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The Day I Stopped Loving Her

NovelMaster · English · Theater: NovelMaster, Lang: English, Genre: Realistic, Genre: Romance ·

The Day I Stopped Loving Her

Theater: NovelMaster  |  Language: English  |  NEW

Synopsis

When I came back from a business trip, I saw my girlfriend at someone else’s birthday party.
She had dressed up carefully to celebrate another man’s birthday. When everyone around them started cheering, the two of them even kissed passionately.
And that man was her childhood friend.
She lived in my villa, drove my luxury cars, and spent my money to support another man.
That was the moment I finally understood something: while you’re young and in your prime, you should learn to love yourself first.
Chloe Bennett, from now on, you’ll be you, and I’ll be me.
Unfortunately, there will never be an “us” again.
I had come back from my business trip early to prepare a surprise proposal for my girlfriend. I never expected to see her at someone else’s birthday party.
She had clearly told me she was working overtime.
A terrible feeling rose in my chest. My thoughts became a tangled mess, and every muscle in my body tightened.
I felt like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Ryan, who was sitting across from me, spoke up.
“Isn’t that red-haired woman in the private room next door your girlfriend, Chloe? Didn’t she tell you she was still working overtime?”
“Is this the kind of overtime she was talking about?”
I didn’t answer.
Ryan had been my best friend since childhood. We were close enough to share the same pair of pants.
He had once told me that Chloe was acting intimately with other men. I hadn’t believed him. Instead, I’d even gotten into an argument with him over it.
I never expected reality to slap me in the face so quickly.
Ryan continued, “I told you a long time ago that there was something wrong with Chloe, but you refused to believe me. Now look at you. You got to see your own girlfriend cheating on you with your own eyes.”
My expression was awful.
The two private rooms were separated by nothing more than a bamboo curtain.
Through the curtain, I heard the man say, “Chloe, I’m really happy you came to my birthday party. And you even gave me such an expensive gift. I love you so much.”
“You’re my heart, my soul, my baby, my sweetheart. From now on, you’re the only woman I’ll ever love.”
“You idiot. Of course I had to come to your birthday. Nothing matters more than you.”
Her sweet, gentle voice drifted over.
“And besides… I went through so much trouble to get this watch from overseas. It’s a limited edition.”
I had listened to that familiar voice for five years.
At first, I still clung to a sliver of hope.
But now I was absolutely certain. The woman on the other side of the curtain was my girlfriend—Chloe Bennett.
I let out a cold laugh.
The watch she was talking about was one I had asked someone to buy for me in Switzerland. She had told me that her father’s birthday was coming up and that she wanted to buy him a watch.
Now she was using the gift I bought to please another man.
And I had been stupid enough to finish my work early and rush onto a plane just to surprise her.
I had been thinking about bringing her home as my wife as soon as possible.
Instead, she had given me the surprise of my life.
I first learned about Adrian Cole three months ago.
I had gone to Chloe’s company to pick her up after work and take her out for a late-night meal. She usually got off at six, but that day she didn’t come out until six-thirty.
And she wasn’t alone.
A man I had never seen before was with her.
They were laughing and chatting as if they had known each other forever.
My girlfriend always got carsick and insisted on sitting in the front passenger seat. But that time, she acted strangely and climbed into the back seat with the man.
She even explained it to me.
“Baby, this is Adrian Cole, my childhood friend. He just moved to Miami, and he’s not familiar with the city. He’s pretty shy, so I sat in the back with him to keep him from feeling awkward.”
At the time, I had thought my girlfriend was considerate.
We went out for barbecue. Chloe couldn’t handle spicy food, so I always avoided ordering anything hot whenever we ate together.
But that time, she ordered an entire plate of spicy grilled wings.
I looked at her in confusion. “Don’t you hate spicy food?”
She grabbed my arm and pouted playfully.
“Oh, come on, baby. Eating it once in a while won’t hurt. Besides, spicy wings taste so much better!”
I didn’t think much of it then.
Throughout the meal, the two of them seemed to have endless things to talk about. They even kept putting food on each other’s plates.
When it was time to pay, the server came over and smiled.
“Your sister and brother-in-law are so sweet together.”
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
My hand froze in midair as I reached for my wallet.
Chloe gave a forced little laugh and explained, “Sorry, you misunderstood. He’s my boyfriend.”
The server glanced back and forth between us, apologized awkwardly, and hurried away after taking our payment.
