On my birthday, my boyfriend Cody Hill went out to take a call. When he came back, he said apologetically, "Sorry, Katie. There's an emergency at my company that I need to deal with."
I was about to agree when I saw several comments floating in front of me.
"The emergency at the company is fake, picking up his true love is the real reason."
"Why doesn't this scumbag die on his way to pick up his true love?"
I froze for a moment.
I noticed that my friends around me were calm, as if I was the only one who could see these comments.
I asked Cody, "Are you really going to work overtime at the company?"
Cody glanced at his phone, looking impatient, "Why would I lie to you? Katie Daniels, don't be so suspicious."
He probably realized that his tone was harsher than intended and tried to soothe me gently, "Katie, be a good girl. After I finish up at the company, I'll make it up to you."
Cody left in a hurry.
The comments continued to chatter, complaining on my behalf.
From those comments, I quickly understood that I was the protagonist with cancer in some online story.
I, with my love-addled brain, deeply loved the male lead, Cody, even though he was constantly entangled with his true love. Despite the pain, I kept loving him.
It wasn't until later, when I got cancer, that I finally came to my senses and left for another place to recover.
Cody also suddenly realized that the person he loved was me, and he started searching for me frantically.
When he found me, I was already dead.
He held my corpse in agony, and not long after, he died in despair.
What an absurd and ridiculous plot, but I couldn't help but believe it.
Because just now, I opened the social media account of Cody's true love.
She posted two pictures: one of Cody's profile, and one of a bouquet of roses.
The caption read: It's great. Three years have passed, and he hasn't changed at all.
Below were comments from her friends:
"Is she together with Cody now?"
Her response: "Not yet, but he says he's been waiting for me to come back."
The comments were all berating the scoundrel man and the homewrecker woman.
"Ahh! It's so disgusting, I feel like I'm going to throw up my dinner from last night."
"Can the female lead break up with this scumbag already!"
"She's unlikely to break up with him, she's hopelessly in love. If it weren't for the cancer eventually overcoming her love-stricken mind, she'd still be pining for Cody!"
Break up, must break up!
My greatest strength is listening to advice!
I went to a quiet stairwell and called Cody to break up with him.
Cody thought I was just being spiteful and said impatiently, "Katie, all I did was not have time to celebrate your birthday with you. Do you really need to be so petty?"
I retorted sarcastically, "No time to celebrate my birthday, but you had time to go to the airport to pick up Elsa Hopkins?"
"I knew you'd be angry, that's why I didn't tell you," Cody frowned slightly. "Katie, don't be so petty. It's dangerous for a girl like Elsa to take a taxi late at night, so I picked her up."
From the other end of the line, Elsa's soft voice came through, "Katie, don't be mad. Cody was just worried about my safety, so he specially came to the airport to pick me up. There's nothing between Cody and me."
I rolled my eyes, "Enough, don't pretend to be innocent. If I remember correctly, your family lives here, right? Your family register is down to just you, or do you have no friends other than Cody? Did you have to call a man who should be celebrating his girlfriend's birthday to pick you up?"
Elsa's voice took on a sobbing tone, "Katie, you've really misunderstood. There's nothing between Cody and me."
Cody snatched the phone from Elsa and said angrily, "Katie, can't you be more reasonable? Elsa and I are just good friends. Don't maliciously speculate about our relationship."
Recalling the content Elsa posted on her social media, I mercilessly exposed his hypocrisy: "Who gives red roses to a good friend? And what's this nonsense about always waiting for a good friend to come back? Cody, if you want to be Elsa's lapdog, go ahead and do it. I'm done with you."
I hung up the call directly.
The comments were stunned.
"Woah, am I blind? The female lead actually initiated the breakup?"
"The female lead should have scolded this pair of scoundrels a long time ago. How satisfying!"
"Don't get too excited too soon. She's hopelessly in love; the male lead just needs to comfort her a bit."
"That's true."
This is something I might have done before, but I've come to my senses now.
Reconciling with Cody is out of the question, not even in my next life.
As I was about to leave the stairwell, my mother called.
"Katie, don't forget to bring your boyfriend to the family gathering tomorrow."
"Your cousin's boyfriend recently got promoted, and your aunt is so proud of it in front of me."
"Bring your boyfriend along so I can save face."
Before I could tell my mother about my newfound single status, she hung up and went off to play mahjong.
Now that I'm single, where am I supposed to find a boyfriend to deal with my family?
I muttered to myself, "Are there services for renting a boyfriend online? Should I rent one?"
Just then, a clear, cold voice came from above on the stairs: "Miss Daniels, how about I pretend to be your boyfriend?"
