Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing.

“Lily Wright, are you crazy? You called me 108 times in one night!”

The familiar voice came through the receiver.

I immediately spoke, my voice cracking with tears.

“Michael, you finally called me back.”

“We’ve broken up, Lily. My dad doesn’t like you, and it’s better to end things now than drag it out. I won’t turn back.”

“What’s wrong with me? I’ll change, I’ll change until your dad is happy. You know I can’t live without you.”

“Uh, but I don’t have feelings for you anymore.”

No feelings?

How can I get you to feel something again?

I couldn’t help but cover my face and cry, but my hand touched eight-pack abs.

A deep voice came from underneath me.

“If you want to get back together with him, you might want to get off me first; that would make your argument more convincing.”

I suddenly realized I was lying on top of a handsome man.

My brain short-circuited.

Before I could figure out who he was, I heard Michael’s voice from the phone.

“Dad?”

Dad?

The man underneath me was his dad?

I sobered up in an instant.

I immediately hung up the phone.

“Not getting off yet?”

The man glared at me.

“Okay. Uncle.”

Well, it was my first time meeting my boyfriend’s dad.

I tried to behave as sweetly as possible.

But when I realized I wasn’t even dressed, I lost all confidence.

He didn’t even comment on having such a young and handsome dad.

“Uncle? Now you’re being obedient?”

“You weren’t so obedient last night when you were biting me.”

Ah!

I was completely stunned.

I quickly rolled off him and scrambled to get dressed.

The whole time, he just stared at me.

And patiently waited for me to finish getting dressed.

Then he asked,

“Are you Michael’s girlfriend?”

“Ex...ex-girlfriend.”

I corrected myself.

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

“I forgot.”

I stood by the bed, obedient, like a student being scolded by the teacher.

“Well, how do you plan to handle this?”

I didn’t know.

The sky was falling.

Yesterday, I heard that Michael’s dad was sick, so I planned to go visit him, and maybe he could convince his son not to break up with me.

I just had a bit to drink.

How was I supposed to know I’d cause such a huge mess?

“Uncle, take care of yourself. I’ll come visit you again some other day.”

He glanced at me and summarized,

“I see, you don’t want to take responsibility.”

“No! What I mean is...” I lowered my head, “I was wrong.”

He stood up and slowly started getting dressed.

Though he was facing away from me, the lines of his back made me blush.

“Have the driver take you back. I have a flight in an hour, so I’m running out of time...”

“No need!”

I quickly looked away.

Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a few torn packaging bags in the trash bin.

To get rid of the evidence, I quickly grabbed the garbage bag and tried to sneak out.

I opened the door and bumped right into Michael.

“Lily? What are you doing in my dad’s room?”

When he barged in, my face was red, and his dad was buckling his belt.

I froze, cold sweat running down my back.

So this is what it feels like to get caught in the act.

My brain was working overtime.

“I heard your dad was sick, so I came to check on him.”

Michael turned to look at his dad.

“Dad, did she really come to see you, or is she here to bother you?”

“Well, she came, but... she’s also annoying.”

His dad laughed.

Michael was furious.

“Lily, I know you’re upset, but breaking into other people’s houses after a breakup is really off-putting.”

“I understand!”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave.”

All I wanted was to escape quickly.

Just as I was about to leave, he stopped me.

“Wait, what’s in your hand?”

“The garbage bag.”

I quickly hid the garbage bag behind my back.

Michael gave me another headache-inducing look.

“Lily, you don’t need to keep seeing my dad and throwing garbage at him, trying to win him over.”

“It’s useless anyway.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m sorry, it would be better if you were a bit more attractive.”

Me?

We’ve been together for three years. He’s always been so gentle, saying I was cute, and now he’s saying I’m not attractive enough?

I was furious.

I grabbed the garbage bag and threw it at his head.

“The garbage bag fits you better.”

“I came here to break up with you. The reason is simple. you’re not good enough.”

Michael’s defense broke.

“Who’s not good enough? Say it clearly!”

“Dog.”

I ignored him and turned to leave.

“Wait, there’s a condom in the garbage... three of them?”

I froze as I reached the door.

Did the truth finally come out?

“Dad, you brought a woman home and used the condoms I bought?”

After Michael’s dad buttoned up the last button of his shirt, he glanced at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“You should handle your own business first.”

“If you cause trouble again, I can’t handle it.”

Can’t handle it?

I felt a shiver in my heart and quickly closed the door, sneaking out.

Chapter 2

The first thing I did when I got back to my rented place was delete everything related to Michael.

