Chapter 3

As soon as the words left my mouth, Scarlett's phone rang.

She glanced at it, her tone casual, as if she didn't care at all.

"I'll just assume you're angry and speaking out of emotion. As long as you're good this year, you won't miss out on what's yours."

"I'm going to Ethan's welcome party first. You stay home and think about it."

The moment the door closed, I smashed the only photo I had with Scarlett.

My phone suddenly lit up, grabbing my attention.

It was a link from my friend.

Scarlett's book had become popular, bringing her into the public eye.

These past few days, he'd sent me plenty of videos related to Scarlett.

But this time, seeing his text, I froze for a moment.

[Your early photos with Scarlett have been dug up.]

In fact, Scarlett had never publicly acknowledged my existence.

Whenever I brought it up, she'd use the excuse of not wanting her private life to be overly scrutinized.

Because of this, I had been with Scarlett for five years without any official status.

Even though I already had a suspicion, when I clicked on the link, my heart felt a sharp prick.

The link contained a Google Maps screenshot from five years ago.

And the main characters in the picture were Scarlett and "me."

The same height, similar backs.

If I hadn't learned the truth about being a stand-in today.

I might have thought I'd lost a memory.

But Scarlett would never squat down to tie my shoelaces.

In the five years we were together, Scarlett and I did everything couples do.

Except for her bending down to tie my shoelaces.

I can't count how many times I wanted Scarlett to tie them for me.

But each time, it was fruitless.

Even when my stomach pain made my face turn pale, Scarlett was indifferent to my request to tie my shoes.

What I got was annoyance.

"I don't like tying people's shoelaces. Can you please stop forcing me?"

I remember that day, I didn't speak all evening.

Later, Scarlett tried to coax me for a long time.

I thought I had forgotten, but three years later, that memory was still vivid.

So vivid that seeing that scene, my chest felt like it was crushed by a heavy stone.

So it wasn't that she didn't like to, it was just that the person wasn't me.