Chapter 2

The next day, Alex's biological clock woke him up at 7:00 am. The moment he opened his eyes, he noticed Estelle, who was adjusting her blouse in front of the mirror. Estelle was a night owl who had a reversed sleeping schedule. It was Alex's first time seeing her up so early in the morning. Upon hearing his footsteps, Estelle turned around to look at Alex. "Do I look pretty?" She had always been a natural model who'd look beautiful even in just a plain black shirt. Today, she specifically dolled herself up, making her look even more gorgeous. She could easily wink in a direction, and all of the guys there would fall head over heels in love with her. Alex didn't know why Estelle went to such great lengths to look good today. In the past, he'd fall under her spell as well. But now, he merely nodded calmly. "Yeah. You look beautiful." Estelle didn't notice that something was off with him. Her lips curled into a small smile at his compliment. "I have a gathering to attend today. Stay home like a good boy, okay? I'll bring some desserts home for you." After that, she turned to leave. Once Estelle's figure completely disappeared from Alex's line of sight, he went to pour himself a glass of water. But that was when he noticed Estelle's phone, which was still on the table. When he picked the phone up, he accidentally pressed a button, causing the screen to light up. A new message popped up on the screen. It came from a sender named "Jared". "Estelle, it's been eight years since we last met. I can't wait to attend today's gathering. What about you?" Alex halted in his steps when he saw the message. It turned out that Estelle's first love was back in the country today. No wonder she woke up this early and even dolled herself up. The delight on her face was plain to see. The front door was opened the next second. Estelle was back in the apartment for her phone. Before she left, she scanned the contents on her phone. The message caused her to freeze in her tracks for a split second. Then, she glanced at Alex, who was having his breakfast at the moment. "Did you peek at my phone just now?" Alex looked up at Estelle calmly. "Nope. What's wrong?" Only then did Estelle smile in relief. She told Alex that it was nothing before leaving the apartment again. For the first time ever, Alex didn't know what Estelle was thinking. Since she only cared about Jared and kept dating men who were his replacements, typically speaking, she shouldn't care about Alex at all. In that case, why would she care about whether or not he found out about the truth? Was she scared of losing him? Alex didn't want to be delusional. Besides, he knew very well that his breakup with Estelle was inevitable. After breakfast, he sat before his computer and opened an illustration software. Alex was a comic artist. Once he returned to his hometown, he'd be busy with his wedding. He most likely wouldn't be able to resume working for a very long time. That was why he planned on finishing the rest of his manuscripts. After working throughout the morning, Alex sent the work he had finished to his editor. Then, he had lunch. Since the weather was quite decent, he decided to take the liberty to clean out the apartment. Among all the things he packed up were couple mugs, keychains, scarves, and jackets. Alex had bought these things over the past few years. Those items were enough to completely fill a large box. When he saw those things, he'd always remember the exasperated look on Estelle's face whenever he asked her to wear or use them. "These are things that only young girls like. Do you really want my friends to laugh at me whenever we show up like this in public?" With that memory haunting him, Alex picked up the box and headed out of the apartment block. He proceeded to dump the whole box into the dumpster. Good. Now, no one would make fun of Estelle anymore. Once Alex dealt with the trash, he was about to go home when he bumped into a soft body. Estelle, who had just returned, wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders. She used her free hand to sweep Alex's sweat-drenched bangs away. "What did you throw away? Why are you all sweaty?" "Some useless trash." Alex came up with an excuse on the spot while keeping a poker face. Estelle didn't doubt his words at all. She just led him upstairs. The moment the elevator doors slid open, the garbage truck happened to stop by the apartment. Its engines rumbled loudly the whole time. After witnessing the box of items getting transported by the garbage truck, Alex finally averted his gaze. How could there be a huge box of trash out of nowhere? If Estelle were to glance at the box, she'd know that something was up. But she didn't even ask Alex any questions. The truth was, she didn't care about the box at all. A hint of self-deprecation flickered across Alex's eyes. That was when he caught the hint of happiness that had yet to fade from Estelle's face from the corner of his eyes. It took him by surprise. Estelle's eyes were enchanting and alluring. No one would be able to look away from her whenever she smiled. Perhaps she knew where her charms lay. Most of the time, she was often smiling at others. Everyone thought she had a good temper. Only Alex knew that Estelle's smile was fake. It never reached her eyes. But today, she was genuinely happy whenever she smiled. It seemed that she was extremely delighted to see Jared. Once Estelle entered the apartment, she realized that it looked a lot emptier than usual. She scanned around her surroundings, a surprised look on her face. "Did someone rob our place? Why do I feel like we've lost a lot of stuff? Where's the mug? What about the cushion?" Alex was about to answer Estelle's question when her phone let out a few notification chimes. She looked at the new messages on her phone, which made her forget about all her questions. Then, she made a beeline toward her study. Before closing the door, she even told Alex, "Alex, I have something to do at the moment. You should go to bed without waiting for me." Alex didn't ask Estelle anything. He just returned to the bedroom on his own. Once the minute hand on the clock ticked past 12:00 am, Alex's phone, which was buried under his pillow, began vibrating. "Alex, happy birthday!" "Dear Alex, happy 23rd birthday! Remember to eat your cake!" All the text messages wished Alex a happy birthday. His parents, sister, friends, classmates… Even those who were far away from him all wished him happy birthday. Only his girlfriend, who stayed in the same apartment as him, seemed to have forgotten all about his birthday. After all, she had more important things to do.