Please Give Me Some Guidance, Dear

After a few drinks, the campus heartthrob who had just returned home suggested playing a game where you pass a playing card from mouth to mouth.

When the card reached him and my fiancée, their lips locked together and the card vanished into thin air, much to everyone's amusement.

With a halfserious, halfjoking tone, he turned to my fiancée and asked, "Megan, if I hadn't gone abroad, would you have dumped me for someone else?"

At those words, my fiancée's eyes remained glued to Lucas.

A soft smile played on her lips as she replied, "It doesn't matter if you went abroad or not. As long as we love each other, we can make it work."

I rose to my feet, clapping slowly.

"So, should I just step aside and let you two have at it then?"

After finishing dinner and drinks, I smiled and waved goodbye to my fiancée as she helped the drunken Lucas leave.

I really didn't want to know what might happen between a drunk man and woman.

Once I finished washing up, I climbed into bed.

In my hazy state, I caught a strong whiff of alcohol on myself.

I frowned and tried to turn away, but I felt trapped.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw my fiancée, Megan, leaning in to kiss me.

Just as her red lips were about to touch mine, I instinctively pushed her away, and she landed on the floor.

My reflexive action left us both stunned.

I wanted to explain myself, but then I remembered how Megan had kissed Lucas right in front of me at the dinner.

"What are you doing?"

Megan asked, sitting on the floor and glaring at me with her usual defiance.

My frustration flared up instantly.

"What am I doing? If you want to kiss me, you should wash your dirty mouth first."

"I find it disgusting that you kissed someone else and then come back to me."

My pentup anger spilled out, and I could see disbelief in Megan's eyes.

"What did you just say? Say it again!"

Her voice was charged with tension.

I swallowed hard, feeling a bit unsure.

"You... you kissed Lucas in front of everyone, and now you want to kiss me? Megan, what do you think I am?"

I looked at her, hurt.

For a moment, I saw a flicker of guilt in her eyes, but she quickly brushed it off, saying impatiently, "It was just a game, Yates. Don't be so sensitive."

Her words made my head spin.

Sensitive?

Did she really think everyone there was oblivious?

Did she think we didn't notice Lucas deliberately spitting out that playing card?

I wanted to say something, but Megan just stood up and walked straight to the bathroom, leaving me in silence.

I sat stiffly on the bed, waiting for her to come out, feeling wide awake and restless.

I was mindlessly scrolling through my social feeds when I stumbled upon a post from Lucas, posted about half an hour ago.

The caption read, "A soulmate for life, baby is so sweet."

The photo was of a belt that I had been asking Megan for a long time.

I'd heard that when a woman gives a man a belt, it's her way of saying she wants to keep him forever.

But whenever I brought it up, she'd just change the subject.

She hasn't even worn the scarf I got her once.

Megan's phone suddenly started buzzing with incoming messages, all from Lucas.

I glanced down at the screen.

"Megan, you home yet?"

"Thanks so much for the gift, I love it."

"Yates isn't pissed, is he?"

Seeing those sickly sweet messages, I lost any interest in investigating further.

Instead, my anger just kept building.

"Baby is so sweet? I wish it would choke you."

I tossed the phone back onto the bed in disgust.

Megan came out of the bathroom, toweling her hair dry. She paused when she noticed her phone on the couch.

"Did you go through my phone?"

I gave a bitter laugh.

"Yeah, it was blowing up with messages. Got annoying, so I tossed it."

"What, are you mad or something?"

Megan gave me a silent, pointed look, then went to sit on the sofa.

The phone screen lit up her face, a slight smile playing on her lips.

I fought to keep my temper in check, not wanting to pick a fight.

If I did, it'd just end up being my fault somehow.

"Oh yeah, that tie I got you is still out on the living room couch. You should grab it."

Her eyes never left the phone as she spoke, a hint of amusement in her voice.

I scoffed from where I sat on the bed.

"Giving me handmedowns from Lucas now?"

"Am I really that low on your priority list, Megan?"

She frowned a bit, looking at me with a wounded expression.

"You don't have to be so harsh."

I glanced at her and didn't want to say anything else.

I opened the door to go sleep in the guest room, but she stepped in front of me.

"Don't be like this, it's not for him."

I looked down at her tired face and sneered.

"Oh yeah? You buy Lucas a belt and now you're worried I'll be mad, so you give me a tie instead?"

"And then send him all those sappy messages?"

"How else do you want me to talk?"

