The Ring He Gave Me Had Her Initials

After attending my best friend Mary's birthday party, I had just lain down when my phone pushed a hot post notification.

[Help me think of a disgusting birthday gift, around $200, I need to give it to my bestie the day after tomorrow.]

Netizens offered all sorts of nasty suggestions, but she rejected each one, saying none were disgusting enough.

Finally, she pinned her own reply:

[Thanks everyone. Her boyfriend said he'll help me get revenge the day after tomorrow and plans to make her publicly humiliate herself.]

Netizens immediately sensed something was off.

[What's your relationship with your bestie's boyfriend? Why would he help you?]

The poster sent several eye-roll emojis, her tone arrogant:

[His first kiss was mine, his first time was mine too.]

[Every year he lets me choose my Christmas gift first. The diamond ring he bought for his girlfriend cost over a hundred thousand dollars, but it's engraved with mine and his initials.]

After reading it, I felt both absurd and disgusted.

I enlarged the poster's profile picture. In the image, two people's fingers were interlocked, a diamond ring dazzling.

My heart sank sharply, all the blood in my body suddenly freezing.

That diamond ring was the one my boyfriend Marcus and I had custom-made together in France six months ago.

I sat dazed for a long time, until my phone screen automatically went dark.

Just an hour ago, Marcus had looked at Mary, completely drunk in his arms, frowned and said to me:

"Matthias, look how drunk she is. I'll call you a cab, I'll take her home."

I hadn't drunk much. The night breeze sobered me up.

Out of habit, I nodded, reminding Marcus to send me a message once he safely got Mary home.

But it was only a half-hour drive. The voice calls I made to check in, the messages I sentall sank like stones into the sea.

Now looking at Mary's post.

She was wide awake. Even the drunkenness was fake.

My phone buzzed. Marcus's message popped up:

[Princess Matthias, have safely delivered your bestie home.]

[Your knight is coming right back.]

I didn't reply. I clicked back into the post and enlarged the profile picture.

That was the ring I had personally designed, revised ten times, one of a kind.

The watch on that male wrist was a limited edition Patek Philippethe New Year's gift I'd given Marcus this year.

The jade bracelet on that female wrist was from a raw stone I'd personally selected in Myanmar and had polished. She and I each had one.

Someone asked: [What did your bestie do to you?]

She replied: [Today's my birthday. My bestie is so rich, but she just gave me a bag and didn't treat everyone like she used to!]

Someone else was confused: [Aren't you afraid your bestie will find out about what you're doing with her boyfriend?]

[During that sophomore year trip, I gave her boyfriend advice on how to win her over, but required him to do it with me seven times first. Her boyfriend agreed immediately.]

[The next day my legs were so sore I couldn't climb the Alaska mountain. My idiot bestie thought I was on my period and even felt sorry for me, making her boyfriend carry me up the mountain.]

I stared at those piercing lines, my stomach churning constantly.

I still remembered that day.

I kept pressing on her abdomen, worried: "Mary, if you're not feeling well, just rest at the hotel."

Marcus had also gently urged in a rare soft voice: "Don't push yourself. If you really want to climb, Matthias and I will bring you back next time."

Mary rolled her eyes at him and insisted on being stubborn.

But after just two steps, her face went pale, so I had Marcus carry her.

I blinked, my nose stinging, a string of tears falling onto my phone screen.

I switched to WhatsApp, my thoughts in chaos, not knowing how to confront them.

Just last week, Mary had been holding my hand, half-jokingly serious.

As the Steve in our love story, she would definitely take the stage to denounce every crime of our public displays of affection.

I had collapsed laughing in her arms, promising her my bouquet would only go to her.

But I never imagined that these two people I trusted wholeheartedly would betray me together.

Marcus, Mary, and I had known each other for twelve years.

We took our high school graduation photos together.

We took our college graduation photos together.

When Marcus confessed to me in high school, Mary had angrily yelled at him:

"Marcus! Are you so upset that Matthias got first place that you're using this dirty trick to affect her studies?"

I laughed helplessly and quickly pulled her back:

"Mary, I actually got first place in the whole school this time thanks to Marcus explaining problems to me."

"You know I broke my leg. I relied entirely on him to help me with notes."

Back then, when I saw Mary's complicated expression, I thought she was frustrated with me for not living up to expectations.

In college, Marcus's kindness to me was well known.

He picked me up and dropped me off for class every day, remembered my period better than I did.

His backpack was eighty percent full of things prepared for me.

In junior year, Marcus was already planning our future.

He meticulously wrote down plans for each year, proving he could become a man who could take care of me.

These past years, he accomplished every step.

He achieved a six-figure annual salary, maintained emotional stability, and could even do laundry and cook after work to take care of me.

