1 Never to Fall in Love Again
Love. Love is such a foolish thing.
She swore she would never fall in love again. Because she had lost all of her hopes about love, and she refused to believe that a woman like her deserve to be loved. Lu Xinyi waited for her turn at the ticketing booth with her luggage by her side and a broken heart.
They were supposed to spend their long holiday on a cruise ship. Perhaps, it was fate that brought her here. If she wasn't so naive, she wouldn't be hurt like this. Did she do something bad in her previous life that she had to suffer now?
Seven years were wasted. For Christ's sake! She wasted seven years with him just to find out he was a cheating bastard that slept around behind her back! How did he manage to fool her for so long—she had no idea!
Why didn't she see the signs earlier? Because she was blind and naive!
They didn't have enough time for each other because she thought they were busy with their respective jobs. They had stopped having dinners together because he said he didn't have time. He was always coming home late because of working overtime.
And girl, how wrong was she for believing his lies.
No, he didn't have a time for her because he was busy with her. He was busy taking her to dinners while she spent the night alone. And he even came home late because he was having sex with her.
Oh God, how foolish could she be?
Lu Xinyi felt like crying and dying at the same time. They had known each other since childhood, and he cheated on her with her 'best friend' whom she treated like a sister. How could the two of them betray her trust? Meng Jiao was the one who pushed her to date Gong Yijun. She felt like she was slapped hard on her face.
Her boyfriend for seven years was sleeping with her best friend.
She specifically asked for a day-off to surprise her boyfriend before they go on their one week vacation, but she didn't expect that she would be the one getting surprised when she comes home.
The moment she stepped in their shared apartment, she stopped on her tracks, hearing a woman's voice screaming her boyfriend's name. Curious and afraid of what she had walked in to, she silently walked upstairs and turned the knob of their bedroom door—only to find her boyfriend and her best friend tangled in a dance as old as time itself.
Their screams of pleasure turned into horror when the two saw her standing in the doorway. To save herself from further pain and trauma, Lu Xinyi slammed the door close and ran downstairs, taking her prepared suitcase. She ran outside their apartment and hailed a cab.
She could hear them shouting for her to stop and listen, but why would she bother to do that? To hear more lies? Not gonna happen. She had seen enough, and there's no need to talk about it.
There was no other explanation for the scenario she walked on. She wasn't blind and surely not hallucinating when she saw Gong Yijun screwing her best friend on their own bed that night. It's been almost ten hours since she left her place, and she still couldn't forgive herself for being stupid.
"Miss? It's your turn now." The woman behind her pulled her out from her thoughts. Lu Xinyi nodded her thanks and went to the ticketing booth.
"Ah, I would like to refund this ticket," she asked the teller. "Is it alright? I accidentally bought two tickets."
After Lu Xinyi refunded the ticket that was supposed to be for her retarded ex-boyfriend, she made her way onto the ship and to her cabin. While unpacking her luggage, her phone buzzed again. She gave it a quick look before turning it off and throwing it back in her suitcase.
Gong Yijun was calling her again for the nth time. She pondered if she should answer it to hear his explanation. But goddamnit! That scene was already embedded deep in her brain! She would have a hard time believing his lies again.
"I'll never fall in love again, I swear," Lu Xinyi promised to herself. She could never bear to get her heart broken again.
The tears she tried to hold back for the past hours broke out as she let her body fall on the bed. She lay there and sobbed quietly at her stupidity. It seemed fate wasn't on her side, and her life wouldn't get better.
As an orphan since she was eight and passed from one relative to another, she hadn't known what love was after her parents died. She had no doubt that after this trip, she would be homeless and jobless.
Gong Yijun owned the apartment they were sharing while her ex-best friend Meng Jiao was her superior at her workplace. How the hell would she start her new life without them?
