She swore she would never fall in love again. Because she had lost all of her hopes about love and she refused to believe that a woman like her deserve to be loved. Lu Xinyi waited for her turn at the ticketing booth with her luggage by her side and broken-hearted.

They were supposed to spend their long holiday on a cruise ship. Perhaps, it was fate that brought her here. If she wasn’t so naive, she wouldn’t be hurt like this. Did she do something bad in her previous life that she had to suffer now?

Seven years were wasted. For Christ’s sake! She wasted seven years with him just to find out he was a cheating bastard that slept around behind her back! How did he manage to fool her for so long she had no idea!

Why didn’t she see the signs earlier? Because she was blind and naive!-.

They didn’t have enough time for each other because she thought they were busy with their respective jobs. They had stopped having dinners together because he said he didn’t have time. He was always coming home late because of overtime.

And girl, how wrong was she for believing his lies.

No, he didn’t have a time for her because he was busy with her. He was busy taking her to dinners while she spent the night alone. And he even came home late because he was having sex with her.

Oh God, how foolish could she be?

Lu Xinyi felt like crying and dying at the same time. They had known each other since childhood and he cheated on her with her ‘best friend’ whom she treated like a sister. How could the two of them betray her trust? Meng Jiao was the one who pushed her to date Gong Yijun. She felt like she was slapped hard on her face.

Her boyfriend for seven years was sleeping with her best friend.

She specifically asked for a day off to surprise her boyfriend before they go on their one week vacation but she didn’t expect that she would be the one who would be the one getting surprised when she came home.

The moment she stepped into their shared apartment she stopped on her tracks hearing a woman’s voice screaming her boyfriend’s name. Curious and afraid of what she had walked on to, she silently walked upstairs and turned the knob of their bedroom door only to find out her boyfriend and her best friend tangled in a dance as old as time itself.

Their scream of pleasure turned into horror when the two saw her standing in the doorway. To save herself from further pain and trauma, Lu Xinyi slammed the door and ran downstairs, taking her prepared suitcase, ran outside their apartment and hailed a cab.

She could hear them shouting for her to stop and listen but why would she bother to do that? To hear more lies? Not gonna happen. She had seen enough and there’s no need to talk about it.

There was no other explanation for the scenario she walked on. She wasn’t blind and surely not hallucinating when she saw Gong Yijun screwing her best friend on their own bed last night. Almost ten hours since she left her place and she couldn’t forgive herself for being stupid.

“Miss? It’s your turn now.” The woman behind her pulled her out from her thoughts. Lu Xinyi nodded her thanks and went to the ticketing booth.

“Ah, I would like to refund this ticket. Is it alright? I accidentally bought two tickets.” she asked the teller.

After Lu Xinyi refunded the ticket that was supposed to be for her retarded ex-boyfriend, she made her way onto the ship and to her cabin. While unpacking her luggage, her phone buzzed again. She gave it a quick look before turning it off and throwing it back in her suitcase.

Gong Yijun was calling her again for the nth time. She pondered if she should answer it to hear his explanation. But goddamnit! That scene was already embedded deep in her brain! She would have a hard time believing his lies again.

“I’ll never fall in love again. I swear” Lu Xinyi promised to herself. She could never bear to get her heart broken again.

The tears she tried to hold back for the past hours broke through as she let her body fall on the bed. She lay there and sobbed quietly at her stupidity. It seemed fate wasn’t on her side and her life wouldn’t get better.

An orphan since eight years old and passed by different relatives, she hadn’t known what was love ever since her parents died. She had no doubt that after this trip, she would be homeless and jobless.

Gong Yijun owned the apartment they were sharing while her ex-best friend Meng Jiao was her superior at her workplace. How the hell would she start her new life without them?

Shen Yi contemplated what he should do with his family. When his grandmother gave him a ticket for a one week vacation on a cruise ship, she didn’t inform him that he will have to meet another woman to date!

No. He refused to date those women whose face were covered with thick layers of makeup, batting an eyelash on him seductively and ignoring the fact that he wasn’t interested. Damn those articles!

