Blurb：
For five years, Evan lived a double life—publicly the son of a close-knit family, secretly the lover of his mother’s sophisticated best friend, Vivian Shaw. Their hidden affair was a carefully guarded treasure, until the night Vivian arrived for dinner arm-in-arm with a handsome young stranger named Leo. The betrayal cut deep, but Evan’s composure hid a storm of emotions. When a mysterious message from Leo leads Evan to a jewelry store, he discovers a custom ring engraved not for him, but for Leo and Vivian. The elegant script spelling “love” feels like a final, cruel twist. In a moment of clarity, Evan realizes some secrets are meant to stay buried. Will he confront Vivian Shaw and unravel their five-year lie, or walk away from the woman who kept him in the shadows? Dive into this gripping tale of forbidden love, deception, and the high stakes of hidden relationships.
Content：
I’d been secretly dating my mom’s wealthy best friend, Vivian Shaw, for five years.
One day, Mom suddenly said to me，
Later, Vivian’s is bringing that secret boyfriend of hers over to meet us. The one she’s been hiding for five years.
What about you? Don’t you have a mysterious girlfriend too? Where is she?
I was instantly speechless. I quickly made an excuse and retreated to my room to call Vivian.
She hung up on me and sent a text saying she was in a meeting.
The doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Vivian standing there, arm-in-arm with a young man.
The moment Vivian saw me, she froze.
Her smile stiffened as she asked me.
“What are you doing here?”
—
“He’s my son, where else would he be? What a strange question,” Mom blurted out, immediately stepping forward to usher Vivian and her young boyfriend inside.
The whole time, Vivian kept shooting me frantic looks, silently begging me to play along.
Seeing their intimate gestures twisted something inside me, but I forced a smile anyway.
At the dinner table.
They chatted and laughed easily. Vivian openly accepted bites of pasta the guy fed her, never once looking my way.
Suppressing my anger, I maintained my composure, even adding that young man named Leo on Facebook.
Finally, the dinner ended. I cleared up the table hastily and went back to my room.
I grabbed my phone, desperately hoping Vivian would give me a reasonable explanation.
But until night, and her call never came.
I couldn’t hold back anymore.
I called her. It rang for ages before she finally picked up.
“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”
After I spoke, silence stretched on the other end.
Just as my anger was about to boil over, Vivian’s voice finally came through, slow and measured.
“Lying to you was my fault. But there’s a reason for this. I need you to understand.”
“A reason? Then explain it to me!”
I was furious.
But Vivian acted like she hadn’t heard.
Another stretch of silence filled the line.
A deep sense of helplessness washed over me.
She was always like this.
Whenever we hit a rough patch, she’d clam up, hoping to just skate past it.
But that only made me angrier.
After an unbearably long silence, Vivian finally spoke.
“I have things to do. I’m hanging up now.”
With that, she ended the call.
Listening to the dial tone, I felt like my throat was blocked, struggling to breathe.
For five years, I’d cared for her meticulously, cherished and love her. Yet I remained the secret lover, hidden from her life. She never let me into her world; even our dates were always in places where no one knew us.
Maybe it was because of my mom. Maybe other reasons.
As I lost in thought, my phone buzzed.
I picked it up. It was a message from Leo, Vivian’s young boyfriend.
He sent me a location pin for a jewelry store.
I was confused when his next message arrived.
“Evan, Vivian asked if you could pick up the custom ring from the store tomorrow.”
Leo’s words made hope flare inside me again.
I didn’t care about the time. I threw on a jacket and rushed out.
Soon, I was at the jewelry store.
The clerk saw me and quickly handed over a custom ring box.
“You must be Leo. Vivian called ahead. Said to give this to you when you arrived.”
“It’s top-grade South African diamonds! Each one is seven carats!”
“And here, inside both bands, we engraved Vivian’s and your names, just as she requested.”
I stood frozen.
Picking up the ring, I examined it closely.
The word ‘love’ was elegantly engraved on the inner band in a stylized font.
The handwriting was beautiful.
And it felt like a knife to the heart.
I stood silent for a long time.
But this time, there was no anger, no desire to confront her, no hysteria.
Calmly, I put the ring away and thanked the clerk.
Leaving the store, I hailed a cab straight to Vivian’s company.
Vivian was a workaholic, and her whole team often worked late.
When I arrived, a group of female colleagues was buzzing with office gossip.
“I bet Vivian’s hooked up with that new guy, Leo!”
“Duh! I saw them going home together last night!”
“Leo’s something else. Hooking up with Vivian after just a few days!”
I stood there, listening for a while, until the elevator behind me dinged open and Vivian stepped out.
She saw me standing frozen amidst the crowd. Hearing the women’s talk, fury and shame flashed in her eyes.
“What the hell are you all babbling about?! Get back to work! This isn’t a place for gossip!”
The group scattered, hurriedly lowered their heads and pretended to work.
Then she turned to me.
“Come with me.”
I followed her into her office.
“Evan, don’t listen to them. Leo and I went home together to pick up some documents. Nothing happened,” Vivian explained.
“I believe you.”
Vivian let out a sigh of relief. She started to ask why I’d come, then seemed to think better of it and looked down.