Then I sent all the things he had given me back to him via express delivery.

After I did that, I suddenly felt a dull pain in my lower abdomen.

I asked my best friend, Gigi, to accompany me to the emergency room.

The test results showed minor tears and slight rupture of the corpus luteum.

Gigi was stunned, standing by the hospital bed.

“Shit, that intense? Did you two get back together?”

“No.”

“No? Lily, I really can’t say anything to you anymore. Love-brain is no good!”

“He blocked you on Facebook, didn’t he? He announced his new girlfriend with that vixen last night.”

Saying this, Gigi took out her phone and showed me a photo of Michael and a junior girl, making love gesture in front of chests together.

I was shocked.

That junior girl had once taken couple photos of me and Michael.

Later, she added me as a friend, and we occasionally played games together.

I had no idea they were still in contact, and just days after breaking up with me, Michael had announced her as his new girlfriend.

I felt like the person who had desperately searched for reasons and begged for reconciliation was a joke.

“So, what are you still trying to do...”

Gigi gave me a look of utter disappointment.

“Last night wasn’t him.”

“Wasn’t him?!” She looked like her eyes were about to pop out, “Well done.”

“If it wasn’t him, then I’m relieved.”

“Who was it? Which handsome guy was so wild?”

“It was his dad.”

She froze, her smile stiffening, and it took her a full minute to react.

“Lily, did you really go this far?”

At that moment, a young male doctor entered.

He adjusted his glasses at the door as if he was shocked by our conversation.

“No special diet, just pay attention to hygiene. No intercourse for a month.”

“I understand that you young people have a lot of energy, but you shouldn’t engage in excessive behavior for the sake of excitement.”

Excessive behavior.

My face turned completely red.

I honestly couldn’t remember what had been so excessive last night.

After the doctor left, Gigi asked what happened.

“So you went to get back with your ex, but ended up sleeping with your ex’s dad?”

“I drank too much. I blacked out.”

“Lily, I seriously suspect that you weren’t just drunk, you were probably ‘done’.”

“Who has an old man who can go three rounds in one night?”

I!!

Shut up!

“One more thing, where’s his mom? Are you not worried about becoming a mistress?”

Oh no.

I was really scared.

Turns out, drinking too much and eating peanuts is not a good idea.

After getting an IV drip at the hospital, I went back to my rented place.

From a distance, I saw Michael standing downstairs smoking.

He frowned.

“Lily, do you really like me this much? We broke up, and you’re still sending me gifts. Don’t send anything, my girlfriend won’t like it.”

“Then just give the gifts to your girlfriend. Won’t she be happy?”

“You...”

He was really sick. Who sent him gifts? I just sent back the trash he had given me.

I didn’t want to deal with him, feeling uncomfortable all over, so I said that and walked away.

“I want to ask you something. What did you mean by what you said this morning?”

“What sentence?”

Seeing Gigi beside me, he lowered his voice, “You said I wasn’t good enough.”

Gigi was laughing next to me, then whispered in his ear, “I heard you weren’t good enough.”

He immediately looked flustered.

“Lily, look at the kind of friends you keep, what a mess!”

“My judgment isn’t good, that’s why I ended up with a bastard like you.”

He was stunned.

Furious, he threw a paper bag at me.

“My dad asked me to give this to you, said you dropped it at my house, always so forgetful. If you keep acting like this, my dad will like you even less!”

I didn’t want to say anything.

He noticed the hospital bag in my hand and looked a bit smug.

“Are you sick?”

“Are you so upset about our breakup that you had to go to the hospital?”

“Lily, for the three years we were together, just tell me what you want, I can compensate you.”

I really hated that I didn’t have a knife in my hand right now.

Why didn’t I just stab him?

“I want you to go piss in front of a mirror.”

After cursing him out, Gigi and I went upstairs.

When we opened the paper bag, it contained a cat tail prop and a bank card.

The card had 200,000 euros in it!

I’ve completely embarrassed myself.

Last night, in order to get back together with Michael, I deliberately wore sexy stockings and even put on a cat tail to rush over and find him.

I thought that after seeing his dad, with the cat tail on, I could easily win Michael back and get us back together.

When you’re at your lowest, you really lose all sense of pride.

“200,000! His dad either wants you inside or he’s interested in you.”

“He can’t be interested, can he?”

“If he didn’t want to support you, why would he give you money right away? 200,000?”

“Could it be compensation for his son dumping me?”

“What did his son give you?”

“A Starbucks.”