After that, every time Chloe and I went out alone—whether to eat or watch a movie—Adrian was there.
I brought it up with her once.
She said I was being petty.The most recent time was a few weeks ago.
At one in the morning, my girlfriend suddenly told me that she had started her period and that there were no supplies left at home. So I went out to buy some.
But when I reached the convenience store, I realized I had brought the wrong phone.
Our phones were both the newest model, with only the colors being different. The screen lock password and payment password were the same too.
I figured I could still pay, so I didn’t think much of it.
But just as I was about to check out, the screen lit up.
It was a message from an account named Summer’s Adrian.
Baby, I love the Chanel perfume you bought me. You should try it next time too.
I frowned.
I didn’t recognize the account at all. I tried to unlock the phone, only to discover that Chloe had changed her password.
With no other choice, I put everything back on the shelf and left the store under the cashier’s puzzled gaze.
When I returned home empty-handed, Chloe didn’t blame me. Instead, she hurried over to comfort me.
“Did all the stores close? It’s okay, baby. I found some of the ones I hadn’t used yet.”
She had a beautiful smile. It was charming, with her eyes curving into crescents.
But now, no matter how I looked at that smile, I couldn’t feel happy.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hiding something from me.
I didn’t say anything. I simply handed her phone back.
“I brought the wrong phone with me. I noticed you changed your password.”
Her smile stiffened slightly, but only for a few seconds.
Then she explained softly, “I’m sorry, baby. I forgot to tell you. When I went home a while back, my brother’s son kept sneaking onto my phone. I was worried he might buy something by accident, so I changed the password. I just forgot to tell you.”
I said nothing and only hummed in response.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Chloe and I had started dating during our freshman year of college.
I was one year ahead of her in the finance department.
On the day new students arrived, I was recruiting members as president of the debate club. Chloe had turned down invitations from several other clubs before crossing through the crowd and stopping in front of me.
She declared confidently that she wanted to join the debate club.
She was articulate and had an impressive grasp of the subject. During competitions, she could always think on her feet and leave her opponents speechless.
She was dazzling onstage.
We were both gentle by nature, and we were in the same department. So from then on, we were almost always together.
We discussed assignments together and went to the library together.
When we had free time, we volunteered together. When the pressure got too heavy, we played video games to relax.
We both loved playing Honor of Kings. Her best character was Daji.
Once, while we were playing on the same team, the opposing side picked an assassin character.
He targeted her again and again until her score became 0–7. Her teammates couldn’t stop complaining, and the assassin kept taunting her.
For the first time, she complained to me with tears in her voice.
After that, my main character changed from Li Bai to that assassin.
She still played Daji.
Our nightly ranked matches became part of our routine.
Sometimes we chatted until late into the night, smiling without realizing it.
I felt fulfilled. My stress disappeared.On the day I confessed my feelings, I showed up in front of her holding a bouquet of roses.
I sincerely told her how I felt and how much I loved her.
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
As we spent more time together, I truly felt her affection. She wasn’t the type to say sweet things all the time, but she showed her love through everything she did.
Six months into our relationship, she had a falling-out with her roommate, so I rented an apartment for her off campus.
One day, I said I was craving grilled wings. She told me she would learn how to make them for me.
I thought she had only agreed to make me happy, but she really did try to learn how to cook.
She followed through on almost everything she promised.
As time passed, I fell deeper and deeper in love with her.
She was so wonderful. So pure. So flawless.
Back then, I felt like I had the whole world in my hands.
Romance. Courage. Devotion. Sincerity.
It was as if the entire world had turned pink with happiness.
On the day I graduated, she held me and told me how much she loved me and how much she needed me. She said she wanted us to stay together forever—to get married and have children.
Those memories played through my mind like scenes from a movie.
I didn’t dare imagine when our once-passionate love had turned into nothing but lies.
Sometimes, promises were like words from a con artist told to a fool.
Only a fool would believe them.
I picked up the glass of liquor in front of me and drained it in one go.
The alcohol numbed me enough to make me think clearly.
