Ep3

To be honest, I’ve never broken my word.

At eighteen, I stood beside Ryan when we heard the verdict that he had won the lawsuit against his stepfather.

At nineteen, I taught that cold, stubborn boy how to smile sincerely and fit in with the people around him.

At twenty, the two of us rose from the bottom of the rankings to receiving an admission letter from a prestigious university in the country.

At twenty-one, we founded our own studio together.

After work, we would squeeze into a tiny rented room only a few square meters wide, share two cups of instant noodles, and even insist on giving each other the last sausage.

During the day, we ran around taking on jobs; at night, we sat in front of the computer fixing bugs until our eyes blurred.

When we were twenty-two, a senior who was famous online, out of jealousy toward Ryan, spread rumors accusing him of stealing his academic achievements.

In the blink of an eye, the genius Ryan became someone everyone despised.

That year, our studio’s inbox and our personal social media accounts were bombarded with vicious attacks.

“Maybe you should just quit.”

In the dim darkness of the night, the boy’s bangs hid his slightly reddened eyes. On the glowing phone screen were cruel insults directed at me.

“A dog licking the soles of someone’s shoes.”

“What white rose? It’s nothing but the leg hair of a copycat.”

“Just looking at it is disgustingly unbearable.”

My warm hand clasped the cold fingers of the young boy. I turned off my phone screen, my crescent-shaped eyes curving into a gentle smile.

“Ryan, I will walk with you toward the dazzling lights.”

Half a year later, light flooded in, and everything became clear.

Ryan’s studio got on track. A year later, his game software surged in popularity, becoming the top-ranked app in daily active users.

Riding the momentum, he went on to develop more software, steadily expanding his business path and branching out into multiple industries.

In just five short years, he rose step by step from a penniless young man to a powerful figure in the business world.

On the night the company officially went public, we drank to our hearts’ content, holding each other tightly, laughing and crying at the same time.

At last, we had supported one another all the way to the brilliance of the dazzling lights.

He made it up to me with a lavish wedding and an expensive diamond ring.

As for me, I still wear the simple ring that Ryan used to propose to me for the very first time.

Back then, he only had 80 dollars, yet he spent more than 70 million dollars to buy that simple pair of rings.

But at some point, I don’t know when, Ryan stopped wearing his ring as often.

Life kept getting better and better, yet we grew further and further apart.

Two people who once held each other tightly in a cramped rented room of just a few square meters now live in a villa—yet can hardly meet when we are both clear-headed.

In those difficult and painful days, our love remained steadfast and unshaken.

And yet, amid wealth and comfort, we have found ourselves on the brink of falling apart.

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