Chapter 3

On the day we broke up, Michael ordered me a coffee from Starbucks with the note.

“Baby, I’ve given up, and once I give up, it’s for life.”

Speechless.

Although I’m not sure what exactly happened last night,

it seems like his dad probably sees me as a joke.

I practically delivered myself to his doorstep, dressed like that, so I guess I asked for it.

I thought of something and bought a box of pills on Amazon.

Even though I took precautions, I’m still worried about any accidents.

Imagining having a child and calling my ex-boyfriend “brother” already feels terrifying.

That night, I lay in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about returning the money.

I added Michael again.

“Michael, can you give me your dad’s Facebook?”

“No, my dad doesn’t accept any flattery, you can’t convince him.”

“You like me so much, what should I do with you, but I already have a girlfriend.”

I deleted Michael.

If it weren’t for the pills I took, I would’ve really thought I was pregnant.

Otherwise, why does seeing Michael’s messages make me feel like throwing up?

Forget it, I’ll sleep.

The working-class person still has to go to work tomorrow.

I’m in my senior year, interning at a company, earning the lowest salary, doing the hardest work.

Because I often work overtime, I rented a house with Gigi.

After I fell asleep, I had a dream.

In the dream, a man asked me if it was my first time.

I shook my head.

He smiled, “Then why are you so tight?”

“Relax, it’ll feel better.”

When I turned my head, Michael’s ugly face was questioning me again.

“What do you mean by ‘no’?”

I woke up scared!

How could I have such a dream?

What’s worse is that my supervisor called to ask why I hadn’t arrived at the company yet.

I rushed to the office, and by the time I got there, the meeting had already been going on for half an hour.

The supervisor looked at me like he wanted to swallow me whole.

This was a very important meeting.

My job was to serve tea, print documents, collect packages, order takeout, and be a punching bag.

I quickly walked into the meeting room, serving tea to each leader.

When I poured tea for a man next to the boss, he asked,

“Do you have coffee?”

“Yes.”

I thought the voice sounded exactly like the one in my dream. I looked up and saw Michael’s father.

I got so scared that my hand shook and I spilled coffee on his pants.

“How could you pour coffee like that!”

It was my boss yelling at me.

I finally came to my senses.

“I’m sorry!”

I panicked and immediately bent down to wipe it off with paper.

When I looked up, I saw him looking down at me.

“Do you know girls shouldn’t squat down like that to look at people?”

He pressed my hand down, telling me not to wipe it anymore.

I felt the warmth of his fingers, and my heart raced.

“Lily! Get out here now.” The supervisor lowered his voice.

I was dragged out and reprimanded.

I then learned that he was the investor my boss had worked hard to bring in, and this important meeting had been ruined because of me.

How could something so coincidental happen!

The boss was very angry and asked me to write a self-reflection and go to the office to apologize in person after the meeting.

I nervously walked into the office holding the self-reflection letter.

The boss was laughing and chatting with him.

“Is the young lady your dad introduced to you about to become your girlfriend?”

He smiled and shook his head.

“Stop lying, your neck is covered in hickey marks, did you sleep with her?”

“Did I sleep with her? With her family’s temperament, can you still escape?”

“It wasn’t her.”

“It wasn’t her?!”

“Then who was it? William Parker, you really surprised me. Which little girl is so wild?”

He smiled and smoked a cigarette without saying anything, then stared at me as I just walked in.

Why was he staring at me?

So his name was William.

He put out the cigarette.

“Not talking business, I’m leaving.”

“Okay, okay, okay, let’s talk business.” The boss glanced at me. “Lily, right? Come here.”

“If you have a problem with me, just say it directly. Do you know who this is? The richest man in Helsinki. If he moves a finger, our company will go bankrupt. And yet, you dared to spill coffee on Parker’s pants.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why apologize to me? He’s right in front of you.”

William glanced at him.

“She’s just a kid, why are you scolding her?”

“She’s young, nowadays, interns are all troublemakers. She offended you, you handle it, but don’t go too far because of my face.”

I had no choice but to turn to William and started reading my self-reflection letter.

“Mr. Parker, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

William, sitting on the couch, interrupted me.

“Did your hand burn?”

“No.”

I pulled my hand behind me.

“That’s good, you can leave now. It’s fine.”

The boss was shocked but didn’t say anything more.

“Let her leave if she’s going, why are you standing there?”

“Okay.”

I carefully placed the self-reflection letter in front of William and ran out.

The moment I closed the door, I heard the boss’s voice.