The birthday party next door was still going on. Seeing the state I was in, Ryan cursed angrily.
“Not to be rude, but what the hell are you doing? You’re a grown man. Why are you acting like a coward? Why are you still protecting a woman like that?”
“You’re seriously making me ashamed to know you.”
I forced out a bitter smile and stood up.
I walked out of the restaurant, with Ryan following angrily behind me.
His face was red, and the veins in his neck stood out.
“What are you planning to do? You’re not seriously going to keep paying for her while she spends your money on that pretty boy, are you?”
The car moved through the city streets.
I said nothing. Instead, I took my phone from my coat pocket and sent Chloe a message.
Are you free tonight?
She replied quickly.
I’m sorry, baby. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to spend with you. Once I get my bonus, I’ll make it up to you.
I stared at her message and laughed.
I was laughing at myself.
I had been so stupid, letting one woman play me over and over again.
I was like a moth that knew it would be burned but still flew straight into the flame.
And I clearly remembered telling her from the very beginning that I hated being lied to.
Yet she still did it.
Again and again, she lied to me while doing everything she could to prove that she didn’t need me.
The car stopped outside the apartment I had bought for Chloe.
She had said taking the subway back and forth was inconvenient and that she didn’t want to drive, so I bought her a place near her office.
Before I closed the car door, I calmly said to Ryan, who was in the driver’s seat, “I’m not stupid. Wait for my signal.”
All I knew was that the wind was very strong that night.I returned to the apartment and sat quietly on the couch, looking around at the room.
It held too many memories of us.
Sad memories. Happy memories. Painful memories…
I still clearly remembered how she had personally cooked an entire dinner of spicy food for my birthday.
She had even gone to a bakery to learn how to make a birthday cake.
There were celebrations for when she got hired and when she was promoted.
She loved traveling around the world. The walls were covered with photos and ticket stubs from every city we had visited together.
There were too many memories.
I couldn’t believe she had simply stopped loving me.
I took out my phone and messaged her.
What if I told you I came back early? Would you be happy?
Chloe called me almost immediately.
I answered with the last bit of hope I had left.
As long as she said she was happy and wanted to see me, I could forget what I had just witnessed. I could pretend nothing had happened.
We could go on living as we always had.
But she didn’t say that.
The moment she opened her mouth, it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head.
“Baby, don’t scare me like that. I’m working overtime at the office today, and I’ve been really busy these past few days. I don’t have time to spend with you. You know I don’t like making you do everything for me. It makes me feel guilty.”
Her voice was gentle, with a hint of grievance.
But I could vaguely hear the noisy sounds in the background.
As expected, she was still lying to me.
Maybe they had been together for a long time. I was simply the last person to find out.
I let out a quiet laugh.
“I still have a meeting here. The client is a pain, so I might be a few more days before I can come back.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then her voice filled with happiness.
“Okay! Focus on your work so you can hurry up and marry me, but don’t overwork yourself. I’ll worry about you. I miss you so much.”
“Believe me. Once I get through this busy period, I’ll spend all my time with you. Weren’t we supposed to go to Tibet together? So you have to believe that I’m working hard for our future.”
I froze when I heard those words.
If this had happened before, I would have been so happy that I couldn’t sleep all night. I would have been desperate to see her and hold her.
But now, I felt sick.
She had said the exact same things to me and to that other man.
I suddenly remembered a short video I had once seen online:
The fly in your food isn’t what makes you sick. What makes you sick is seeing it. If you never saw it, you’d keep eating happily.
Love was the same.
Someone could do countless unforgivable things behind your back—as long as you never found out.
That night, I sat in the car and waited for her to come home.
At midnight, a woman in a white floral dress appeared at the end of the street with a drunk man hanging off her arm.
There were almost no people on the street at that hour.
I recognized my girlfriend immediately.
And the man with her was none other than her childhood friend.
I watched from inside the car as they behaved intimately, whispering sweetly to each other.
Their movements were so natural that they clearly weren’t doing it for the first time.
As they drew closer, I could clearly hear their conversation.
Adrian kissed Chloe on the cheek.
“How long are we going to keep sneaking around like this?”
“Aren’t you afraid Ethan will find out?”

