When Noah Anderson said this, the entire room fell silent.

Even the friend who was usually the life of the party was caught off guard.

In the silence, that girl's face turned pale, her eyes brimming with tears. She couldn't hold it in anymore and rushed out the door.

"Don't worry about her. She's just a psycho. Let her reflect on herself," Noah said with a cold face, clearly irritated.

But then, his hand suddenly tightened around mine, making me wince.

One by one, friends pulled out their gifts and smiled, wishing me a happy birthday.

When it was Noah's turn, he stared absentmindedly at the door.

"Noah, what's wrong? What's with that look? You're the only one who hasn't given a gift yet."

"Come on, let's see what kind of expensive gift you got for Amelia!"

"Gift?"

Noah's face paled. He glanced at me apologetically. "I'm sorry. I was too busy warning Olivia not to cause trouble on your birthday. I forgot."

I clenched my fists but kept my face calm. "It's fine."

One of the friends laughed and tried to ease the tension. "Come on, Amelia, what's your birthday wish? Let Noah make it come true for you!"

The candles on the cake flickered back and forth.

I stared at Noah and said clearly, one word at a time, "I hope we can get married this year."

The room immediately erupted with teasing, and the friends' eyes turned to Noah.

"So, when are you going to propose? "

Noah cursed under his breath and threw a cushion at me, starting to mess around.

But he still didn't answer.

When I handed him a piece of cake, he was too busy replying to messages, not even sparing me a glance.

I glanced at his phone. It was a message from his little childhood friend. "Noah, would you still love me if we met all over again? I really like you. I just can't keep it in anymore."

I quickly looked away.

The next second, Noah grabbed his coat and ran out the door without saying a word.

My friends and I were left sitting there, exchanging looks.

In the end, one of his friends caved and called Noah.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

The friend put the call on speakerphone and laughed. "Noah, Amelia's birthday isn't over yet. Where are you going? You didn't even say goodbye."

On the other end, Noah suddenly lost his temper. "Damn it, can you stop causing trouble? I can't even find Olivia, and you're still bringing up this nonsense?"

The call ended abruptly, and the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The friend awkwardly laughed and tried to explain. "Amelia, Noah is probably just worried. Olivia's been with him since they were kids. He can't just ignore her."

I forced a smile, pulling at the corner of my mouth.

Before my friend could say anything more, Noah's best friend from university, Elijah Brook, scoffed and spoke up. "He's worried? You've all grown up together, right? Haven't seen you guys get that worried before."

The friends were silent, squeezing his hand, begging him to stop talking.

Elijah's eyes darkened, and he turned to look at me.

My head was spinning. I used the excuse of needing to use the restroom to escape.

Standing in front of the mirror, I pinched my palm, trying to calm down.

Noah and I were college classmates.

I was the only one who kept messing up the choreography. The instructor singled me out, and the entire class had to watch as I did extra drills under the blazing sun.

Maybe because I was embarrassed and flustered when being watched, their giggles only made my moves clumsier.

As the laughter grew louder, Noah stepped up.

He casually stood by my side and said firmly, "Sir, I also have a slight limp. I'm applying for extra training!"

Noah stayed with me, practicing for a long time.

The sunset cast a golden glow over his handsome face.

Backlit, he smiled wryly at me. "You've gotten me off track.

"When the instructor checks, you're responsible for me, alright?"

My heart raced, and the next moment, I collapsed from heatstroke.

It was Noah who carried me to the infirmary. We grew closer over time.

Later, he tilted his head in the library, clutching my sleeve. "Amelia Hart, I think I've fallen for you. Are you going to take responsibility for me?"

And that's how we got together. A year later, I discovered he had a little childhood friend who had repeated a year to get into our school.

The fact that the little childhood friend liked Noah wasn't a secret.

At first, Noah kept his distance from her.

"I told you, I have a girlfriend. What's with you sticking to me like this? What if she misunderstands? Can't you just stop being so shameless?"

He yelled at her harshly, and I even advised him not to be so hard on the girl.

He would always smile and pat my head.

"I'm just afraid you don't feel secure."

For a while, I thought I had really found a good person. But later, I realized that even though Noah disliked her, he still let her intrude into our lives.

Through all our years together, her presence lingered like a shadow.

Now, he had abandoned me for her.

It felt like a knife had pierced my heart, and finally, the dust had settled.

I thought at least Noah would call to explain everything.

But he didn't.

I waited a long time, but all I got was a message from a friend saying they were leaving.

I replied, "Okay."

Then, I turned off my phone.

I numbly walked out of the restroom and saw Elijah standing against the wall.

He was holding my bag in his hand.

His gaze landed on me, unclear and intense.

"I'll give you a ride," he said.

I softly declined, "No need, I've already called a cab."

His voice dropped, and then, suddenly, he laughed. "It's Noah. He asked me to give you a ride since it's on my way. I couldn't just leave it hanging, could I?"

With that one short sentence, I could almost hear the teeth grinding in his tone.

