What Is Love
The live comments all agreed: it was the perfect ending for a high school romance story.
Until one evening, while reading a fairytale to my six-year-old daughter, she looked up at me with dead seriousness and asked, "Daddy, what's love?"
"That's easy," I said without hesitation. "Mommy and Daddy got married and had you. That's love."
Her little brow furrowed. "You're a liar."
"Mommy said that even though she didn't marry Uncle Connor, they're the ones who have true love."
I froze.
1.
Ruby was beaming, thrilled to have proven me wrong.
"Mommy said if it wasn't for you, she definitely would have married Uncle Connor. She said if she gets a next life, she's going to find him first. They'll watch the northern lights, ride horses, and feed baby lambs... and then have a baby of their own."
Her eyes sparkled. "Maybe then, I'll get to be Uncle Connor's daughter!"
The "Uncle Connor" she was talking about was the story's villainous rival, the one who had failed to win Sophie's heart.
"What else did she say?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Ruby rattled it off instantly. "Mommy said Uncle Connor's birthday is April seventeenth. He likes to drink sake in the hot tub, his favorite food is anything Mommy cooks for him, and... and he loves cinnamon-roasted chestnuts."
She recited the list of trivial details flawlessly, as if they were precious family heirlooms.
I suddenly realized that today was Connor's birthday.
And Sophie still wasn't home.
Seeing my silence, Ruby tossed the fairytale book aside with a huff and went to her room to work on her physics problems.
I started to call after her, but a few lines of text shimmered into view before my eyes:
LMAO, the child prodigy and her idiot dad!
Our girl Ruby is a true main character's kid. So cool, so savage.
The male lead is so lucky. A genius daughter and a wife who's been his high school sweetheart from day one.
Long distance, family illness, a failed startup... she stuck by him through it all.
I'm crying, I want a love like that...
2.
Is it really love?
I sat there, lost in a fog, for a long time.
Until a warm paper bag was pressed into my hands.
A new comment, punctuated with heart emojis, scrolled across my vision:
The CEO of a publicly traded company, waiting in line for three hours just to get him the first batch of roasted chestnuts of the season.
Married for seven years and still this pure.
What is he even doubting? Can't he see she only has eyes for him?
"Moved?"
Sophie slipped off her scarf and smiled at me, leaning in on her tiptoes.
It was our customary welcome-home kiss, a ritual we hadn't missed in a decade.
But this time, I caught the faint, sharp scent of cologne on her.
I pulled back slightly, my eyes stinging. "Where did that scent come from?"
Sophie's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. "A male client," she said airily. "It must have rubbed off on me."
She paused, then her smile returned. She kissed my chin lightly. "Overthinking again?"
"Here, try the chestnuts I bought for you. Your favorite."
I did love chestnuts.
Back when Sophie wasn't the CEO with a sports car and a personal driver, she used to wake up at four in the morning to go to the market, just to buy me the freshest batch. Seeing me eat them happily, she would rest her chin on her hands and smile, completely content.
The memory softened me. I let her slender fingers peel a chestnut and place it in my mouth.
Sophie said nothing more, heading straight to the study to check on our daughter's homework. They were in there for half an hour, longer than usual.
I chewed mechanically, my mind heavy.
Something about the chestnut tasted... different.
It was cinnamon.
The living room was dark, the lights unlit. Sophie emerged from the study and leaned languidly against the doorframe. She couldn't see the color drain from my face.
"Don't take it so seriously," she said, her voice low. "It's just a kid talking."
I stared at her. The words I wanted to scream were lodged in my throat, but they dissolved into a quiet sigh.
I let her curl onto my lap, a smirk on her lips, as her hot, demanding kisses fell over me.
I didn't know how to question her.
Seven years of marriage. Even including our most reckless high school years, our relationship had always been smooth sailing.
Just as the System that had appeared in our senior year had told us it would be.
In this high school romance novel, I was the male lead, and Sophie was the female lead. We were destined to overcome every obstacle and reach our happy ending.
Connor, the rival, was one of those obstacles.
On the very first day of school, he reported us to the teacher for dating. The teacher separated us, moving Connor into the seat right beside her.
After graduation, Sophie won a full scholarship to a prestigious university abroad. And, as the System ordained, Connor went with her. Same school, same major.
For three years, Sophie kept me updated on everything.
"Connor sat next to me in class today. So annoying. I didn't say a single word to him."
"Passed a flower shop and thought of you. Bought some baby's breath, your favorite."
"Why do I keep running into Connor everywhere! It has to be the System. I'm actively avoiding him."
