3

My father angrily took out his phone and called me. But my SIM card had already been deactivated by a colleague, so no matter how many times he called, it went straight to voicemail. Seeing my father's expression growing increasingly grim, my younger sister suddenly bit her red lips and spoke insincerely. “Dad, if it comes to that, I'll marry him. As long as it resolves the company's crisis, your daughter is willing to do anything!” “No way!” Two voices rang out simultaneously. Mom grabbed her hand and frowned, “Tara, don’t be foolish. That would ruin the rest of your life!” I couldn’t help but laugh. It turned out Mom also knew this would ruin her daughter’s future. But she hadn’t said that earlier… As I stood there in shock, another person walked toward us. Chapman. Once, he was my boyfriend. Now, he was my sister's fiancé. He was also the one who had just shouted “No!” with my mother. “Auntie is right, Tara. Don't be foolish. There's still a chance. We just need to find Valerie.” He paused for a moment before adding, “If she refuses to show up, I'll borrow money from loan sharks. No matter what, I won't leave you!” I stared blankly at Chapman, suddenly realizing I didn't recognize this person anymore. No, I haven't recognized him since the moment he hugged Tara in front of me a year ago and said he wanted to break up with me... Chapman and I met and fell in love in college. We were an outstanding student couple that everyone in the medical school envied. As graduation approached, he chose to pursue a master’s degree, while I, considering my financial situation, entered the workforce directly at a hospital. Unfortunately, during his second year of graduate school, he made a mistake during an experiment, resulting in the need to compensate the school for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of experimental equipment. That amount of money was an astronomical sum for us, and Chapman came to me in tears, begging me to find a solution. “Valerie, please help me. If I can’t repay the money, I’ll be expelled, and all these years of hard work will be wasted!” He had always been a calm and composed man in front of me, but that was the first time I saw him cry. In order to save his academic status, I began working non-stop in the operating room, just to earn more money to help him repay the debt. Every month, after covering necessary living expenses, I gave the rest to him. After performing ten consecutive surgeries, I suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground. A kind colleague noticed I was malnourished, quickly administered a glucose infusion, and pleaded with me not to push myself so hard. “You earn enough each month; how could you let yourself become malnourished? Doesn’t your boyfriend take care of you?” “He’s busy too.” I tried to cover for Chapman. In fact, I truly believed he was busy. After all, with such a huge debt weighing on him, he must have been scrambling to find a solution. So during those three months, we barely saw each other. But I never expected that the excuse I made up for my colleagues would soon turn into a knife stabbing me in the back. After the glucose infusion was finished, I didn't go back to the dormitory to rest but stayed in the office on duty as usual, just to earn some overtime pay. At that moment, the nurses' station suddenly notified us that a troublesome female patient had arrived. “She was just lightly scratched by an eyebrow razor, but she's sitting on the bed causing a scene. Her boyfriend is so patient, constantly comforting her with soft words. I've never seen anyone act so badly!” I followed her to the ward. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Tara lying pitifully in Chapman’s arms. “Chapman, what should I do? Will I be disfigured? I might as well die…” “How could that happen? Just wait for the doctor to bandage it up. If the doctor does a poor job, I won’t let him off easily.” Chapman stroked her head, soothing her like a child. I had never seen this side of him before, and I was momentarily stunned. Until Tara suddenly called out, “Sister,” and Chapman looked up at me, then froze. I smiled wryly, waiting for him to explain. But he stepped in front of Tara, shielding her, and looked at me without emotion. “Valerie, don't be hard on Tara. I fell in love with her first. Of course, you're also at fault. You don't even know how boring you are!” So, he fell in love with someone else, and now I'm the one at fault? But it was he who confessed his feelings to me first! I will never forget how excited he was when I nodded in agreement, hugging me and spinning me around in circles. “Valerie, you’ve always wanted a family, right? We’ll get married as soon as we graduate. I, Chapman, will love you for the rest of my life!” I believed his promise, like a fish stranded on the shore, struggling desperately until I finally swam to the shallow water. I thought that would be my home, but when I opened my eyes, I realized it was a honey-filled jar trap.