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So, this hot pot place was where Zoe and Jayce used to hang out during college.
They were here to reminisce.
Faced with the owner's question, they both, by some unspoken agreement, didn't correct her, basically admitting to it.
I knew in my heart that right now, Zoe probably wished her husband was Jayce.
After all, no matter how good I was to her for five years, she never forgot him.
The beef hot pot was bubbling. Zoe walked to a corner of the restaurant and sat down. Compared to the chaos outside, the inside was clean.
The two of them ate with gusto, their noses turning red from the spice.
I, however, had no appetite.
Zoe first put some food in Jayce's bowl, and as she was about to eat, she remembered something and put a couple of pieces of beef in my bowl too.
Amidst the rising steam, I put down my chopsticks.
"I don't eat spicy food." I looked at Zoe, my voice sharper than I'd intended, making the restaurant quiet down for a few seconds.
Only then did Zoe remember my preferences.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about how much Jayce loves this place and forgot you can't handle spice."
She said it while looking at me nervously.
She thought I was finally about to explode.
I could even see the anxiety in her eyes.
It seemed she was terrified of Jayce finding out about our current relationship.
Watching her flustered expression, her long eyelashes fluttering.
At that moment, I didn't feel sadness, nor did I feel the shame and anger of her denying our relationship. Instead, I felt a calmness so profound it was as if something had hollowed out my emotions.
The second Jayce appeared, Zoe had already made her choice.
I no longer hoped she would love me.
I didn't want to stay here anymore.
I stood up, looked at the two of them, and said with perfect calm, "You two haven't seen each other in five years. You should catch up properly tonight."
"I just remembered I have an urgent document to deal with. I'm heading back first."
With that, I pushed my chair back and walked out of the hot pot restaurant.
I heard Jayce behind me, asking Zoe with confusion, "Does your friend have a crush on you? Is he jealous of me?"
Zoe froze for a moment, then laughed. "How could that be? We're just friends, like sisters."
"Besides, I'll only ever love you in this life. Didn't you know that?"
I heard it all very clearly.
Strangely, I didn't even feel a hint of frustration.
In that instant, I suddenly realized that my feelings for Zoe were already gone.
…
I always knew Jayce was the one that got away for Zoe.
She loved him to the bone, which was why she was so devastated when he left the country without a word.
And I loved her to the point of no return, which was why I gladly agreed to be her boyfriend, even though I knew she only said yes out of spite.
At first, Zoe was incredibly cold to me. Although she came home every day, she never said a word to me.
I never complained, because this was the path I had chosen.
I firmly believed that if I persisted, I could melt her frozen heart.
But after five years, it was all just a joke.
In the end, the only person I ever moved was myself.
Zoe didn't come home until midnight.
I was still in the study reading when she returned. She didn't call out to me, but went straight to the bedroom.
When I heard the noise and went to check, she was putting a suitcase on the floor and organizing her clothes.
Seeing me, she stopped what she was doing, straightened up, and got straight to the point.
"I think it's better if I move out."
For a moment, the room was terrifyingly silent.
I studied the micro-expressions on Zoe's face. There was guilt in her eyes, but it was faint.
Since we were at this point, I pursed my lips and asked directly, "You want to break up, right?"
After so many years of this entanglement, I was more tired than anyone, more desperate to let go than anyone.
I originally thought Zoe would wait until at least tomorrow to have this conversation with me.
But I didn't expect she couldn't even wait for the night to be over, so eager to cut ties with me.
She forced a smile. "Cole, wasting your time on me seems pretty unfair to you. Maybe you should look at other women."
I took a deep breath, my face breaking into a wide smile.
"You're right!"
"Your best friend wanted to sleep with me last time. To be honest, I'm kind of into the idea…"
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