Crushed, Abandoned, Reborn

Taking a closer look at the person in front of me, I almost cried out. It was my college classmate, Sienna Young.

We had been part of a small group, but he and Derek had a falling out for unknown reasons and left the group.

He dropped out soon after, and we lost contact.

Seeing we were acquaintances, he opened up and began to talk.

When he mentioned that incident, his face still held a trace of anger.

“That day, we went to a bar. I had my eye on a junior girl, and Derek offered to help me hook up.”

“But he ended up sleeping with her himself that night.”

“I treated him like a good friend, but he treated me like Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Vacation series." How could I not beat him up?”

I remembered that day clearly.

I had gone back to my hometown, and Derek lost contact with me all night.

He said he was playing games and not checking his phone, and eventually went to bed because he was too tired.

At the time, Derek and I were secretly together and didn’t want our counselor to know, so no one else knew.

When I asked him why he got beaten up, he lied and said it was a misunderstanding.

Later, he claimed the junior girl who was looking for him was a suitor. Now it seemed she wasn’t attracted to him but was there to hold him accountable.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my skin.

He had always pretended to care, but I never expected him to cheat on me back in college.

“You didn’t know, but we’re getting engaged tomorrow.”

I pulled out my headphones and spoke softly.

“Huh? You two are together?”

Sienna was stunned, but after years in the real world, he didn’t try to hide it.

“That doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t dare call him a bad person to his face.”

“But I don’t get it, Renee. You’re fair-skinned, beautiful, and smart. Why did you end up with him?”

“I don’t think he’s a good person.”

“Are you saying I’m blind?” I asked.

He raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.

“I think so, too.”

“Huh?”

He was about to say more when a sudden buzzing sound came through my headphones.

Then I heard the voice of Derek’s brother.

“Derek, why is your partner talking about the betrothal gift the day before the engagement? What’s the point?”

I hadn’t expected them to be talking about me.

I turned up the volume on my headphones.

Derek’s car CD player had a monitoring device.

I hadn’t installed it—he did when he first bought the car.

He was afraid I’d cheat on him during business trips.

Later, he seemed to forget about it.

I found these headphones while cleaning the house before the engagement.

In my previous life, I was too busy preparing for the engagement to question him.

It wasn’t until after my amputation, when I was heartbroken and clung to this one item, that a fellow patient told me it was a bug-in headset.

At that moment, I felt like a complete joke.

“If you ask me, she might have gone to visit her ex under the pretense of going home.”

“No, brother, why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“What are you talking about?”

Denver Tate’s hoarse voice spoke with conviction.

“Don’t you know? Many people, before getting engaged, secretly see their exes to make love, to avoid regrets.”

“She comes back saying she’s talked with her family. We take advantage of it, and she enjoys the thrill. Who loses out? Silly brother.”

“No way. I’ve watched her for years. She hasn’t had much contact with the opposite sex.”

“Silly brother, things happen when people are most vulnerable. You haven’t dared touch her for years. If she’s been with someone else before the engagement... it would be a shame for you to have such a life...”