Chapter 3

In my dream, I was back to when Chloe and I first got together.

Back then, we were inseparable.

There was a time when I was laid off and my salary cut, and the money Chloe had was almost gone.

It was her, secretly taking out loans to keep us afloat, getting us through those days when we were practically starving, living on cheap instant ramen and bland rice.

She firmly believed I could make a comeback, encouraging me every day to get back on my feet.

And because of her constant encouragement, I persevered.

Later, I paid off her loans, and our lives steadily improved.

I was even secretly planning to propose to her.

But then Noah suddenly reappeared, shattering all my plans.

At first, she brought Noah to our home, letting him wear my clothes, use my things.

I tolerated it all, because Chloe would say:

"Don't forget, you had your dark period too. You know how hard it is to find light if no one's there to guide you."

But my tolerance only made them bolder.

Hah, they actually slept together right in front of me. Was that part of 'finding the light' too?

Back then, I was so worried about dragging Chloe down, I never even touched her.

The dream grew increasingly painful. Suddenly, a commotion woke me, followed by someone hitting my chest.

The pain jolted me awake, and the first thing I saw was Chloe's red, puffy eyes. She angrily accused me.

"Ryan, you want to get drunk, fine, but how dare you let your friend provoke Noah? He's in the hospital now, he's already suffering so much, why would you go out of your way to torment him? Tell me!"

A flurry of slaps rained down on my head and body. My head throbbed from last night's drinking.

Impatiently, I pushed Chloe away.

"Enough, Chloe. If you're so worried about your Noah, then from today on, we're over. I'm blocking you everywhere, we're done. I'm sick of this."

The moment my words fell, Chloe instantly quieted.

She panicked, her eyes filling with hurt.

"You... you want to break up with me?"

"Yes!!"

"Hah, that's impossible. We love each other so much, how could you be so cruel as to break up with me? I don't believe it."

Right in front of her, I pulled out my phone, unlocked it, found her contact, and blocked her with a single tap.

Then I went into my photo gallery.

I deleted every single photo of us together.

To prove I was serious, I even went into the trash folder and permanently deleted every last one.

My voice was flat as I said:

"Chloe Miller, there is no 'us' anymore."

Chloe snatched my phone, trying to unblock herself, only to find I'd changed my password.

She urgently questioned me:

"How could you change the password? You said you'd always be transparent with me!"

"Ryan, please don't be like this, okay? I promise you, I won't bring Noah home again, and I won't do anything inappropriate with him. I won't make you angry again, please don't do this."

Just moments ago, wasn't she accusing me of bullying her Noah?

What was she trying to say now?

I stared into her eyes, asking seriously:

"Then can you promise to never contact him again? Send him to a psychiatric hospital; they have professional staff. I'll cover the costs."

Chloe didn't even consider it, blurting out:

"Noah can't function without me. Anything else, I can promise you."

As soon as she finished speaking, her phone rang.

She answered, then rushed out of the hospital room without a backward glance. Watching her go, my heart was utterly deflated.