He wasn’t a gay! For fuck’s sake!

At the age of thirty, Shen Yi was still single and not seeing anyone. Was there something wrong with that? Yes, there is. He was the current president of Shen Group of companies and his family was expecting him to get married and produce an heir anytime soon.

Shen Yi remembered the night he was confronted by his family about his sexual orientation. Thinking about it, he pondered where the heck did the rumors and gossips started.-.

“What did you say?” Shen Yi glared at his father.

“I asked you if you are a gay,” He repeated his question and glared back to his son. “You don’t have to hide it, son. We will understand if you could just tell us the truth. You completely lack interest in any girls that you’ve gone out in the past. You are my firstborn son and it hurts me to see you being alone.”

“Where the hell did this come from?”

“Father, maybe he is in denial. We should have him see someone who could bring him out from his closet.” His younger brother Shen Xue said with a laugh.

Shen Yi rolled his eyes and scoffed at their words.

“Are you going to answer my question or not?” His father asked.

“No. Why did you even think I am a gay? I feel no reason to defend myself as I know as well as you that I am not. What I choose to do with my life and whom I spend my life with isn’t your business. I’m pleased with my life and have no plans to change anything on it just because of the false rumors spreading around me.”

“Yep, see, father. Told ya he wouldn’t give you a direct answer. A simple yes and no would suffice.” Shen Xue looked at their father with a smirk. He then took something from the side of the table. A couple of magazines appeared on his hand and tossed it to his elder brother.

“Take a look at what they’re saying about you, bro. I doubt you will like it.”

Shen Yi gave a quick scan of the articles written about him and frowned.

“You believe these nonsense and trash articles?” he hissed and threw the magazines at the other side of the room, hitting the wall with a loud thud.

“Well, you haven’t seen in public with a woman for a long time. What do you expect people will think of it? You haven’t dated at all. Do you really want to be alone for the rest of your life?” His father snapped. Some of their business partners were asking him subtly about his firstborn son.

“First of all, it doesn’t work that way. I can’t find a woman I want to be with just because I’m looking for one. Secondly, I won’t date anyone I’m not interested with. Lastly, I don’t really think I can be with anyone given that I don’t want to hang out with everyone. See? You even have to force me to attend this dinner with you.”

“Bro, you have issues. Oh, please we’re family, of course, you love us. We are only concerned about you. So… yes or no? You can confess to us. Are you gay or not?” Shen Xue insisted. His elder brother glared at him, wanting to slap the mocking grin out of his face.

“No, I am not.” Shen Yi said. “Although I’m not interested to date any woman, that doesn’t mean I like to sleep with men.”

“That’s reassuring.” His father sighed in relief. He thought that Shen Xue was his only hope to continue their bloodline.

“But you know, you should meet someone and try to know them. You can’t possibly have a woman in your life if you won’t even try to pick someone to go out with. Make some friends, go out and hang out with other people, get a life out of your office. I’m not forcing you to get a wife soon but you do know your grandmother already heard about the rumors and she would do something to rectify it.”

“And I’m pretty sure you agreed with her?” Shen Yi’s eyes narrowed. His father never says no to their grandmother’s wishes.

“Of course, I wanna see what she’s up to and we made a little bet about it.” His father confessed.

Shen Yi looked at them with disbelief. His grandmother and father had started this tradition of betting whenever they try to set him up with someone. So far, his father was losing the game. They had set him up in a date with different women and not of them was able to get his attention.

Lu Xinyi tucked some stray locks behind her ear and stared at the calming waves hitting the body of the cruise ship. The warmth of the wind gently caressed her flushed cheeks while her eyes darted around the top deck of the cruise to see if people aren’t crowding the place.

She felt numb and dead inside and the last thing she wanted to have right now was a company of a stranger. The tears she had contained from the past days made her tired and exhausted. She laid on her bed for hours sobbing her heart out. Why did her life hate her that much anyway?

