Love Unsent

After the door was slammed shut for quite a while, my phone started vibrating frantically, bringing me back to reality.

Jack had posted a major announcement in our high school class group chat.

Jack: [Lina is back. There will be a party at our usual place tomorrow! Everyone must come! @Everyone]

The attached photo showed two smiling faces close together. It was Jack holding Lina's hand and gently kissing the back of her hand.

Below were a bunch of curious and questioning comments.

[Mr. Jenner! Even if Lina hasn't returned home for many years, why are you so enthusiastic?]

[What the hell? How could you kiss Lina's hand?]

Many people tagged me.

[Ariana, please see. Your childhood sweetheart is cheating on you!]

At the graduation party when we were 18, Lina confessed to Jack in public. The girl kneeling on one knee had hopeful eyes, but Jack only snorted in response. "Did you misunderstand something, Lina? It's not Christmas yet, so I haven't prepared any presents!"

Seeing Lina's reddened eyes, Jack looked away and hugged my shoulder. "I'm happy with my childhood sweetheart, Ariana! We'll get married after graduation! All of you need to attend our wedding!"

Lina stood up and slapped me hard in the face, sobbing as she left.

Now that I thought about it, his red eyes at that time were not out of sympathy for me but rather due to the pain Lina must have felt for slapping me.

Jack sent a voice message, "You can't kiss Lina, but I can kiss my fiancée. I'm getting engaged to Lina."

Immediately, all the comments that tagged me in the group chat vanished like a gust of wind. Only blessings remained.

Someone joked: [Look at the background. Someone had a night of passion (Doge emoji)]

Jack replied almost immediately: [Get lost! Don't joke like that!]

His tone was serious and full of protectiveness.

I suddenly thought of myself.

At a class reunion six months ago, a guy in our class asked me how I was in bed. I got exasperated and argued with him.

Jack blamed me for being boring. "We're all classmates. Don't take it seriously."

It turned out that he simply did not care about me.

As I smiled wryly, Lina posted a message in the group chat: [Our engagement and marriage registration are on Sunday. We'll finally be legitimate. (Sunglasses emoji)].

Everyone readily offered their congratulations.

Lina then tagged me again.

Lina: [@Ariana, I'm sorry. Eight years ago, Jack used you as a shield and made me slap you, and now, they're making fun of you again because of us.]

Lina: [Jack told me you volunteered to be my bridesmaid. Thank you! See you tomorrow, old friend!]

I was still wondering what being used as a shield meant when Jack's messages came through.

Jack: [Ariana! Why are you pretending not to see?]

Jack: [Can we not bring up those old, trivial matters?]

Jack: [Lina just got back, and you're already giving her a hard time to embarrass her?]

Jack: [Reply quickly!]

The messages were heartbreaking, giving me no chance to breathe. Finally, he wrote: [Fine, don't reply if you don't want to!]

He then tagged me in the group chat.

Jack: [Stop partying, @Ariana. Remember to take your morning-after pill (Doge emoji)]

Lina immediately followed with a message.

Lina: [I've wasted all these years abroad. I'm not even as open-minded as Ariana (Laughing while covering mouth emoji)]

I was about to reply when I realized I had been muted by the group admin, Jack.

Overwhelmed with anger, I called Jack, but I heard Lina's voice right after it connected.

"Jack, did you really think I couldn't compare to Ariana when you rejected me?"

Jack's familiar voice answered without hesitation, "Ariana? I've never considered her a woman. My dad's company was having problems at the time, and I didn't know if things would ever get better for our family. I didn't want you to suffer with me, so I made up an excuse to make you give up.

"I couldn't just go and fool around with other girls either. But everything is in the past now. I can support both of us. Lina, I'll never let you go."

After a series of soft kissing sounds, Jack said gently, "Let's get our marriage license first. We have a lifetime together, so there's no rush. I don't want to do you wrong."

I abruptly hung up.

Back then, Jack got drunk at the graduation party, and a few classmates carried him to a hotel. I stayed and looked after him. At the cheap motel that cost 20 dollars a night, he pulled me into his arms. The next day, he slapped himself hard when he saw the bloodstains on the sheets. "I'm sorry."

I thought that apology was for me, but now, I realized it was for Lina. He was sorry for rejecting her. He was sorry for sleeping with me.

I wiped away my cold tears and called a moving company.

The room I had painstakingly decorated over the years was cleaned up in just a few hours. Watching the garbage truck drive away, I put the spare key in the shoe cabinet.

My parents divorced when I was young, and I was kicked around like a football. If there was any advantage to it, it was probably that I could quickly accept any heartbreak. Even if my heart was aching, I could force myself to act like nothing was wrong.

I closed the door and called my dad. "I'll marry that disabled man. Consider it paying back what I owe you."