Chapter 2

I called, she didn’t answer. I messaged, she didn’t reply.

I looked at my phone and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

In three years, this was the seventy-eighth time she’d left me behind.

It wasn't as crushing as it should have been.

I chose this, so I had to live with the disappointment.

Who told me to be so helplessly, hopelessly in love with her?

In my senior year of high school, Eleanor got a direct scholarship to Harvard, while my grades were okay, but my future felt vague.

I stopped her by the school building and confessed for the first time:

“Eleanor Vance, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

She glanced at me, her voice cold.

“I don’t like guys with bad grades. Can you get into Harvard?”

I stood in silence for a long moment, then clenched my jaw and replied:

“Yes.”

So I studied day and night, trained day and night, and finally got into Harvard on an athletic scholarship.

I saw her at the campus gates and confessed for the second time:

“Eleanor Vance, I did it. Will you date me now?”

She just frowned, and simply, decisively, threw five words at me:

“I don’t like you.”

I guess, even after three years of us being together, she still didn't like me that much.

I finished three huge well-done steaks, just how I liked them.

I touched my eye, and tears were streaming down, tasting oddly sweet and bitter as I ate.

I wiped them away with a bitter laugh.

Why should I be sad? It wasn’t the first time she’d abandoned me.

If I had to be upset every time, life would be unbearable.

I curled up on the couch and waited until past midnight for the doorbell to ring.

My heart leaped with a desperate hope.

I opened the door, only to see Derek Miller supporting Eleanor, standing at my doorstep.

“Liam, uh…”

“The company had a last-minute business meeting, I called Eleanor myself. She seemed pretty drunk, so I just brought her home. You don’t mind, do you?”

Derek’s apology seemed sincere, but there was a smug, mocking glint in his eyes.

I ignored him, took Eleanor from him, and swallowed my irritation.

“Thank you, Mr. Miller.”

Eleanor was indeed quite drunk. As I helped her to the couch, she still clung tightly to my arm.

“Eleanor, we’re home.”

I leaned in to brush a strand of hair from her cheek.

Her face was flushed, her skin warm to the touch.

Her clear eyes stared straight at me.

As I started to stand up, she suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck, showering my face with fervent kisses.

The scent of red wine and her delicate perfume flooded my senses.

“Eleanor Vance, do you remember what day today is?”

I gently pushed her away and straightened my collar.

She frowned, looking at me.

“It’s just your league day. Congratulations on winning first place.”

My heart plummeted.

Fine, she forgot. What would blaming her change?

I pulled out the takeout container of lobster from the restaurant.

“Today is our three-year anniversary. This is your favorite lobster.”

“You promised me we’d celebrate together. Why did you disappear just because Derek called?”

I remembered everything about her. Why couldn’t she care about me, even just a little?

Eleanor rubbed her temples, then opened the takeout box.

“Well, we can celebrate now, can’t we?”

“It’s not the same.”

“Liam, why are you being so dramatic?”

She frowned at me, a hint of impatience in her voice.

I froze for a second.

If only I could fly into Rose’s heart like Jack did, and make her love me.

Why was she always so reasonable, and I was the one making a scene?

Maybe my biggest flaw was simply being unloved by her.

I sighed.

“I’ll shell the lobster for you.”

She wouldn’t know how utterly defeated I felt.

I’d pushed myself so hard in training, all to lay this medal at her feet today.

I held out the lobster meat to her, then suddenly smiled.

“Eleanor Vance, do you think I’ll never leave you?”