Without preamble, I took the ring box from my bag and placed it in front of her.
Seeing it, Vivian’s head snapped up, a look of guilt clear on her face.
“How did you get this?”
“Did you open it?”
I gave a faint laugh.
“No. Leo said you asked me to pick it up, so I did. But judging by where it was from, I’m guessing it’s a gift for someone very important.”
Vivian blinked, then gently took the box.
She nodded softly, a tender smile spreading across her face.
“Yes. Someone very important.”
Even though I had already decided to detach myself, hearing those words still sent a sharp pang through my heart.
I didn’t want to stay any longer. I was afraid I might break down and cry.
My voice was thick. “It’s late. I should go.”
But Vivian seemed oblivious. She just stared at the ring box, smiling faintly, and murmured, “Mm-hmm.”
The walk home wasn’t far, but I dragged my feet.
I desperately wished Vivian would appear behind me, wrap her arms around me, and whisper softly,
“Evan, all this… it’s just to give you the most perfect wedding.”
But by the time I reached my apartment building, Vivian hadn’t sent another message or called.
I took a deep breath.
In that moment, I knew. It was over between us.
Mom was already asleep when I got home.
I went to my room, planning to rest, ready to end things with Vivian cleanly tomorrow.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I got in, Vivian sent me two pictures.
I opened them. They were photos of graphics cards.
These were the latest models from two top-tier graphics card companies..
Six months ago, I’d told Vivian I wanted one for my birthday.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford it. Back then, I was drowning in insecurity.
I desperately needed her to make an effort for me, to prove she still loved me..
But she’d just snapped impatiently, “All you think about is playing games! Can’t you focus on how to make money instead of wasting time on this?”
After that, I never mentioned the cards again.
I never imagined she’d send me screenshots of them now.
I sent back a question mark.
She replied almost instantly.
“Which one do you think is better to give a guy?”
Maybe because it was a topic I knew, or for some other reason, I replied quickly.
I explained the specs and differences seriously.
She seemed happy. We chatted until past 3 AM when she said she needed to go home and sleep, we’d talk tomorrow.
My heart leapt with a foolish hope. I instinctively assumed she was doing this to apologize, thinking of buying me such an expensive gift.
But a sudden thought struck me. I opened Leo’s Facebook page.
Scrolling through, I froze.
“When someone loves you, they know all your preferences.”
The attached screenshot showed Vivian’s phone, confirming an order on a shopping app.
The items ordered were the exact graphics cards we’d just spent hours discussing.
I sat in stunned silence for a long time before finally collecting myself. I left a comment on his post.
“Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together.”
After commenting, I was about to put my phone down and sleep, but Vivian’s call came through immediately.
“Evan, are you out of your mind?! It’s just a stupid graphics card! What’s with the aggressive comment?”
“You want one? Fine! Tell me and I’ll buy it for you! Was all that stammering really necessary?”
It was the first time Vivian had ever truly exploded at me.
But the angrier she got, the calmer I felt.
“You misunderstood. I meant my blessing sincerely.”
Vivian’s voice on the other end hitched.
After a long pause, she said, “Come to my office tomorrow. I’ll explain everything!”
Early the next morning, I arrived at Vivian’s company building.
Just as I was about to go in, I saw Vivian leading Leo to her car and driving off.
I swallowed hard, but ultimately said nothing.
As I turned to leave, my phone buzzed.
A message from Vivian.
“Go to my office and bring me the gift box. I have something important to handle today. I’ll explain later.”
Below the message was a location pin for an estate.
It was the place we’d gone on our first date.
Back then, she told me we absolutely had to hold our wedding here.
After all, it was where we first started, so it would full of memories.
Naively, I’d believed we’d actually make it.
But now, I felt none of that sentiment.
I went to Vivian’s private space, and took the gift box from her desk.
As I turned to leave, I overheard more employee chatter.
“I heard it’s Leo’s birthday today.”
“You just found out now? Vivian just took him out to celebrate! Rumor is she got him a supercar worth millions!”
“God, I envy Leo.”
“Envy what? You have no idea how wild Vivian is in bed! I’ve even got a video! Look, Leo’s covered in bruises… everywhere!”
I froze for a second, then laughed at myself bitterly.
Evan, Evan, what were you even hoping for?
You’ve been a joke from the very beginning.
I hailed a taxi and headed for the estate.
Soon, I arrived. I hadn’t walked far before I saw Vivian laughing and playing on the lawn with her group of friends.
As I approached, they all turned, their eyes filled with disdain and contempt.
A spineless fool, hovering around Vivian, coming and going at her beck and call..
“Give me the box.”
Vivian’s voice was icy as she snatched it from my hands.
She opened it, checking the supercar key inside. Satisfied it was there, she closed the box.
“Thanks, Evan.”
I didn’t speak. I just watched her.
Seeing my stillness, she frowned.
“What? Something else?”
“You said you’d explain today.”
My words seemed to ignite Vivian.
“Evan! It’s Leo’s birthday! Do you have really to ruin my mood?!” Vivian shrieked.
I just smiled calmly.
“That’s not what I mean. I simply wanted to tell you we’re breaking up. That’s all.”
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