He accomplished selecting a diamond ring together with me, just waiting to propose this year, marry next year, have a child the year after.

Every item in his plans included me. But outside the plans, there was also Mary.

The post had updated again.

My finger uncontrollably clicked into it.

[Actually, I've indirectly given her disgusting gifts before. Like the pearl bracelet on her wrist.]

[During that period I wasn't doing well at work, and her boyfriend and I played a bit rough in bed. That bracelet once broke inside my body. Her boyfriend didn't care and still gave it to her.]

My gaze uncontrollably drifted toward the vanity.

That bracelet was the Christmas gift Marcus gave me this year, saying it was a limited edition pearl bracelet he bought.

[Also, this Christmas, her boyfriend chose to bring me home to meet his parents.]

[The gold bracelet on my right wrist was given to me by his mother.]

[He said he couldn't marry me, so he had to compensate me in other ways.]

Boommy mind went completely blank.

His mother's simple face and apologetic expression still seemed before my eyes:

"When Marcus's grandmother gave it to me, it was this silver bracelet."

When Marcus came back, it was already 1 AM.

He reeked of Mary's signature perfume.

He smiled at me indulgently: "Waiting for me to blow-dry your hair?"

I was about to confront him with a cold face when Mary video-called me.

She drunkenly kissed the camera: "Matthias, I love you so much."

"I love this bag so much." Her voice dropped. "I'm just too poor. Tomorrow's your birthday, and I won't be able to give you something this expensive back..."

I coldly interrupted her: "Oh."

Seeing my expression was off, Mary froze.

Marcus suddenly bear-hugged me, his face nestling in my neck, competing for my affection as always with Mary.

"Matthias, the person who loves you most is clearly me..."

As he spoke, his lips moved toward my face.

Mary in the video suddenly shrieked, her phone falling.

Marcus jerked toward my phone screen, his face instantly turning pale.

No figure visible, no sound audible.

He immediately rushed toward the entrance.

His voice carried a panic and anxiety I'd never heard:

"Matthias, something must have happened to Mary. I'm going to check!"

A loud "bang."

I heard a soft laugh from the other end of the phone. The video was hung up.

I opened that post again.

The latest entry was full of malice directed at me.

[She's so stupid. Can't tell I deliberately called her boyfriend away.]

[Tomorrow's her birthday, and she definitely won't notice I'm deliberately disgusting her. So boring.]

My heart felt like it had fallen into an ice cave, feeling cold all over.

I lay on the couch with wet hair, eyes open until dawn.

Playing on repeat in my mind was that trip when we climbed to the summit together.

Mary shouted into the wind: "Marcus, you and Matthias will love each other forever."

Marcus glanced at her and shouted too: "Mary and Matthias will be best friends forever."

The 8 o'clock alarm rang on time.

I opened WhatsApp and sent Marcus a message.

[Marcus, let's break up.]

But the smart lock made a sound. Mary's voice came through, rudely criticizing Marcus.

"It's all your fault for waking up late. We didn't get to buy Matthias's favorite ice cream cake."

"You're the one who took forever, had to put on makeup to see Matthias." Marcus retorted.

"It's because you exhausted me yesterday"

They were carrying seven or eight kinds of breakfast, smiling broadly.

Seeing me lying on the couch, their voices stopped abruptly.

What they were saying was self-evident.

Marcus casually placed the breakfast on the table and chuckled:

"My phone's special ringtone just went off. Let me see what message Matthias sent me."

He glanced at it, his face suddenly turning deathly pale.

Mary leaned her head over. Their faces were inappropriately close.

Her gaze shifted to my expressionless face, her tone taking on a playful quality:

"Matthias, just because Marcus didn't come home last night?"

"I haven't even blamed you yet. I accidentally fell, and you didn't even care about me."

"And here I bought you breakfast early this morning."

Details I'd never noticed before, I now noticed completely.

When did this ice cream cake from the east side of the city become my favorite?

It was because Mary loved it, and he'd queue to buy it every time.

Over time, I became the excuse, and it became my preference.

I looked at Mary calmly, my tone flat:

"Wasn't it you who deliberately faked a fall to trick him over and keep him at your place?"

"I heard your soft laugh."

"I saw the marks on both your necks."

Mary instinctively pulled up her collar.

Marcus strode toward me, his Adam's apple bobbing:

"No, Matthias, you've misunderstood."

"Mary fainted from the fall yesterday. I took care of her all night, that's why I didn't come home."

"I promise it won't happen again."

On the first day of living with Marcus, I made an agreement with him that he absolutely could not stay out all night.

Past affection and former happiness made me just want to part ways amicably with them.

Seeing their all-too-familiar faces, surging emotions flooded my brain. When I opened my mouth, I couldn't control my choking voice.

"Break up." I couldn't say any other words.