Chapters (4)

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4

Chapter 1

When I came back from a business trip, I saw my girlfriend at someone else’s birthday party. She had dressed up carefully to celebrate another man’s birthday. When everyone around them started cheering, the two of them even kissed passionately. And that man was her childhood friend. She lived in my villa, drove my luxury cars, and spent my money to support another man. That was the moment I finally understood something: while you’re young and in your prime, you should learn to love yourself first. Chloe Bennett, from now on, you’ll be you, and I’ll be me. Unfortunately, there will never be an “us” again. I had come back from my business trip early to prepare a surprise proposal for my girlfriend. I never expected to see her at someone else’s birthday party. She had clearly told me she was working overtime. A terrible feeling rose in my chest. My thoughts became a tangled mess, and every muscle in my body tightened. I felt like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Ryan, who was sitting across from me, spoke up. “Isn’t that red-haired woman in the private room next door your girlfriend, Chloe? Didn’t she tell you she was still working overtime?” “Is this the kind of overtime she was talking about?” I didn’t answer. Ryan had been my best friend since childhood. We were close enough to share the same pair of pants. He had once told me that Chloe was acting intimately with other men. I hadn’t believed him. Instead, I’d even gotten into an argument with him over it. I never expected reality to slap me in the face so quickly. Ryan continued, “I told you a long time ago that there was something wrong with Chloe, but you refused to believe me. Now look at you. You got to see your own girlfriend cheating on you with your own eyes.” My expression was awful. The two private rooms were separated by nothing more than a bamboo curtain. Through the curtain, I heard the man say, “Chloe, I’m really happy you came to my birthday party. And you even gave me such an expensive gift. I love you so much.” “You’re my heart, my soul, my baby, my sweetheart. From now on, you’re the only woman I’ll ever love.” “You idiot. Of course I had to come to your birthday. Nothing matters more than you.” Her sweet, gentle voice drifted over. “And besides… I went through so much trouble to get this watch from overseas. It’s a limited edition.” I had listened to that familiar voice for five years. At first, I still clung to a sliver of hope. But now I was absolutely certain. The woman on the other side of the curtain was my girlfriend—Chloe Bennett. I let out a cold laugh. The watch she was talking about was one I had asked someone to buy for me in Switzerland. She had told me that her father’s birthday was coming up and that she wanted to buy him a watch. Now she was using the gift I bought to please another man. And I had been stupid enough to finish my work early and rush onto a plane just to surprise her. I had been thinking about bringing her home as my wife as soon as possible. Instead, she had given me the surprise of my life. I first learned about Adrian Cole three months ago. I had gone to Chloe’s company to pick her up after work and take her out for a late-night meal. She usually got off at six, but that day she didn’t come out until six-thirty. And she wasn’t alone. A man I had never seen before was with her. They were laughing and chatting as if they had known each other forever. My girlfriend always got carsick and insisted on sitting in the front passenger seat. But that time, she acted strangely and climbed into the back seat with the man. She even explained it to me. “Baby, this is Adrian Cole, my childhood friend. He just moved to Miami, and he’s not familiar with the city. He’s pretty shy, so I sat in the back with him to keep him from feeling awkward.” At the time, I had thought my girlfriend was considerate. We went out for barbecue. Chloe couldn’t handle spicy food, so I always avoided ordering anything hot whenever we ate together. But that time, she ordered an entire plate of spicy grilled wings. I looked at her in confusion. “Don’t you hate spicy food?” She grabbed my arm and pouted playfully. “Oh, come on, baby. Eating it once in a while won’t hurt. Besides, spicy wings taste so much better!” I didn’t think much of it then. Throughout the meal, the two of them seemed to have endless things to talk about. They even kept putting food on each other’s plates. When it was time to pay, the server came over and smiled. “Your sister and brother-in-law are so sweet together.” The atmosphere instantly turned awkward. My hand froze in midair as I reached for my wallet. Chloe gave a forced little laugh and explained, “Sorry, you misunderstood. He’s my boyfriend.” The server glanced back and forth between us, apologized awkwardly, and hurried away after taking our payment. After that, every time Chloe and I went out alone—whether to eat or watch a movie—Adrian was there. I brought it up with her once. She said I was being petty.

