He Married My Best Friend, Then Lost Me Forever Chapter 02
When I heard that, anger, disappointment, absurdity, and the pain of being abandoned by the whole world surged through me all at once.
My eyes stung and burned, and it felt as if every bit of strength had been drained from my body.
My mother noticed something was wrong with me and quickly spoke up. “Lily isn’t feeling well today, so we won’t hold up your families’ dinner. We can all get together again on my birthday.”
Zachary looked at me for a long moment.
Then, without another word, he took Sophia’s hand and left my house.
My mother believed my boyfriend really had been killed in the line of duty.
After they left, obvious worry filled her eyes, and she kept trying to comfort me.
“Lily, you’re still young. You have your whole life ahead of you. If he didn’t get the chance to marry you, that’s his loss. The next one will be better.”
Looking at the concern in her eyes, I forced a strained smile.
“Mom, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. I want to go back to my room and rest for a while.”
I carried my suitcase to my room and pushed the door open.
The words Zachary had written for me by hand came into view on the wall.
See you at the top.
When I had first joined the Army, the intensity of training nearly crushed me.
Countless times, I thought about quitting.
Zachary knew.
Even though he had never liked writing things down, he stayed up all night making training notes for every assessment area.
He told me, “Idiot, if you still can’t pass the evaluation after reading these, don’t come see me again. You’ll embarrass your instructor.”
Along with those notes, he had given me that handwritten line.
It meant he wanted me to have a bright future and meet him at the top.
In the end, my hard work and his guidance paid off.
I was assigned to the same Army Special Operations unit as Zachary.
Thinking of what he had just said, I set down my suitcase, took the handwritten sheet off the wall, tore it in half, and threw it into the trash.
When I looked around, I saw that the neatly arranged desk still held a photo of the three of us.
It had been taken after basic training ended, when the three of us went on leave together.
In the photo, I stood in the middle.
Zachary and Sophia stood on either side, both unconsciously leaning toward me.
Even now, I could still remember that moment.
When the picture was taken, Sophia deliberately nudged me closer to Zachary and whispered, “This is your chance to get close to him. Don’t waste it. There are plenty of impressive women in uniform. If you don’t make a move, someone else might steal him away.”
My expression went cold.
I threw the photo frame into the trash too.
Since they had been the first to give up on our love and the bond we had forged as soldiers, why should I keep holding on?
I found everything in my room that had anything to do with them.
There were military magazines Sophia had left with me.
There were the birthday gifts Zachary had given me every year.
There was also the love letter I had written to Zachary when I was eighteen but had never dared to give him.
That night, after dinner, I carried the trash bag out of the house.
“Isn’t that heavy, carrying so much trash down by yourself? Why didn’t you ask me to help?”
A hoarse voice sounded from behind me.
I turned around.
Zachary was dressed in casual off-duty clothes, his hands in his pockets, watching me with lazy ease.
I used to be lazy and hated making a trip downstairs just to take out the trash.
Whenever my mother told me to take out the trash, I would go straight to Zachary for help.
That had become even more true during the five years we were together.
“You’re not talking. Still mad?”
He arched a brow and walked toward me, reaching for my hand.
I stepped back and kept my distance.
Shock flickered through Zachary’s eyes, and he frowned.
I did not look away. I met his gaze and said calmly, “Now that everyone in the housing complex knows you’re getting married, it isn’t appropriate for us to keep seeing each other. Don’t contact me again unless there’s a real reason.”
Zachary did not take my words seriously. He let out a scoff. “I’m only marrying Sophia as a favor. She and I will get divorced sooner or later. It’s one thing if other people don’t know that, but why are you acting like it’s real?”