Megan snapped, clearly flustered.

"Go ahead, enlighten me."

I watched her calmly. She deflated a bit and walked back inside, no longer blocking my way.

Beneath her irritation, it seemed like I was the one in the wrong again somehow.

The next morning, I opened my phone and saw a flood of messages from Lucas.

"Yates, are you still a man?"

"Do you really need to argue with Megan?"

"If it's about that belt, I can give it to you."

"Can you stop being so petty?"

As I read through his barrage of messages, I felt a mix of anger and amusement.

Just then, Lucas called.

I picked up.

"Yates, don't be mad. It was my fault that night; I shouldn't have let Megan drive me home."

"Don't argue with her; she was just trying to look out for my feelings."

Hearing his hoarse voice on the other end, I fell silent for a moment.

In the end, I decided to respond harshly.

"Did your family die out, or do you have some weird thing for flirting with other people's wives?"

As I said this, Megan walked in.

My stiff hand couldn't hold the phone, and it dropped to the floor.

"What were you just saying?"

Megan stared at me in disbelief.

I looked away, unable to say anything.

Seeing my reaction, Megan rushed over and started hitting me.

"Yates, are you even human? How could you say that to me?"

"I have nothing going on with Lucas; why don't you believe me?"

I quickly hung up the phone and pushed Megan away.

I scoffed, "Listen to what you're saying; do you really believe it?"

Megan looked at me in shock and suddenly screamed, "Break up! We have to break up!"

Watching Megan scream her heart out, it felt like she had suffered a huge injustice.

I couldn't help but find it a little amusing.

Every time something related to Lucas came up, she seemed to lose her mind and vent her emotions on me.

I still remembered the last time she brought up breaking up; it happened while I was doing housework and accidentally shattered a glass ornament.

At the time, I didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a regular decoration.

But when Megan got home from work, she trembled as she pointed at the shards in the trash can, demanding, "Who did this?"

Confused by her redrimmed eyes, I explained, "I'm sorry, I accidentally broke it."

"Did you really like this thing? I can buy you another one," I offered, but she pushed me away in anger.

"Buy? Where are you going to find an exact replacement? This was a gift from Lucas before he went abroad, and you broke it."

"Yates, get out of here; we're breaking up."

Seeing her so furious left me at a loss.

I could only stand outside her door, feeling small, begging her not to leave me.

But now, I didn't want to and wouldn't keep lowering my standards just to please her.

It felt like a pointless struggle—too exhausting and too much pressure!

I ignored her screams, lowered my gaze, and turned to leave.

Fine, let's break up; this time, I wouldn't chase after her.

In the middle of the night, a frantic phone call jolted me awake.

"Yates, Megan's phone is unreachable; her dad was in a car accident and is now in the emergency room. You need to come quickly."

The voice on the other end was filled with chaos, and I could hear Megan's mother crying intermittently.

A car accident?

I hurriedly got dressed and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Megan, open up."

I knocked anxiously, but there was no response.

With no other choice, I forced the door open.

Inside, the room was empty—Megan was nowhere to be found.

I had to drive to the hospital her mom mentioned.

On the way, I kept trying to call Megan.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable..."

In desperation, I called Lucas.

The call connected quickly.

"Is Megan with you?"

I skipped over the previous argument and got straight to the point.

"Oh, Yates. Megan is here, but don't get mad..."

I interrupted him, irritated, not wanting to hear his insincere words.

"Tell Megan her dad had a car accident. She needs to get to the hospital right away."

Megan grabbed the phone and shouted from the other end.

"Yates, are you out of your mind?"

"I just spoke to my dad, and he's fine."

"A car accident? That's ridiculous."

"You're getting more disgusting, like a filthy bug. Don't call me again."

After she finished, Lucas quickly picked up the phone.

"Megan is angry. If you kneel in front of her and apologize, she might calm down!"

"Sweetheart, don't be mad," I heard Lucas' annoying voice in the background.

Hearing that made my blood boil, but considering the situation, I clenched my jaw.

"I'm serious. I'm not joking. Believe it or not."

Before I could finish, the call was disconnected.

Then I received a message from Lucas—a video.

The camera showed dim lighting, a woman's sexy back, snug under a red silk blanket.

Her long hair sparked the imagination.

"Tonight, she won't be coming back."

Seeing that message made me furious, and I called back immediately.

"Megan, are you really that desperate? Your dad is in the hospital, close to dying, and you're sleeping with some other guy?"