"Honey, there was an earthquake in Berlin today. Connor and I almost died. I miss you so much."
...
When Sophie returned, she threw herself into her work. For some reason, she kept putting off my proposals.
Until one night, I got into a car accident on my way to deliver some documents to her.
When I woke up in the hospital, Sophie was staring blankly at me, her face gaunt and exhausted. She gripped my hand, so choked up she couldn't form a complete sentence.
By the time I came to my senses, there was a ring on my finger.
It was too big; it didn't fit.
But I was so lost in the joy of finally being with the woman I loved that I brushed it aside. By the time I remembered, Sophie had quietly had the ring resized.
That was the day the System declared Connor's mission a failure and prepared to send him back to his original world.
On the day he was set to leave, he asked to see me.
To everyone's surprise, he wasn't dejected or defeated. He just crossed his arms, looking at me with a mixture of pity and defiance.
"Do you really think I lost?"
3.
He hadn't lost.
After the novel's official ending, Connor returned.
When I heard the news, I was a wreck for days. But Sophie just reassured me with a lazy smile. "What's there to worry about? I don't even like him."
She stroked my hair, her tone teasing. "Why are you always so paranoid? Do you need me to literally cut my heart out to prove it to you?"
Everyone thought she was head-over-heels in love with me.
But no one could have predicted that in the seventh year of our marriage, I would be the one to seek out Connor.
It wasn't just because of what Ruby said.
It was the chestnuts.
I'm allergic to cinnamon. Sophie knew that.
Under normal circumstances, it was a mistake she would never, ever make.
In the coffee shop, before I could even state my purpose, Connor got straight to the point. "Yes, Sophie spent my birthday with me the other night."
"We rode the Ferris wheel, set off fireworks, and she waited in line to buy me cinnamon-roasted chestnuts."
I stared at him, numb. The heart that had been suspended in anxiety for so long finally crashed to the floor.
"She never told you?" he continued smoothly. "For those years she was abroad, I lived right next door. We were together then."
I shook my head, my movements stiff.
Connor smiled, a triumphant glint in his eyes. He held up his hand, showing me a ring on his finger. Engraved on it was Sophie's name.
Not an initial, not a monogram. Her full name, clear as day.
"Sophie had this made for me herself before she came back. She has a matching one."
Connor's smile turned sorrowful. "When she returned, we agreed to pretend nothing had ever happened. This ring is the only proof that behind your back, behind the System's back, behind everyone's back... we had a love of our own."
As if to prove his point, Connor had me take him to Sophie's study.
Amidst a pile of physics journals, he found it. The other ring. He stared at it, his eyes turning red. "She kept it... She still loves me."
I stood frozen. For a moment, even breathing felt exhausting.
It was like a hole had been carved through my chest, and a cold wind was blowing right through it, chilling me to the bone.
After a long moment, I picked up the small silver object.
Engraved on it, just as clearly, was his name: Connor.
The chisel marks were deep, as if etched into the very soul of the metal.
The usually silent comment stream finally burst to life:
...Wait, I thought this was a sweet romance that already ended? What is this plot twist?
I knew the vibe between the female lead and the rival was weird when they were abroad, especially after the earthquake. They were practically glued to each other.
So the female lead gained self-awareness and fell for the rival... but she was forced by the plot to have a happy ending with the male lead.
It's the male lead's plot armor. If they didn't end up together, the System would have punished the rival.
OMG, this angsty, forbidden love story is so much better than the original vanilla romance!!!
...
I stared at the ring in my hand.
This was the proof of their love.
Then what about me?
Was everything between Sophie and me a lie?
But I had truly loved her. The girl I carried to the nurse's office, the girl who twirled her pen and rested her chin on her hand while waiting for me to explain a problem.
The girl who was my entire youth.
And now, they were telling me I had trapped her with my "male lead" status.
So what was I supposed to do now?
Just... walk away?
4.
A sound at the door.
Connor looked up like a startled deer. "So... Sophie?"
A woman stood in the doorway, her expression unreadable, her arms crossed.
Her gaze passed over me, landing on Connor's face with a complex mix of emotions.
Time seemed to stop.
Whoa, the long-awaited reunion...
She's probably wanted to see him for ages but couldn't because of her role.
Imagine pretending to be in a happy marriage with a man you don't love every single day. My heart breaks for her.
This is so tragic. He's the one she was willing to defy her own story for...
I used to say the female lead and the contender had chemistry and you all flamed me. Can I get an apology now?
