When My Girlfriend Falls In Love with My Male Brother

At a friend's gathering, my girlfriend's male best friend peeled a big crab for her.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on me.

They thought I would be jealous or angry.

Yet I led the applause and wished the two eternal happiness.

"You look so affectionate. Why don't you two kiss?"

***

My name was Danny Jackson. Last month, on my birthday, Lara Thornton, my girlfriend, left me in the middle of my birthday celebration to attend the classmate gathering of Austin Woodward, her male best friend.

I was angry and asked her why.

She blamed me for not trusting her, saying that trust was the most basic thing between couples.

Besides, there were so many people present. It wasn't just the two of them.

As a result, we stopped talking to each other for two weeks.

This afternoon, Lara sent me a screenshot of a page about a restaurant reservation.

She rarely took the initiative. Every time we fought, I was always the first one to give in.

Only then did she reluctantly agree like a queen.

I looked at her message.

It was just a screenshot without any words attached. But it was enough to make me happy.

Lara was always like this. She was so good at the carrot and stick policy.

Lara and I weren't exactly like a couple. I guessed it was more appropriate to address me as her simp.

She was my owner holding the leash, and I willingly handed over the leash to her.

Whether our relationship was good or not depended entirely on Lara's mood.

I was such a loser who let her manipulate me.

I loved her so much and so humbly that I had no say in our relationship at all.

But today, when I saw her message, I didn't feel happy at all.

Once upon a time, a message from her would have been enough to make my day.

I replied as usual.

[OK, honey. See you tonight.]

When I finished work, a colleague asked if I wanted a ride home.

"I'm going out for dinner with my girlfriend tonight." I scratched my head in embarrassment.

"Danny, you and your girlfriend are so in love."

I was afraid that wasn't true. Our relationship was on thin ice.

After all, it was like unrequited love. I was kind of tired now that I had devoted for such a long time.

The reserved time was 7:00 p.m., but I arrived at 6:30 p.m.

The rain was drizzling, and I sat in front of the window from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Lara was nowhere to be seen.

I called her, but she didn't pick up. I texted her, but she didn't reply.

Lara, once again, stood me up.

"Sir, we will be closing at 10 p.m. Would you like to order?"

I nodded.

Sitting alone, listening to the heavy rain outside the window, and eating fresh grilled salmon.

I actually thought that the feeling of being alone was surprisingly good.

When paying the bill, I saw Austin's Instagram.

"Being sick is so uncomfortable, but luckily I have you!"

The picture attached was a pair of hands clasped beside a hospital bed.

I recognized at a glance that one of them was Lara's hand.

Her hands were very fair, and she applied a liquid hand mask every night. She found it troublesome, so I helped her apply it and then washed it off carefully.

The moment I saw the picture, I felt nothing at all.

I wasn't angry, and I didn't feel like questioning her.

Instead, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had always expected would be like this.

See? I was right again.

Every time Lara stood me up, it was because of Austin.

But when she stood him up, it was never because of me.

To be more precise, she had never stood him up!

I was glad that this time I was not sad or aggrieved at all.