Mary pushed Marcus hard, ordering:

"Quickly kneel and apologize to Matthias."

She knelt down first with a thud:

"No matter what it is, it's not your fault anyway. I'll apologize to you first, okay?"

But Marcus suddenly yanked Mary up, his eyes full of heartache.

Looking at me, his eyes held no guilt, only disappointment: "Matthias, apologize to Mary!"

"We've both been indulging your emotions all along. We get tired too. Why can't you be more mature?"

"Why can't you trust us the way we trust you?"

It felt like something completely broke inside my heart.

At this moment, only numbness remained.

"You both betrayed me. Are you going to keep pretending?"

"If you don't leave, I'll call the police."

Mary pulled Marcus away.

She loudly said near Marcus's ear: "Let her process her emotions."

"Who knows who made her angry. She's taking it out on us."

"Maybe she watched some stupid soap opera again and identified with the female lead."

I thought I'd been clear enough.

Just as the slanderer knows best how wronged you are, the betrayer also knows best what they've done.

But after I blew out my birthday candles and turned on the lights.

The two of them stood side by side in the light, smiling.

Mary acted as if nothing had happened, holding a huge internally carved crystal ornament in her arms.

"Surprise!" She shoved it into my arms, smiling brightly: "I specially picked this for you. Do you like it?"

Marcus knelt on one knee, holding up the diamond ring toward me, his eyes full of tenderness:

"Matthias, marry me!"

The diamond ring sparkled, drawing cheers.

Someone shouted: "Accept it!"

I looked down. Inside the crystal ornament was an engraving of my figure.

In the photo she chose, I was turning my head to the side, mouth half-open.

The angle was so cunningly chosen that it captured the exact moment I looked most idiotic.

She always loved catching unflattering candid photos of me, telling Marcus I was cute.

Friends held up their phones filming me.

Mary retreated behind Marcus, also holding up her phone aimed at me.

Seeing the smile at the corner of her mouth, I also knew how ridiculous I lookedall dressed up, holding this ugly crystal emitting multicolored light.

Marcus raised the ring even higher, his tone urgent:

"Matthias, Mary specially bought you a gift to apologize too."

"Everyone's watching. Haven't you been looking forward to my proposal for a long time?"

Apologize?

I lowered my eyes.

Marcus seemed unable to see how cheap and ugly what Mary gave me was.

I wanted to laugh, but tears fell first.

Marcus and Mary thought I was crying from being moved.

I closed my eyes and raised my hand.

Suddenly an ear-piercing burst of laughter erupted on the scene.

Countless sprays of cream shot onto my face and body.

White ribbons fell like a funeral.

The cream stuck to my body was utterly inauspicious.

Flashbulbs went crazy flashing.

Marcus looked at Mary with an indulgent glance, then turned to me smiling:

"Matthias, Mary and I lost a game of truth or dare, don't"

My hand swung down hard, slapping across his face.

The ring was knocked away, rolling into a corner.

Mary shouted at me angrily: "It's just a joke! Why did you hit Marcus?"

"Slap"

I raised my hand again, a heavy slap landing on Mary's face.

Everyone finally noticed something was wrong with me and began to intervene.

"Matthias, it's your birthday today. Making such a scene, if word gets out... it's too undignified."

"What's wrong with you and Marcus? You're about to become family. Can't you give him some face?"

"Mary didn't do anything, right? Did you really need to hit someone?"

Marcus's face darkened: "I'm fine. Matthias, quickly apologize to Mary!"

"She was so thoughtful preparing a gift for you. Yesterday she even knelt for you for no reason."

I lowered my head, hiding the mockery in my eyes.

The huge screen suddenly displayed a file.

Opening it revealed screenshots of all the posts Mary had made.

Marcus still didn't understand.

He was still lecturing me: "Yesterday you threw a tantrum for no reason. I didn't even want to propose to you. I wanted you to calm down and realize your mistake."

"It was Mary who kept persuading me, saying today is your birthday. If she and I didn't show up, you'd definitely lose face."

"Mary usually plays the fool to make you laugh. Now you can't even take a joke?"

As he spoke, Marcus smeared cream on his own face, then dotted some on Mary's nose, as if comforting a tantrum-throwing child:

"Now we all look like this. Not angry anymore, right?"

"With a temper like yours, how will you be a mother in the future?"

I stared straight at Marcus, saying coldly: "Marcus, turn around and look at the big screen."

He turned around. The first thing he saw was his chat history with Mary.

Marcus: [Keep the baby.]

Mary: [I don't want to. She's my best friend.]

Mary: [If I really have it, the three of us are completely done. Do you know how much pain she'll be in?]

Marcus: [But aren't you in pain?]

Mary: [Don't forget, she also lost a child because of us.]