't all cheap."

"Yes, for example, this dress of yours. He bought it for Vanessa the day before yesterday, but it accidentally fell into the toilet when they were changing clothes at the hot spring hotel. Ethan had it washed before giving it to you. It could sell for nearly ten thousand on the second-hand market."

“If Ethan hadn’t been so protective of Vanessa because she’s a germaphobe, you wouldn’t have gotten a chance to wear it. It’s free, so you’re not losing out.”

Ah, what a perfect line, "not a loss."

It turns out everyone knew except me.

The day before yesterday was my birthday. Ethan said he was busy talking to clients about a project and left me home alone.

It turns out he went to a hot spring with Vanessa.

I don't dare to think about what else happened between them besides changing clothes.

Vanessa, arm in arm with Ethan, smiled at me and said:

“Claire, you can’t blame Ethan entirely.”

"Who told you to only look three-tenths like me? He thinks that only by having you wear the clothes I wore and use the things I used can you look more like me."

Ethan didn't deny it, but he frowned impatiently:

"Alright, the things Vanessa doesn't want aren't off-brand."

"Besides, many people shop on secondhand platforms. If others can do it, why can't you? Are you Claire more precious than others?"