I froze momentarily, then asked, "Did he say anything else?"

He leaned in and adjusted my coat, his tone suddenly colder. "He'll explain in the car," he said.

By the time I snapped out of it, I was already sitting in the passenger seat of Elijah's car.

He handed me a cup of water and then fell silent.

After a long pause, I hesitated. "By the way, he..."

Elijah's thin lips parted slightly. "No."

"No?"

He glanced at me briefly, his eyes sharp. "Address?"

I couldn't help but scoff inwardly. Isn't this supposed to be on the way?

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, meeting his deep gaze. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and I wisely gave him the address, turning my head away and saying nothing more.

We drove in silence. The warmth of the alcohol made me drift into a heavy sleep.

I had a dream.

In it, Noah is holding Olivia Morgan close and saying that the one he had always loved is actually her.

They were opening up to each other while everyone stared at me, wondering what right I had to be between them.

I struggled but couldn't move. Then, a voice snapped me back to reality.

I opened my eyes and stared into a pair of jet-black eyes.

After a long pause, he lowered his gaze, his eyelashes fluttering slightly. "You had a nightmare."

The confined space made the distance between us feel almost suffocating.

I quickly recoiled, putting some distance between us.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything further.

I thanked him and hurried out of the car.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Noah had once told me that his best friend was a man of few words and kept to himself. Now, I finally understood what that meant.

***

I looked around the pitch-black room, knowing Noah still hadn't returned.

In the past, even when he had to travel for work, he would always try to get back to me as soon as possible to spend time with me or at least call me to sleep on video.

But now, I stared at my phone, feeling the emptiness of it.

It hit me clearly that something was quietly changing.

I was already frustrated when I stumbled upon Olivia's latest post. It showed her and Noah wrapped up in each other on the beach at sunrise. The caption said, "An 18-year-old dream, and someone made it come true."

Noah quickly liked the post.

I gave a bitter smile.

After so many years of love, I could never mistake Noah's back.

Of course, I knew; she was the girl who had followed Noah around since they were little. On her 18th birthday, she wished for just one thing, "To give him my first kiss."

Noah had fulfilled her wish.

And now, my wish had been left unfulfilled.

When Noah finally came home, I was packing my things.

From college until now, we had accumulated quite a few shared belongings.

Noah saw me at home and awkwardly rubbed his neck.

Even though he tried to hide it, I still caught a glimpse of the red mark on his neck.

I took a deep breath. "Let's break up." I turned my head away, not looking at him.

"Break up?"

He came over and hugged me, trying to calm me down. "Are you throwing a tantrum? How about I take you out to buy a gift to compensate for it?"

I pulled away, dead serious. "I'm being serious."

Noah paused for a few seconds, then his anger flared. "Amelia, do you really want to fight with me? Olivia's like family to me. We grew up together. How could I just turn my back on her? I didn't sleep all night, and you can't just let it go?"

With that, he slammed the door and left.

I collapsed on the couch, feeling completely drained, with the images from yesterday's dream swirling around.

It was about six months ago.

After we graduated from college, Noah and I officially moved in together.

While hosting a housewarming party for friends, Olivia looked at the walls filled with our pictures and got absolutely hammered.

She kept murmuring, "I'm going to give up on you. I'll never like you again."

Noah, who was usually so composed, knocked over his cup that day.

Afterward, Olivia really stopped bothering us, and I finally let out a sigh of relief.

But Noah started to become distant.

At Noah's strong insistence, I helped Olivia find a good guy.

They got along pretty well, and Olivia's social media posts no longer featured Noah but instead pictures with the new boy.

Noah's face darkened.

Noah lost it for the first time when he found out that the guy was planning to confess to Olivia at an amusement park. He knocked over the pot of stew I'd been cooking for hours and snapped at me, "Amelia, what the hell are you thinking? You've only known him for less than three months and already made it official? Did you even pick a decent guy?"

The room was messy, and Noah's accusations left me gasping for air.

But Noah, we only needed a month from meeting to getting together.

Olivia was brought back, and Noah was wearing a black eye.

A friend messaged me, cursing, "What the hell are you three playing at? First, you told me to go after her, and now, you're beating me up for it? Please, don't drag me into your mess of a love triangle."

Only then did I learn Noah had punched the guy, called him trouble, and dragged Olivia away.

Afterward, Noah explained that Olivia was his childhood friend, like a little sister, and that it was only natural to take care of her.

When I opposed it, he smiled and reassured me that he didn't have feelings for Olivia and that if he did, he wouldn't have anything to do with me.

The next day, I tried to push my thoughts aside and went to work as usual.

When I entered the office, I found many unfamiliar items at my desk.

A colleague grabbed me, full of gossip, "The boss brought in an intern, and they were chatting and laughing. It looks like they're really close."

She kept glancing between the two of us. "You two?"

Across the office, I could hear Olivia's cute laugh. I immediately understood.

Of course, Olivia was about to graduate, and it made perfect sense for Noah to hire her.

