IN THE FAHARA

The new drama wrapped up, and the company arranged for the male and female leads to host a joint livestream.

Fans of both stars flooded the stream with gifts and urged Cliff Rodriquez and Verena Elliott to kiss.

Cliff's face showed no trace of reluctance.

A numb pain welled up in my chest.

That same day, I broke up with him.

I gave him some money as a parting gift, but his eyes turned red.

1

The atmosphere in the livestream room grew awkward because of Cliff's expression.

Verena hid the smugness in her eyes and teased Cliff with a playful laugh.

The final scene before the stream ended was her leaning in toward Cliff and ready to kiss him.

Someone quickly captured a screenshot and posted it in the comments section.

I pinched between my eyebrows. It was starting to ache.

I had been Cliff's secret girlfriend for too long.

I got used to the scene where my boyfriend was intimate with other women every day.

I invested so much into Cliff's career every year. Why should I put up with this?

The next moment, I sent Cliff a message with my phone. "Why did you end the stream early? Was that request so difficult? You have done it before."

Cliff had kissed Verena countless times in the drama already.

Now he was pretending to be some innocent first love.

After a long moment, Cliff finally replied with one sentence.

He seemed to have been reluctant to part ways with Verena just now.

"Can you stop?"

Even though it was just text, I could almost sense him taking a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and the fleeting guilt that flashed in his eyes after he said that.

Verena's disingenuous message followed shortly after. "Wendy, are you okay? Some of your fans caused a scene in the live stream just now, and Cliff seemed a bit annoyed. Don't worry. Leave it to me. I'll handle it so it doesn't affect your relationship."

I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes.

"Are you trying to make yourself look important?" I thought.

The next second, Cliff's call came through.

I pressed the answer button and instinctively held the phone away from my ear.

His furious voice was heard. "Wendy! Didn't we agree on this from the start? What are you trying to do now? Disciple your fans! I'm earning money for you and for our future home! If I don't pay the wedding expenses, will your family even allow me to marry you? Can you be a little more reasonable?"

I gave a cold smile.

Did he do everything for me?

Without me, didn't he need to earn money?

He made it sound like I was desperate for his money.

The money he made wasn't even close to what I spent in a month at cosmetic clinics.

After he finally finished speaking and quieted down, I rubbed my ear and said coldly, "Take care of yourself. Don't provoke me from now on. My fans can do whatever they want. If something happens, I'll handle it! If they flood you and Verena with comments, I'll applaud their dedication."

Before he could respond, I hung up. Then I blocked his number and deleted him from my contact list in one go.

2

I maxed out his credit card and bought the liquor that was the most common in my place.

Then he used Verena's phone to send me a message. "Wendy, have you lost your mind? Do you know how many dramas I'd have to shoot and how long it'd take to make that money? I'll settle this with you after I get back. But apologize to Verena now! If it weren't for her tying her to pretend to be my girlfriend, how could we be making so much money?"

I sighed impatiently and curled my lips.

He was always acting that way.

He never realized how much he had dragged down my standard of living.

When I loved him, I was willing to suffer hardship for him.

But he thought I was only fit to suffer hardship.

If I remembered correctly, the money went into his account.

I blocked Verena's number quickly.

A flash of lightning lit up the window.

I was startled and remembered that Cliff had once promised to shield me from the rain.

Now, he was in another woman's arms.

I laughed bitterly at myself.

It wasn't the first time.

But it would definitely be the last.

The storm in July raged outside and mirrored the turmoil in my heart.

Three years ago, we met on a rainy day.

I had just started college then.

My family told me to keep my identity secret to avoid jealousy and suspicion from others.

But I hadn't expected that I would be targeted by the girls in my class because of my striking appearance.

So I was isolated.

Even my closest roommate stole my umbrella.

I had no choice but to curl up in a corner of the street and wait for the driver of my family.

Cliff walked over with an umbrella and stopped in front of me.