Chapter 4

That day when we got home, Ethan proactively put his arm around me for a selfie and posted this couple photo to social media for the first time.

I understood—my progress bar had advanced another notch.

Late that night, I opened his private profile page in the bathroom. Sure enough, there was a new blog post.

He'd written about today's events.

The comments were full of mockery:

"This chick's got some fire in her."

"Ethan, are you catching feelings?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, is Ethan going serious? You'll lose the game if you do."

Ethan hadn't replied to a single comment.

The next night at midnight, he came home reeking of alcohol, looking at me with both despair and pain.

"I'm sorry. Baby, let's break up."

He pulled out a diagnostic report.

"I've been feeling unwell these past few days—dizzy, headaches. I went to the hospital today for a checkup. Turns out I have a brain tumor."

"Surgery would cost at least two hundred thousand dollars. Where would I get that kind of money?"

Did he steal this from a soap opera?

I resisted rolling my eyes.

Ethan half-reclined on the sofa, tears streaming down his face.

"Lily, I can't ruin your entire life."

I clasped my hands together, my nails digging into my palms, my lips biting until they bled.

Between my part-time jobs and street stall, I'd only managed to save fifty thousand dollars so far.

Two hundred thousand could crush me.

Ethan cried while sneaking glances at me.

He was waiting to see how I'd agree to break up, dump this terminally ill boyfriend, and restart my life.

But I said nothing and turned to leave.

The door clicked shut.

His mouth opened—he hadn't expected me to leave without a single word.

After turning two streets, I opened his profile page.

Ethan's tone was agitated.

"She ran off over two hundred thousand. Really poor, cheap, and worthless."

The comment section echoed in agreement:

"Normal. For poor people, two hundred thousand is worth more than life itself."

"Ethan, you've played with this one for most of a year. Getting bored? Let's find someone new!"

Ethan didn't reply, but he didn't leave either.

He stayed in the basement apartment, continuing to smoke and drink.

Staring fixedly at the door.