Chapter 2

The most recent time was a few weeks ago. At one in the morning, my girlfriend suddenly told me that she had started her period and that there were no supplies left at home. So I went out to buy some. But when I reached the convenience store, I realized I had brought the wrong phone. Our phones were both the newest model, with only the colors being different. The screen lock password and payment password were the same too. I figured I could still pay, so I didn’t think much of it. But just as I was about to check out, the screen lit up. It was a message from an account named Summer’s Adrian. Baby, I love the Chanel perfume you bought me. You should try it next time too. I frowned. I didn’t recognize the account at all. I tried to unlock the phone, only to discover that Chloe had changed her password. With no other choice, I put everything back on the shelf and left the store under the cashier’s puzzled gaze. When I returned home empty-handed, Chloe didn’t blame me. Instead, she hurried over to comfort me. “Did all the stores close? It’s okay, baby. I found some of the ones I hadn’t used yet.” She had a beautiful smile. It was charming, with her eyes curving into crescents. But now, no matter how I looked at that smile, I couldn’t feel happy. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hiding something from me. I didn’t say anything. I simply handed her phone back. “I brought the wrong phone with me. I noticed you changed your password.” Her smile stiffened slightly, but only for a few seconds. Then she explained softly, “I’m sorry, baby. I forgot to tell you. When I went home a while back, my brother’s son kept sneaking onto my phone. I was worried he might buy something by accident, so I changed the password. I just forgot to tell you.” I said nothing and only hummed in response. That night, I couldn’t sleep. Chloe and I had started dating during our freshman year of college. I was one year ahead of her in the finance department. On the day new students arrived, I was recruiting members as president of the debate club. Chloe had turned down invitations from several other clubs before crossing through the crowd and stopping in front of me. She declared confidently that she wanted to join the debate club. She was articulate and had an impressive grasp of the subject. During competitions, she could always think on her feet and leave her opponents speechless. She was dazzling onstage. We were both gentle by nature, and we were in the same department. So from then on, we were almost always together. We discussed assignments together and went to the library together. When we had free time, we volunteered together. When the pressure got too heavy, we played video games to relax. We both loved playing Honor of Kings. Her best character was Daji. Once, while we were playing on the same team, the opposing side picked an assassin character. He targeted her again and again until her score became 0–7. Her teammates couldn’t stop complaining, and the assassin kept taunting her. For the first time, she complained to me with tears in her voice. After that, my main character changed from Li Bai to that assassin. She still played Daji. Our nightly ranked matches became part of our routine. Sometimes we chatted until late into the night, smiling without realizing it. I felt fulfilled. My stress disappeared.