"It was my idea to come here, don't blame him..." Connor choked out.
Sophie didn't answer. Her cold gaze shifted to me. "Give me the ring."
I slowly rose and walked toward her.
As I passed the fireplace, I paused.
The next second, a silver arc flashed through the air.
For a split second, as it left my hand, I felt a strange sense of dissociation.
"My ring!"
Connor cried out, unhesitatingly plunging his hand toward the roaring flames.
Sophie lunged forward and pulled him back, her eyes filled with anguish. "Are you insane?"
"Sophie..." he sobbed, "that was our ring... the only thing that proves what we had..."
? What kind of male lead is this? He's the real villain here.
Just because he's the main character? I was starting to feel sorry for him, but now I see why she fell for the contender.
OMG his hand is so badly burned, she must be heartbroken for him.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Sophie gripped Connor's wrist, turning to me with a cold sneer.
"Connor is just a supporting character. I never did anything for him. I gave all my love to you..."
So?
I lifted my gaze. "You love him, don't you?"
My voice was slow, careful, deliberate.
Just like it had been all those years ago, under the shadow of the school building, when a seventeen-year-old me had worked up the courage to confess, "You like me a little too, don't you?"
It was all a lie.
5.
Sophie's eyes were downcast. The silence stretched.
The quiet in the room was like cold water being poured over me, slow and deliberate, a repeated, chilling cut to my heart.
Finally, she rubbed her temples and looked at me, exasperated. "What do you want from me?"
"I have tried to be the perfect female lead. I was only good to you, I married you"
"And now you can't even tolerate the existence of a single ring?"
I looked at her, at the cold, angry lines of her face, and felt nothing but weariness.
Maybe when you have enough wounds, the places that were once raw and bleeding just go numb.
When I didn't answer, Sophie turned her attention back to Connor, gently treating his burn. She was so careful, so terrified of hurting him. Her eyes held a tenderness that she once reserved only for me.
The only difference was, the tenderness she showed me was an act.
This was real.
"Don't be sad."
A small smile touched my lips. I held my hand out to Connor.
Sophie instinctively shielded him, her eyes fixed on me, wary.
The next second, my palm opened. "Here," I said, my voice strangely docile. "Your precious love token is safe and sound."
Dead silence.
Connor stared at the recovered ring in my hand.
"Then what did you throw in the fire?"
Sophie's gaze fell to my empty ring finger. Her eyes widened, a flicker of something sharp and cold in them.
I shook my head. "It doesn't matter anymore."
Just like our relationship. From beginning to end, it had never been as important as I thought it was.
6.
I'm not good at fighting.
Sophie knew that.
Whenever we argued, our method of resolution was to give each other space. It never lasted long. Usually, by the time dinner was over, my anger would have cooled, and I'd be wrapping my arms around her with a sheepish grin.
So this time, as I walked tiredly toward the door, she stood to the side and watched, not stopping me.
But just as I pushed the door open, her voice, cool and detached, followed me. "Today is Ruby's birthday."
"Are you really going to let her watch her parents fight on her birthday?"
I stopped.
After a few seconds of silence, I went with her to pick up our daughter from school.
Sophie was always busy with work; she rarely came to pick Ruby up. When Ruby saw her, her expression didn't change, but her steps were noticeably lighter.
At the amusement park, mother and daughter were deep in a discussion about the orbital velocity of celestial bodies, talking nonstop. I found it interesting and tried to chime in.
Ruby shot me an annoyed look. "Daddy, you don't understand any of this. Don't interrupt."
Sophie tapped her on the head. "How can you talk like that? Your father graduated from a top university with a degree in physics, you know."
Ruby's little brow furrowed. "Daddy's the dumbest. There's no way he understands physics."
I froze.
The comments streamed past again:
Hahaha, poor male lead, getting dissed by his own daughter.
Don't blame her, Liam. She's just too smart. In her eyes, even you're just a simpleton, lol.
Ruby suddenly stopped walking. She turned to me, uncharacteristically sweet. "Daddy, can you buy me an ice cream?"
Neither she nor Sophie liked sweets.
I hesitated, but went anyway.
The ice cream truck was on the other side of the park. Afraid it would melt on the way back, I ran.
When I returned, out of breath, they were gone.
Ruby is so smart, she came up with a random excuse just to get him out of the way.
What can you do? The rival is just too charming. He didn't just win over the female lead, he won over her daughter too.
Stop wandering around, Liam. They went to rent a boat on the lake.
So wholesome. This is what a real family looks like.
First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "306025" to read the entire book.
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