Chapter 1

The boutique guesthouse right across from our campus just launched a couple's promotion. If a couple stays there for three days and participates in their social media promotional photoshoot, they can win a luxury trip to Miami.

I was so excited. I immediately shared the Instagram post with my boyfriend, Ethan, telling him how much I wanted to go to Miami.

To "surprise" me, Ethan kept me in the dark. Instead of asking me, he signed up for the couple's event with my best friend, Ashley.

The two of them lived and ate together in that guesthouse for three days, successfully winning the vacation package to Miami.

I stood there, clutching a promotional poster that showed the two of them passionately kissing, and confronted him.

But Ethan just threw the two plane tickets right in my face.

"Who do you think I did all this for?!"

Today was my 21st birthday. I didn’t get a birthday dinner with my boyfriend.

Instead, I saw my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Ashley, walking out of the guesthouse together.

At first, my brain couldn't process it. But when my eyes fell on the giant poster standing at the entrance, I froze.

On the poster, Ethan and Ashley were holding each other tightly, looking like a deeply in love couple. In the bottom right corner, there was a cheesy slogan:

[A love so deep, we'll spend a lifetime sharing it.]

Furious, I ripped down a flyer and went straight to Ethan. Before I could even open my mouth to demand an explanation, his phone rang.

It was Ashley. The moment Ethan hung up, he turned to me and barked orders:

"Chloe, Ashley has terrible period cramps. She’s in so much pain. Go run to the pharmacy and get some Advil right now. I’m going to go check on her first."

As he spoke, he frantically started searching his backpack for a heating pad.

Seeing that I wasn't moving, Ethan’s brows furrowed in annoyance.

"Chloe, hurry up! Ashley is literally crying from the pain."

It was only then that he finally noticed the poster clutched in my trembling hands. His face instantly went pale.

I unfolded the poster and pointed directly at the two of them kissing.

"When did you and Ashley start sleeping together?"

Hearing this, Ethan practically jumped in defensive rage.

"Chloe! I can’t believe you would say something so disgusting!"

He snatched two plane tickets from his pocket and threw them right at my face.

"Who do you think I did all this for?! Didn’t you say you wanted this Miami trip?"

"What do you mean, 'sleeping together'? We are completely innocent! The photographer used a camera angle to make it look like we were kissing."

"Ashley is in so much pain right now. As her roommate, all you care about is throwing a childish tantrum! How can you be so selfish?!"

He practically screamed that last sentence. I stood there, stunned into silence.

He had never raised his voice at me like this. Clearly, he was the one who did something wrong, yet he was turning it around to make me the bad guy.

After yelling at me, he turned on his heel and ran toward the pharmacy to buy medicine for Ashley.