I forced down the strange feeling and found an empty desk nearby.

Meeting my colleague's inquisitive gaze, I casually replied, "Yeah, we broke up."

My colleague's mouth dropped open, clearly shocked. I gave a self-deprecating smile.

After graduation, Noah said he wanted to start a business. I didn't think twice and gave up a big company offer to stay and support him.

It was a tough road with the poor economy and starting from scratch.

The hardest days were when I sat at the bar with Noah, drinking round after round.

Later, during every team-building event, Noah would be the first to thank me, saying that I had stuck by him from being a nobody to where we are now, a small but successful company. He promised he would never betray me and that my place in the company would always be secure.

At that time, I really thought I was happy, and even my colleagues joked about how lucky I was to have found someone as loyal as Noah.

***

Seeing me stay quiet, my colleague didn't dare ask any more questions.

Olivia followed Noah like a shadow during the weekly meeting, peeking her head from behind him.

"From now on, I'm Noah's assistant," she said. "Hope we can all get along."

Before leaving, she looked at me, her eyes full of undisguised challenge. "Amelia, Noah said I should take over your work soon, so don't hide anything from me!"

The room went completely silent. My colleagues all shot me sympathetic looks.

My nails dug into my palm, but I barely felt the pain.

I lifted my gaze and met Noah's eyes, which were full of amusement.

I knew he was trying to force me into submission.

Whenever Noah and I had disagreements, he would always do this and embarrass me in front of others until I gave in.

I used to understand his struggles and put the bigger picture first.

I would always be the one to lower my head first, but now I just gave him a smile and casually agreed, "Alright."

Noah was livid at my reaction.

He slammed the folder on the desk, his eyes cold as ice. "Alright, then. Get to it. You should start thinking about your next job."

The moment I mentioned breaking up with him, I knew I'd eventually leave the company. But I didn't expect it to happen so soon, nor did I expect Noah to slap me in the face like this in front of everyone.

I started sending out my resume yesterday, but the response has been disappointing.

After all, this was just some unknown company, and my role wasn't even central, just an assistant to the boss. That experience doesn't look great on a resume.

Noah knew this and was betting I wouldn't make a fuss.

That evening, I had a last-minute social event, so I grabbed the materials and headed for the hotel.

Before I entered the private room, Noah leaned against the doorframe and said, "Amelia, that position is still yours if you don't break up with me."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. I glanced at Olivia, who was running around caring for Noah, and asked him, "What about Olivia? Where does she fit in?"

He clicked his tongue, nonchalantly answering, "The company isn't going to push her out."

He avoided the real question.

I met Noah's gaze.

He wasn't ignorant of what I was asking. Olivia had other positions at the company, but what about us?

I didn't want to hope for anything anymore, so I looked him straight. "Forget it. I'll leave soon enough."

Noah paused for a few seconds before suddenly laughing. "Amelia, I've already given you an out."

It wasn't until I had been force-fed half a bottle of alcohol that I finally understood Noah's intentions.

I hadn't had a chance to eat since I entered the room. At the same time, Olivia, under Noah's protection, hadn't touched a drop of alcohol and was smiling like an innocent little girl.

After a few rounds of drinks, my stomach started hurting again, my old issue flaring up.

I forced myself to finish the last glass, then tried to go to the bathroom.

Someone stopped me, his greasy eyes roaming over me. "Amelia, you're leaving already? You didn't even finish drinking. What are we supposed to do without you?"

The pain in my stomach surged like a wave, and I hunched over slightly, apologizing repeatedly, "I really can't drink anymore. My stomach's hurting. Can you give me a moment?"

I glanced towards Noah for help. "There's another colleague here."

The other person looked at Noah, clearly seeking his approval.

After a pause, Noah pulled Olivia into his arms and said in an ambiguous tone, "I'm afraid it's impossible. Olivia can't handle alcohol."

He was openly protecting her.

Once those words were out, it was clear what was going on. The man picked up his glass and started walking toward me.

A cold feeling settled in my chest.

I raised the glass in front of me, closed my eyes, and was about to gulp it down when I suddenly felt the heat of an arm around me.

I opened my eyes to see Elijah's dark expression.

He grabbed my glass and slammed it down on the table.

The man was shocked, quickly smiling and bowing. "Mr. Brook, what are you doing here? This small deal doesn't require..."

I couldn't take it anymore. I rushed out of the room.

I vomited for about three minutes before finally started feeling better.

After splashing my face with water, I was about to leave when I ran into Olivia, who had been waiting for me. Her eyes were practically gleaming with smugness.

"I wasn't planning on bringing you today, but Noah was worried about me being weak and unable to drink, so he ensured you came along.

"If you're smart, you'll quit and leave immediately. He doesn't care about you anymore. I'll be the only winner."

I smiled, a bit tired of all the drama over the years. "Oh, really?"

I chuckled. "You're so sure, but don't you know Noah keeps begging me to stay? He doesn't want me to go."

Olivia's face turned pale, and I walked past her without looking back.