Chapter 1

I prepared plenty of dishes on Christmas day, waiting for Helena Hawthorne to come home for dinner.

However, she never noticed any of them as she continued packing her things into a suitcase. She then said coldly, "I won't be spending Christmas with you this year."

I didn't say a thing as I started eating in silence.

Right at the stroke of midnight, Helena's first love posted a photo on his Instagram feed. Helena was leaning against his shoulder in an intimate manner in the photo as fireworks lit up the sky behind them.

The caption read, "She said that as long as I wanted it, she'd leave everything behind to be with me."

I didn't get hysterical or question her anymore this time. Instead, I just double-tapped on the post to like it.

A second later, Helena called me, sounding like she was anxious and panicking. "Don't get mad. I'll definitely spend the next Christmas with you…"

I laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "It's a pity that we won't have till next year anymore."

…

By the time Helena came home, it was already the next day.

Last time, I'd have been waiting anxiously for her at the main gate of the building, but this time, I didn't.

I then got a text message from her. "Where are you?"

I was in the middle of having my lunch. I just replied to her simply, "Come back yourself. I'm having lunch."

A while later, I was washing the dishes in the kitchen when Helena came in with her suitcase. She sounded tired as she huffed and puffed. Then, she stared at my back and said, "I haven't had lunch yet. Can you cook something for me?"

Had this been in the past, I would have immediately made her some food, but this time, I just said, "I don't have the time. You can eat at one of the shops downstairs."

Helena glared at me. Still, she suppressed her anger as she said, "I know that you're still mad at me for last night, but can you please quit throwing a tantrum like this? I'm really hungry now."

I finished washing the dishes and dried my hands next. "I'm not mad."

Helena didn't believe me. "Jaxon is all alone in this city, so I need to be with him, whether as a friend or not."

I answered faintly, "Sure. I understand."

Helena stared into my eyes as if she was trying to see through me. She then said in a tired voice, "You're making me exhausted like this. Can you just stop it with your tantrum?"

I looked back at her. "I'm not throwing a temper tantrum. You don't need to explain things to me."

She looked at me for a whole minute. Then, she retrieved a model airplane from her suitcase and handed it to me. She looked down at me and said casually, "Your Christmas present."

The model airplane wasn't wrapped up in gift paper. In fact, there were even some creases in the original packaging. It was a drastically different situation from the intricately wrapped gift Jaxon Fletcher had shown off on his Instagram.

I didn't show any expression of delight on my face as I took it from her and said politely, "Thank you." I didn't say anything else after that.

A hint of dissatisfaction appeared in Helena's eyes. She asked me angrily, "Is that all?"

I answered simply, "That's all."

Helena's face was white with anger. She held her hands out toward me and demanded, "Where's mine?"

It was only then that I thought about it. So, I said apologetically, "Sorry, I forgot. I'll Venmo you some money so you can buy whatever gift you want by yourself."

I then took my phone and transferred some money to her.

Helena's eyes widened, as if shocked that I'd even forget her gift.

After all, we'd promised each other that we would always exchange gifts during Christmas. I'd remembered it every single year and made sure I went all out with her gift even though she'd forget at times.

The situation became a little awkward. I grabbed my coat from the couch and opened the door, ready to leave.

Helena quickly called out to me and stopped me from leaving. "Where are you going?"

I replied simply, "Out drinking with friends."

Then, I shut the door behind me, completely ignoring Helena's shouts.

After getting together with Helena, I'd stopped drinking because she said she didn't like it when I drank. My friends had then stopped calling me out for drinks since they knew my girlfriend was strict about it and I'd just be a killjoy at their gatherings.

Finally, I could drink all I wanted.

Chapter 2

After a few rounds of drinks, my friends all started complaining to me. "We all thought you'd completely forgotten about us after getting yourself a girlfriend. You're not allowed to do this again next time, understand?"

I nodded and promised them I wouldn't. "Just call me out anytime you guys are meeting up again next time. I'll definitely be there."

I'd put all of my focus and attention on Helena after we started dating. My work and life revolved around her all the time. However, I'd lost my own friends in the process.

Now that I thought of it, it hadn't been a wise choice at all.

I looked at my phone and saw that Helena had returned the money I sent her.

It was 1:00 am by the time I finally went home. I turned on the lights in the living room and saw Helena waiting on the couch.

I was shocked. For a moment, I thought I was seeing things.

Helena saw me in my tipsy state, but she didn't come up to help me. Instead, a look of hate and disgust appeared on her face.

She said with much disgust, "Mark Lovelace, can't you just man up? Just tell me if you're jealous. Drinking yourself to death like this will only make me despise you more."

My head was spinning. I held on to the wall and slowly hobbled over to the dining chairs before taking a seat.

Helena could smell the alcohol on me. She frowned lightly and said, "Didn't I tell you before that I hate it when you go drinking?

"I'm not in the kind of relationship you think I am with Jaxon. Currently, we're just friends. You don't need to get drunk like this because of him."

I held my head in my hand and said, "No, you're overthinking things. I went out drinking… because I wanted to."

Helena's voice turned shrill when she saw me in my state. "That's enough. I've already explained things to you, so what else do you want me to do? Don't test my patience because I have my limits. I'm not some goddess who can tolerate this kind of behavior over and over again."

My head only pounded even harder after listening to her shrill voice. I massaged my temples and said, "Don't get worked up. I'm going to sleep."

Helena inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh when she saw me like that. Then, she simmered down and came forward to help me walk. However, I used the last of my rationale and consciousness to avoid her touch.

I made it into the guest bedroom with wobbly feet and locked the door behind me. I didn't care that Helena kept knocking continuously at the door.

I fell into a deep sleep right after. It was some of the best sleep I'd ever gotten in my life.

