An Unforgettable Ex

On the seventh anniversary of my relationship with Liam Lyons, I unlocked my phone and clicked on his Facebook.

He had never posted an update before, but today he unexpectedly posted one.

He hadn't blocked me. Maybe he forgot to do that.

He only wrote a short line. "We had our wedding on the same day, but the person I married was not you."

The accompanying image was of a man's diamond ring, with two letters engraved clearly on the inside of the band, and it was LD.

I lowered my gaze to the identical ring on my finger.

Liam and I have been in a relationship for seven years, but he never mentioned marriage.

Last month, however, he suddenly came to me with this ring, eager to discuss getting engaged on Independence Day.

I thought my seven years of persistence had finally paid off.

It turned out that I was wrong.

The LD on our wedding rings never stood for Liam and me.

It was for him and his unforgettable first love, Destinee James.

He chose to marry me on Independence Day, not out of love, but simply because Destinee was marrying someone else that day.

How ridiculous!

I stared at the ring and sneered.

The door was unlocked, and Liam came back.

He changed his shoes and immediately saw me sitting on the sofa in the dark. "Why are you acting strangely in the middle of the day? What's the matter now?"

Ignoring his impatience, I raised my head and looked at him calmly. "Liam, let's break up."

"Divya, what are you doing being unreasonable?" He took a few steps toward me, trying to grab the phone from my hand. "We're about to get married. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

I dodged to the side, shoving the screenshot I had taken in front of him.

The impatience on his face froze the moment he saw the words on the screen.

But soon, he regained his aloof demeanor, not even changing his tone, "You're digging up my previous updates and making a big deal out of them. What's the point?"

What was the point?

I withdrew my phone and told him clearly, "Liam, I'm not marrying you."

His expression finally darkened.

Perhaps my gaze was calm enough to make him realize I wasn't joking.

We stared at each other for a long time.

In the end, he didn't say another word, just coldly said "It's up to you", then turned around and slammed the door and left.

After the resounding bang, silence returned to the house.

I slowly got up, walked into the kitchen, and laid out the steak and vegetables I'd prepared for the anniversary.

With a sizzle, the steak hit the hot pan, its aroma spreading through the air.

After seven years of my youth being wasted, I had to have a good meal to celebrate my new beginning.

I quietly finished the long-delayed dinner, celebrating a fresh start.

After eating my fill, I wiped my mouth, took out my phone, and called a moving company. "Hello, I need to move right now. An urgent request, and I'll double the cost."

The person on the other end was startled by my directness, pausing for a moment before responding, "Miss, it's too late now..."

"I'll triple the cost." I interrupted him, "Bring everyone you can. I'll send you the address."

After hanging up, I looked around the house I'd lived in for nearly seven years.

I chose the sofa in the living room, I planted the flowers on the balcony, and I collected the entire wall of books in the study one by one.

I used to think this was my and Liam's home.

After seven years, it turned out that I was just a ridiculous sojourner.

I walked into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, where half the space was taken up by Liam's clothes, and the other half was mine.

His clothes were always black, white, or gray, meticulously ironed. My clothes, however, were colorful and full of life.

Without expression, I pulled out a few pre-packed suitcases, only packing my own things.

My summer skirts, winter sweaters, my books, my computer, and the bunny doll that had been with me for many years at the head of my bed.

As for the things Liam had given me? Well, he never gave me anything except that ring.

Halfway through packing, I got a call from the moving company. Their efficiency was astonishing.

"Miss, we're downstairs, we've got all the stuff, and we'll make sure everything's moved perfectly." The leader of the team shouted in a straightforward voice.

I opened the door, and several strong men in work clothes filed in.

The leader glanced at all the items in the room, smiling. "Miss, you live alone, but you have quite a lot of belongings."

I smiled. "I didn't live alone before, but now I do."

The leader, understanding the situation, immediately kept quiet and swiftly began directing his workers to start packing.

Less than an hour later, the once warm home had become empty and desolate.

I took one last look at the house, my eyes landing on the console table by the entrance.

There was a photo frame there, which was the only photo of Liam and I taken when we graduated from college. In the photo, I smiled brightly, and Liam stood beside me, his expression as cold and distant as ever.

I walked over and turned the frame face down on the table.

"Let's go." I turned and never looked back.

The car drove toward the four-bedroom apartment I had bought a month ago, paying in full with the wages I had saved up over the past seven years.

I had never told anyone about this, not even Liam.

I had planned to surprise him after we got married, to tell him that we finally had a home of our own.

Looking back now, I was glad I hadn't said anything.

Otherwise, even this last escape route would have been tainted by him.

Standing in the empty living room of my new home, smelling the faint scent of paint, I felt more relaxed than ever before.

My phone vibrated.

It was a message from Liam. "When you're done messing around, come back on your own. Don't make me come after you."

I stared at the message that Liam had sent, not replying with a single word.

He said I should come back on my own?

Who did he think he was? King of the world?

Just as I was about to put my phone down, another friend request popped up.

The profile picture was of a gentle, smiling woman, and the name read Destinee.

I clicked to accept.

Without a single word, she sent me a photo.

In the photo, Liam was drunk on the sofa, his tie was askew, his usually meticulous hair was messy, and his brows were furrowed.

Destinee's caption followed. "See? He was so sad when he heard that I was getting married."

I almost laughed out loud.

Heartbroken? He clearly looked like he was suffering from alcohol poisoning, his eyelids swollen.

Before I could reply, a voice message came through.

The background was noisy, and I even heard the singer from that bar Liam hated, belting out some popular online song.

Then came Liam's slurred voice. "Destinee... don't marry him... I only love you..."

Finally, she sent me a photo that could be described as a bombshell.

Liam and she were lying on the same bed, the angle cleverly taken. Though they were still mostly clothed, his hand rested on her waist in a familiar pose, suggesting a story full of implication.

Destinee's final taunt arrived. "Even if I marry someone else, his heart will always be mine. Divya, you are a loser."

A loser?

I looked at this line of words and suddenly felt that I had been in love with a mentally ill person for the past seven years. This mentally ill person also had a mentally ill friend.

A woman on the verge of marriage, desperately seeking attention from me.

A self-righteous crybaby who thought he could tell me to come back on my own.

I slowly typed out a message, thought for a moment, and then attached a gift card. "No returns on used goods. Take this money and buy some brain food."

I sent her an insulting amount of money. After sending it, I quickly blocked her and deleted her.

After finishing, I opened Liam's chat window, and his "come back on your own" was still glaring at me, as if it were mocking me.

I blocked him too.

Finally, my world was quiet again.