She Took My Suit for Him

The night before the school's coming-of-age ceremony, my girlfriend Rachel brought the class's scholarship student to find me, immediately demanding that I give my custom-made suit to the scholarship student.

She said, Ulysses comes from a poor family and can't afford a suit, and you don't lack one piece of clothing. Oh, and the shoes and watchyou need to give those too.

I laughed in anger. "Just because he's poor, I have to support him? So when he gets married and has kids, do I have to help with that too?"

Ulysses' face darkened.

Rachel flew into a rage, insisting I must have the clothes, watch, and shoes ready by tomorrow, or she'd cancel our engagement.

I fell silent, then turned to call my grandfather.

The engagement needed to be cancelled, but I would be the one to cancel it first.

"You want to cancel the engagement? Why?" Grandfather asked me.

"Because we're not compatible. Rachel and I grew up together, and I thought I understood her well, but I've recently discovered I don't know her as much as I thought."

Grandfather on the other end of the line was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's arrange a time for both families to have dinner together and clarify the matter of dissolving the engagement."

I agreed and walked into the classroom to study.

After evening self-study ended, many classmates were clamoring that tomorrow's coming-of-age ceremony called for celebrating hard at a bar tonight.

The teacher didn't stop them either!

"You all go ahead. Ulysses is in a bad mood, so I'll keep him company."

My childhood friend Rachel's single sentence dropped the classroom's lively atmosphere to freezing point. Everyone looked at me, including the teacher.

They all knew Rachel and I had grown up together and were engaged.

I looked at Rachel, my eyes involuntarily stinging.

Twenty yearsshe had left an indelible mark on my heart, yet in hers, I apparently couldn't even compare to Ulysses, whom she'd only known for a year.

"Rachel, the atmosphere is so good, don't be a buzzkill," a classmate tried to persuade. "And Emmanuel..."

"Don't mention him!" Rachel's face suddenly turned cold. "If he hadn't deliberately humiliated Ulysses just now, Ulysses wouldn't be in a bad mood."

With those words, the few classmates who wanted to speak up didn't dare say anything more.

Ulysses looked at me provocatively and patted Rachel's hand. "Rachel, you go ahead. I'll be fine."

After speaking, he deliberately put on a dejected expression.

Rachel immediately hugged his arm with heartache.

"Don't say anymore. I'll stay with you all night."

Hearing this, my face changed drastically.

Stay with Ulyssesfor the whole night!

At this moment, I felt both heartbroken and furious. I wanted to loudly question Rachel about whether she still remembered I was her fianc, bound to her by engagement.

Seeing my poor expression, the surrounding classmates quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Rachel's just joking. How could she stay with Ulysses all night?"

"Yeah, everyone in the whole school knows Rachel and you grew up together and are engaged. We're all waiting to attend your wedding."

"I'll definitely give you a big gift when the time comes."

Rachel said coolly, "Sorry to disappoint everyone. Our wedding may not happen."

After speaking, she walked away with Ulysses' arm in hers. After two steps, she turned back to me.

"I've given you a chance. Whether you can seize it is up to you."

I smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I've already made my decision."

Twenty years, and we'd finally become strangers.

"That's too much."

Classmates expressed their indignation on my behalf.

"Yeah, she's engaged to you. How can she say she'll stay with Ulysses all night?"

"I'll go pull her back."

I stopped the classmate who wanted to chase after them and smiled. "Forget it."

There's a sayingpeople who don't love you can't see your existence.

If that's the case, why should I care?

"Let's go. Today's on me!"

At the bar, the atmosphere was lively. Because Ulysses wasn't there.

During previous class group activities, no one had looked down on him for being a scholarship student. They'd taken him everywhere, but he always said inappropriate things.

"A plate of fruit costs a hundred dollars? So expensive. You're all so rich."

"I'm not rich like you guys to buy gifts, so I can only give verbal blessings. Happy birthday."

"My family is poor. I really envy how you throw away clothes when they get a hole in them."

He always disguised himself as the victim, as if we were flaunting our wealth in front of him. Whenever this happened, Rachel would always stand up to defend him.

"What are you thinking about? Sing a song and vent all the frustration you've been holding inside."

A classmate shoved a microphone into my hand, got up, and ran to select "Endless Love."

This used to be my favorite song, but not anymore.

"Change it. 'Lonely Boy.'"

