Love's Ashes Depart the Harbor

"I was feeling really bored alone, so I thought I'd fly back to surprise you." Jason, with reddened eyes, asked her, “Vivian, did you just mistake me for Ethan?"

"Sorry, Jason, I drank too much tonight, that's why I acted like that."

Vivian, who had never touched alcohol, was irritated after trying to console Jason for a while. Only when the man fell asleep did she take off her dress and walk into the bathroom.

When she saw my toiletries, Vivian furrowed her brow and pinched the bridge of her nose.

How many days had it been already? Could it be that I really have no intention of returning during this time? But this weekend was her birthday. Every year around this time, I, who was particularly attentive to rituals, always prepare a cake and a birthday surprise for her with my own hands. This year would certainly be no exception.

Thinking of this, Vivian, who had been about to send me a message just a moment ago, snorted coldly and turned off her phone screen.

On Vivian's birthday night, as she walked into the party suite holding Jason's hand, she immediately heard her group of girlfriends teasing and joking.

"Oh my, why are the bride and groom so late?"

"Do we even need to ask? Look at Vivian's lips, we all know she's probably been secretly feeding Jason lipstick again."

Amid the lively atmosphere, Vivian lightly smiled as she scanned the room.

When she realized I wasn’t there, the curve of her lips gradually faded.

After a few rounds of drinks, someone, with a loose tongue, casually mentioned, "What time is it and our male pet still hasn’t made an appearance?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly chilled.

Taking a small sip of whiskey, Vivian, with a smile that was neither here nor there, asked the person, "Oh? You seem to care quite a bit about Ethan?"

"No, no, I just remembered last year when you made us force Ethan to drink, all the way until he vomited bile... It was, uh, pretty funny..."

Upon hearing this, Jason called over the waiter, instructing them to play last year’s video of me drunkenly making a fool of myself on the big screen, the footage rolling in the background.

As laughter echoed from the group of friends, Vivian expressionlessly sent a message. [Ethan, where are you?]

The sudden appearance of a red dot made the woman instinctively blink twice, doubting whether she had seen it correctly.

Jason asked her what was wrong.

Vivian chuckled lightly, muttered something about feeling a bit suffocated from drinking too much, then quickly exited the suite. Finding a quiet corner, she dialed my number.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service..."

No matter how many times she redialed, she received the same result.

Before Vivian could figure out what was happening, Jason suddenly hugged her from behind and laughingly led her back to the suite.

"Vivian, your birthday cake is here. Come in and make a wish."

The nine-tiered cake was extravagant and luxurious, clearly not something I would have made.

Yet Vivian, unwilling to give up, asked the waiter, "Who ordered this cake?"

"Miss Moon, the cake was personally ordered by Mr. Woods for you."

Upon hearing this, Vivian secretly gripped her phone tighter.

After she and Jason blew out the candles, the others began to present their expensive gifts.

A million-dollar necklace, a sports car key, shares in a new enterprise...

But what Jason gave was a baby gender test report.

"Vivian, I secretly had the doctor do the test without telling you. We're having a son."

"That's great, Ethan, we..."

Before she could finish, Vivian suddenly realized she had called the wrong name.

The room fell into sudden silence.

Time seemed to freeze as every second passed.

Just as Jason, with red eyes, could no longer hold back and was about to storm out, Vivian suddenly heard Jenna, sitting in the corner, speak to her.

"Vivian, Ethan asked me to give you a gift."