Chapter 3

On the day I confessed my feelings, I showed up in front of her holding a bouquet of roses. I sincerely told her how I felt and how much I loved her. “Will you be my girlfriend?” As we spent more time together, I truly felt her affection. She wasn’t the type to say sweet things all the time, but she showed her love through everything she did. Six months into our relationship, she had a falling-out with her roommate, so I rented an apartment for her off campus. One day, I said I was craving grilled wings. She told me she would learn how to make them for me. I thought she had only agreed to make me happy, but she really did try to learn how to cook. She followed through on almost everything she promised. As time passed, I fell deeper and deeper in love with her. She was so wonderful. So pure. So flawless. Back then, I felt like I had the whole world in my hands. Romance. Courage. Devotion. Sincerity. It was as if the entire world had turned pink with happiness. On the day I graduated, she held me and told me how much she loved me and how much she needed me. She said she wanted us to stay together forever—to get married and have children. Those memories played through my mind like scenes from a movie. I didn’t dare imagine when our once-passionate love had turned into nothing but lies. Sometimes, promises were like words from a con artist told to a fool. Only a fool would believe them. I picked up the glass of liquor in front of me and drained it in one go. The alcohol numbed me enough to make me think clearly. The birthday party next door was still going on. Seeing the state I was in, Ryan cursed angrily. “Not to be rude, but what the hell are you doing? You’re a grown man. Why are you acting like a coward? Why are you still protecting a woman like that?” “You’re seriously making me ashamed to know you.” I forced out a bitter smile and stood up. I walked out of the restaurant, with Ryan following angrily behind me. His face was red, and the veins in his neck stood out. “What are you planning to do? You’re not seriously going to keep paying for her while she spends your money on that pretty boy, are you?” The car moved through the city streets. I said nothing. Instead, I took my phone from my coat pocket and sent Chloe a message. Are you free tonight? She replied quickly. I’m sorry, baby. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to spend with you. Once I get my bonus, I’ll make it up to you. I stared at her message and laughed. I was laughing at myself. I had been so stupid, letting one woman play me over and over again. I was like a moth that knew it would be burned but still flew straight into the flame. And I clearly remembered telling her from the very beginning that I hated being lied to. Yet she still did it. Again and again, she lied to me while doing everything she could to prove that she didn’t need me. The car stopped outside the apartment I had bought for Chloe. She had said taking the subway back and forth was inconvenient and that she didn’t want to drive, so I bought her a place near her office. Before I closed the car door, I calmly said to Ryan, who was in the driver’s seat, “I’m not stupid. Wait for my signal.” All I knew was that the wind was very strong that night.

Chapter 4

I returned to the apartment and sat quietly on the couch, looking around at the room. It held too many memories of us. Sad memories. Happy memories. Painful memories… I still clearly remembered how she had personally cooked an entire dinner of spicy food for my birthday. She had even gone to a bakery to learn how to make a birthday cake. There were celebrations for when she got hired and when she was promoted. She loved traveling around the world. The walls were covered with photos and ticket stubs from every city we had visited together. There were too many memories. I couldn’t believe she had simply stopped loving me. I took out my phone and messaged her. What if I told you I came back early? Would you be happy? Chloe called me almost immediately. I answered with the last bit of hope I had left. As long as she said she was happy and wanted to see me, I could forget what I had just witnessed. I could pretend nothing had happened. We could go on living as we always had. But she didn’t say that. The moment she opened her mouth, it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. “Baby, don’t scare me like that. I’m working overtime at the office today, and I’ve been really busy these past few days. I don’t have time to spend with you. You know I don’t like making you do everything for me. It makes me feel guilty.” Her voice was gentle, with a hint of grievance. But I could vaguely hear the noisy sounds in the background. As expected, she was still lying to me. Maybe they had been together for a long time. I was simply the last person to find out. I let out a quiet laugh. “I still have a meeting here. The client is a pain, so I might be a few more days before I can come back.” There was a brief silence on the other end. Then her voice filled with happiness. “Okay! Focus on your work so you can hurry up and marry me, but don’t overwork yourself. I’ll worry about you. I miss you so much.” “Believe me. Once I get through this busy period, I’ll spend all my time with you. Weren’t we supposed to go to Tibet together? So you have to believe that I’m working hard for our future.” I froze when I heard those words. If this had happened before, I would have been so happy that I couldn’t sleep all night. I would have been desperate to see her and hold her. But now, I felt sick. She had said the exact same things to me and to that other man. I suddenly remembered a short video I had once seen online: The fly in your food isn’t what makes you sick. What makes you sick is seeing it. If you never saw it, you’d keep eating happily. Love was the same. Someone could do countless unforgivable things behind your back—as long as you never found out. That night, I sat in the car and waited for her to come home. At midnight, a woman in a white floral dress appeared at the end of the street with a drunk man hanging off her arm. There were almost no people on the street at that hour. I recognized my girlfriend immediately. And the man with her was none other than her childhood friend. I watched from inside the car as they behaved intimately, whispering sweetly to each other. Their movements were so natural that they clearly weren’t doing it for the first time. As they drew closer, I could clearly hear their conversation. Adrian kissed Chloe on the cheek. “How long are we going to keep sneaking around like this?” “Aren’t you afraid Ethan will find out?”

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