The classmate paused, then silently changed the song.

As soon as the intro started, the private room door was flung open. Rachel walked in with Ulysses.

Instantly, the lively atmosphere in the room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Rachel acted as if she hadn't noticed, speaking to herself. "Ulysses persuaded me. I thought about it and realized he was rightI really should come. Plus, I think it's necessary to let you all see him completely transformed."

Rachel smiled broadly. "So, how is it? Isn't he handsome?"

The room remained silent.

I looked at Ulysses, dressed in a full suit, wearing a tie, dress pants, and leather shoes, and was the first to applaud. "He really is handsome!"

"At least you have good taste!" Rachel was very satisfied with my perceptiveness. "Actually, Ulysses is very handsome. He just didn't have money to dress up before. Now looking at him, he's no worse than any of you."

I smiled. Handsome?

Although dressed in designer brands, he looked awkward no matter how you looked at him!

People with dark hearts can't project refinement no matter how they dress.

Rachel calling him handsome was just beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Rachel scanned Ulysses up and down, touching her chin. "Seems like something's still missing."

She turned to look at me. "Emmanuel, take off your watch and give it to Ulysses. I won't ask you to give him clothesjust give him a watch. You can't object to that, right?"

I paused and looked down at my wrist.

The watch was old, but I'd always worn it and carefully maintained it.

Because it was a gift from Rachel's father.

When Rachel's father had put it on my wrist, he'd said, "This is the Wilson family's heirloom token. Now I'm entrusting it to you. From now on, Rachel and the Wilson family are in your hands."

After a long silence, I spoke in a hoarse voice. "Are you sure?"

"What's there to be unsure about? It's just a watch. Or are you saying you can't even bear to part with a watch?"

Rachel's tone was dissatisfied. She walked over and forcefully removed the watch. The process was rough. I wanted to stop her several times but held back.

"Uncle Peter, don't blame me. This is Rachel's decision. She thinks Ulysses deserves this watch more than I do."

Looking at Rachel's face, I thought silently to myself.

Rachel hadn't expected me to remain silent the entire time. She successfully removed the watch and nodded with satisfaction.

"Emmanuel, you've finally grown up."

With that, she turned and walked back to Ulysses, gently putting the watch on him with a tender expression, being extremely careful as if afraid of hurting Ulysses even slightly.

My heart stabbed with pain, but I forced myself not to look away and continued watching.

Because I needed to learn not to care.

After putting on the watch, Rachel happily pulled Ulysses to sing.

The two interacted frequently. When singing love songs, they made eye contact, their gazes filled with affection.

They sat closer and closer. Ulysses' hand brazenly wrapped around Rachel's waist, and he turned to give me a provocative and triumphant look.

I remained expressionless and downed a large glass of beer.

The party continued until eleven o'clock. Rachel had drunk too much and was squinting, leaning against Ulysses, her arms around his neck, asking him to take her home.

Ulysses looked at me with a smile on his lips. "Emmanuel, why don't you take Rachel home instead?"

Before I could speak, Rachel waved her right hand drunkenly. "No, I hate him today. I don't want him to take me home."

"I want to go to your place. I promised to stay with you all night."

"This..." Ulysses feigned panic and quickly said to me, "Emmanuel, Rachel's drunk. She's talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."

I said indifferently, "Since she hates me and insists on staying with you, I'll leave her to you. Whether you take her home or bring her to your placewhatever you want."

With that, I left without looking back, my eyes already red.

On the way home, scenes with Rachel flashed through my mind like a slideshow.

We'd grown up together. My world was full of her.

From kindergarten to college, I'd always protected her, not letting her suffer any harm.

When she was bullied and made to cry by older students in elementary school, I went with red eyes to confront them and even got into a fight. In the end, she received an apology, and although I was bruised and battered, I smiled happily.

For her birthday every year, I'd ask my parents to buy all the fireworks in the city and the front page of all the newspapers that day to celebrate for her.

When I was sixteen, our families discussed our marriage and established the engagement. I was so happy I didn't sleep all night.

I thought I could walk through life with her like this, grow old together.

But everything changed after meeting Ulysses.

She stopped acting cute with me. Instead, there was more scolding and shouting.

I endured it again and again, for no other reason than because I loved her.

But did she love me? Before today, I was certain of the answershe loved me too.

But I discovered I was wrong. She didn't love me that much.