First, it took the life of her father and then her mother followed shortly. If it wasn’t for her grandmother who passed away last year, she wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up living on the streets.

A tear fell from her right eye which she quickly wiped away. There was no point of crying over it again. It didn’t matter as life itself seemed to hate her very existence. It would never get any better, in fact, Lu Xinyi was sure that it will get worse for her after her break up from that bastard.-.

Lu Xinyi was sure that it wasn’t the first time Gong Yijun and Meng Jiao had sex together. Maybe she wasn’t aware but as she remembered the previous reasons kept on using for the last months they were together, it did make sense to her. The affair had started a long time ago.

Her attention was caught when a couple… no, not really a couple. Lu Xinyi noticed that the deep frown etched on the tall handsome man’s face while the woman beside him, desperately clinging on his arm to get his attention.

She could hear the woman begging for the man to take her for dinner tonight. Lu Xinyi fought the urge to roll her eyes at the woman’s antics. It was clear that the man wasn’t even interested with her so why was she trying hard to trap the man with her flirtatious advances.

“Ms. Xia, I told you I’m not here to date you. Whatever did my grandmother told you, I assure you that it has nothing to do with me.” The man said with a hint of irritation on his voice.

When Lu Xinyi heard it, she felt like a stream of cold water poured through her as if piercing her soul. She decided to ignore them. It wasn’t like she had to meddle with their affairs. Her eyes went back on the waves that calm her senses while watching the sunset from afar.

Something about the man made her shattered heart skipped a beat. His cold dark eyes drew her unto him. It wasn’t as if there was anything else to break in her life but Lu Xinyi thought that it would be the best to ignore him and go on with her miserable life.

“I don’t believe you. You’re lying. You have no woman in your life and you haven’t seen with one for years!” The woman broke her hold on the man’s arm and glared at him. He was supposed to like her, to be charmed by her. Why was he looked like he would prefer to be somewhere else than to be with her?

Shen Yi didn’t like the expression on her eyes. Was she really that fool not to notice that he wasn’t interested? He was torn between jumping off the ship or tolerate this woman until he could shake some sense to his family about setting him up with brainless idiots. Why can’t his family understand that he likes being single? He liked it very much and had no plans on taking a wife very soon.

“I’m meeting with someone,” he flatly stated. He needed to ditch this gold digging leech who attached herself to him. He wasn’t planning to throw some money to please her.

“Lies! It’s just your reason to get rid of me!” the woman exclaimed with her fists clenching hard on the sides of her red dress. The curls of her locks bounced behind her small back.

Shen Yi had enough of her nonsense. She’d been testing his patience with her incessant chatting and whining and his poor ears couldn’t take it anymore. He buried his hands on the pockets of his coat and looked ahead.

His eyes saw something that he wasn’t expecting to see. There was a young woman standing at the top deck busy with her sightseeing. Her simple green sundress complimented her pale skin. Her long straight brown hair danced and swayed as the summer breeze hit her body. She was small and slim, even her chest was flat like pancakes.

He had to admit though that she was pretty but she looked so pitiful that reminds him of a lost kitten that was abandoned by her own owner on the busy streets of the city. It was bugging him, not that he cares but this young woman looking miserable was bothering him.

In his despair to get rid of the irritating woman on his side, Shen Yi decided to seek Miss Pancakes help. He didn’t want this woman’s presence anymore and at the same time, he needed someone to help him get rid of her until his cruise vacation ended. He dearly wished that Miss Pancakes wouldn’t reject him.

“There she is,” Shen Yi said and walked towards the young woman.

Lu Xinyi was surprised and was frozen on her spot when the man she saw arguing with another woman, stride towards her and gave her a slight peck on her cheek. Her eyes wide as she holds her hat on her head so it wouldn’t get lost as a sudden gust of wind hit the two of them.

Shen Yi leaned forward and placed a hand on her waist and drew her closer. His warm breath tickled the side of her face as he whispered on to her ear.

“Please help me, Miss Pancakes "