When I woke up in the morning, Helena was watching TV in the living room and said nothing to me.

Her face was as black as thunder. I knew that she was fuming. But, I didn't bother trying to cheer her up. Instead, I washed up and headed out right after.

Chapter 3

I went to my company and handed in my resignation letter. The only reason why I'd applied for this job was because I wanted to be closer to Helena. But now, there was no more need for that.

My supervisor tried talking me out of it, but I was firm with my decision and rejected his offers.

Just a few days ago, I'd just received a job offer from an overseas company I'd applied for. It had always been the company of my dreams, but I had turned them down in the past for Helena. Luckily, it still wasn't too late for me to start chasing my dream.

After resigning, I had to start handing over my tasks to the next person, and that was when I decided to tell my friends about the good news.

My friends were happy for me when they heard it. But after going silent for a while, they asked, "But what about Helena? Is she going with you?"

I chuckled bitterly. "No, I'm going alone. She and I are almost over anyway."

After I was done with the handing over, I started preparing the items and documents I would need to leave the country.

My parents had both passed away. Besides Helena, I only had a handful of friends in the country anyway. I used to think that home was wherever Helena was, but now that it was gone, I felt like a dandelion seed.

Home was now wherever I landed.

I went home and saw Helena getting ready to go out. She had put makeup on her face and wore very tight shorts to show off her long legs and perfect body.

She was holding a birthday cake in her hands. I understood where she was going at once.

It was Jaxon's birthday today. Of course, Helena was going to celebrate it with him.

She was on the phone when I arrived home. She said happily, "Alright, alright. You can stop guessing now. If I told you what your present was, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore. Just wait for me to arrive, okay?"

I didn't know what she heard from the other side of the line next, but whatever he said, it sent Helena into a huge fit of laughter, revealing her canines.

When she was with me, I hardly ever got to see her smile.

Helena continued to grin. However, as soon as she caught sight of me, the grin on her face disappeared at once.

She would do anything for Jaxon and give him whatever he wanted, but I couldn't even get a smile from her.

Her facial expression darkened immediately. In the end, we never exchanged any words. She just avoided me in disgust.

She hurriedly put on her shoes and then slammed the door behind her.

I knew that Helena was launching a cold war against me. We used to get into cold wars like this in the past too, and it was always because of Jaxon.

Whenever this happened, I would anxiously do everything in my power to try and patch things up with her. It didn't matter if she refused to answer any of my messages—I would still continue trying to make up with her.

But now, I just searched the internet for a few recipes from the country I was going to and started learning to make them.

I had to try getting used to the cuisine beforehand, after all.

Chapter 4

I saw Jaxon's Instagram post when I lay in bed that night.

His caption read, "I'm so grateful that you're still by my side after all."

Helena's best friend, Gwen Murphy, left a comment under the post, saying, "I'm so touched. So glad to see Lena so happy!"

I tapped into the post and saw that all of Helena's close friends had liked Jaxon's post.

Helena's friends had always looked down on me. They all thought that I was the one getting in the way of Helena and Jaxon. They thought Helena would be happier with me out of the picture.

I read the rest of the comments about Helena and couldn't help sighing, knowing that they were right.

Helena had replied to the post and said, "Everything happens for a reason."

I continued to read their blatant online flirting with a stoic look on my face. Gwen then replied, "Don't comment anymore. With Mark's personality, you know he's going to make a whole ruckus when he sees this."

Last time, I used to gently remind Helena to keep her distance from Jaxon. He was of the opposite gender after all, so it was still best if she stayed away from him.

However, Gwen called me mean and petty for telling Helena that. She even made fun of me and said that I was micromanaging Helena's social circle, even stripping her of her right to choose whom to befriend.

Helena agreed with Gwen after hearing what she had to say. She even chided me afterward, saying that I should man up and be more magnanimous with her.

I didn't kick up a fuss online like what Gwen hoped I'd do. Instead, I just quit the app and started watching some YouTube videos. I fell asleep a while later.

I was fast asleep by the time Helena came home. She woke me up in dissatisfaction and yelled at me, saying, "Mark Lovelace! Why weren't you the least bit concerned when your girlfriend was still out alone and late at night?

"Gwen's boyfriend wouldn't stop calling her the whole night, but what about you? You never even bothered calling once. What is the meaning of this?"

Chapter 5

I looked at Helena in confusion. I couldn't understand why she was angry with me.

I used to call her often when she went out at night, but she would always reply, "I am not a tool for you to control. Please give me some space and freedom. I can't even breathe with you acting like this!"

Now that I no longer bothered calling her, she still got mad that I didn't bother calling her. I really didn't know what she wanted me to do anymore.

However, I didn't bring up the past. Instead, I just said, "You're hanging out with your friends, so what's the point of me calling you for the whole night? You're friends with Jaxon and the others. There's nothing for me to be worried about."

A look of disbelief appeared in Helena's eyes. Maybe she was shocked that I could bring Jaxon's name up calmly like this.

But a split second later, a look of understanding replaced the disbelief in her eyes. "That post was just for memories. There's no other meaning behind it. Don't overthink it."

I shook my head and wanted to speak, but she cut me off and said, "So what now? Or did you think that I shouldn't have attended Jaxon's birthday party?

"I've been friends with him for ten years, and we were only together for a very short while last time. We're just platonic friends now. And it's only reasonable that I attended my friend's birthday party!"

I looked at Helena understandingly. "I know that. It's late. Hurry up and go to sleep."

Helena remained silent. She stared at me as if trying to see if I was angry or not.

Half a minute later, she still couldn't get her answer. She reached out to hug my waist, but I quietly avoided her once more.

Then, I asked calmly, "Do you want to sleep in the master bedroom or the guest bedroom tonight?"