Twenty years of feelingscould they really not compare to three years?

The facts proved they couldn't.

The next day, I saw Rachel at the classroom door.

Her face was somewhat pale, and she seemed unsteady on her feet. Ulysses beside her was carefully supporting her.

I paused, then walked past as if nothing had happened.

Rachel stopped me.

I said coolly, "What is it?"

Rachel didn't dare look at me, keeping her head down. "Um, last night Ulysses took me home. I was so drunk that I fell asleep as soon as I got there and forgot to call you to let you know I was safe."

"Oh!" I nodded. "Anything else?"

As if she hadn't expected such a calm reaction from me, Rachel frowned. "Don't you believe me?"

"No, I just didn't sleep well last night and I'm a bit tired."

"Take care of yourself. You can't drink that much like you did last night." Rachel reminded me, then hesitated before gently hugging me.

"Yesterday was my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you or said those things to deliberately make you angry. I apologize."

"Oh, and I have a surprise for you at today's coming-of-age ceremony."

I smiled. "What a coincidence. I also have a surprise for you."

"Really?" Rachel's eyes lit up. "We really are in sync, thinking the same thing."

I smiled and walked toward the classroom. Just before entering, I instinctively looked back to see Ulysses with an ugly expression while Rachel hugged his arm, constantly acting cute.

Ha! I sneered and walked into the classroom without looking back.

The coming-of-age ceremony started on time. All the students' parents came. Naturally, my family and Rachel's family came too.

The students went on stage one by one, saying words of gratitude to their parents.

When it was Rachel's turn, she thanked her parents as usual, then knelt on one knee facing me, holding a ring in her hand, and loudly said:

"Emmanuel, will you marry me?"

The whole venue was shocked! Her parents smiled happily.

My parents were also smiling. Only Grandfather Andre remained expressionless.

I looked at Ulysses again. He was also smiling broadly, extending his middle finger toward me, his eyes provocative.

I smiled and, under everyone's gaze, walked onto the stage step by step.

Rachel looked at me expectantly.

I was silent for a moment, then reached out to grab the ring from her hand, turned, and threw it forcefully at Ulysses. Then I loudly said:

"I won't marry Rachel, because she and Ulysses are the real pair. Let's give them our blessings."

After speaking, I was the first to clap. I turned back to look at Rachel, still kneeling on the ground, and said softly:

"Surprise. Do you like it?"

The whole venue fell into deathly silence. Her parents' smiles froze on their faces.

My parents looked at me in shock. Grandfather gripped his cane tightly.

Rachel's face first went pale, then flushed red.

She stood up abruptly and shouted angrily, "Emmanuel, are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy. I just did something you wanted to do but didn't dare to."

I looked at Rachel, my eyes calm.

I used to think I could never leave her, but only after truly letting go did I realize

There's never been anyone who truly can't live without someone else.

Everyone has parents, friends, and family. We never live for just one person.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Rachel trembled with anger, pointing at me, her eyes brimming with tears. "I abandoned a woman's modesty and proposed to you in front of the entire school, and this is how you humiliate me in return."

"Emmanuel, how can you face me? How can you face our twenty years together? How can you face my parents?"

By the end, she pointed sharply at her parents below the stage, tears falling like broken kite strings.

"Dad, Mom, I've embarrassed you."

"Rachel!"

Rachel's mother Russell let out a shrill scream and rushed to the stage to hug Rachel.

Rachel's father Peter's face was iron-blue as he angrily questioned my parents. "This is your good son?"

My parents opened their mouths but couldn't say a word in rebuttal.

I spoke, my voice flat.

"Uncle Peter, don't make things difficult for my parents. They don't know anything."

"Then it's you!" Russell held Rachel tightly, turning to look at me. The kindness that used to be in her eyes had completely turned to fury.

"What has Rachel done to wrong you that you would subject her to such humiliation?"

"The engagement was made by both our families together. If you've had a change of heart and fallen for someone else, the families could sit down together and cancel the engagement amicably."

"You and Rachel have twenty years of history together. Is this how you treat her? Humiliating her in front of the entire school?"

"She's a girl! Do you want her to die?"

The surrounding classmates who didn't know the truth also pointed fingers at me.

"That's too much."

"Yeah, if you've had a change of heart and want to break the engagement, you can talk about it properly. How can you use such an extreme method?"

"Rachel is so pitiful to have fallen for someone like this."