Chapter 2 Is It Him?
Elodie's POV
The man tried pushing me away a few times but couldn't, sighed, and eventually scooped me up in his arms.
I was placed in a car, and then we arrived at a hotel.
As the hotel elevator ascended, I stared dreamily at the man's profile—that sharp jawline, that high-bridged nose, and those broad shoulders twice as wide as an ordinary man's.
I stood on my tiptoes, greedily breathing in the scent of his neck—that reassuring smell.
The man's body seemed to stiffen for a moment, but he didn't immediately push me away.
My hands fumbled randomly across his solid chest. Through the thin shirt, I could feel the firm, burning muscle lines.
At first, he just passively endured it, but under my clumsy teasing, his breathing seemed to gradually grow heavier.
In the darkness, I could feel the muscles in his arms tense up.
Then, a large hand suddenly gripped my lower back, pressing me even tighter against him.
We stumbled into the room and fell onto the soft bed.
I held him tightly, letting my tears of grievance pour out.
"Didn't you say you'd always stay with me? Why did you disappear when I came to Manhattan..."
I rambled incoherently in my confused state, my fists pounding against his chest again and again.
The fight went out of me as quickly as it had come. My strength ebbed away, and darkness claimed me.When I woke up again, I was lying alone in bed. Looking at my surroundings, it seemed to be an upscale hotel.
Outside the window, it was already daylight. A staff member walked in carrying water.
"Excuse me... why am I here? Who brought me?" I asked curiously.
The staff member froze. She must have thought I was playing dumb, then smiled meaningfully. "Don't worry, miss. Our hotel has strict confidentiality measures. We won't leak any privacy about you and your boyfriend."
After the staff member left, my mind was completely blank.
Who was the man who brought me here last night?
It couldn't be who I imagined—how could he possibly come?
Thinking about everything I did to that man last night made me extremely annoyed.
Why did I think of that person again?
He had clearly abandoned me, just like Alex.
Alex's friends were right—I was the one being pathetic, with my one-sided feelings.
I first met Alex a year ago.
My parents were forcing me to marry Ethan, a member of a mafia family. I refused, so I fled home in the middle of the night and came to New York alone, hoping to find Lorenzo, my childhood playmate.
I had known Lorenzo since I was three years old. He lived next door to my house, a boy from Manhattan who was very handsome but didn't talk much. He was always alone, leaning against the cherry tree reading.
I often brought him fruit from our garden, but he always remained indifferent toward me.
Until I was twelve, I attended his ice hockey game and cheered hard for him.
He won the championship. I excitedly ran toward him but was pushed by reporters coming to interview him. I fell to the ground and scraped my knee.
When he saw this, he pushed through the crowd surrounding him, and in front of everyone, came to my side, picked me up, and took me to the hospital.
I looked up at his forehead, sweating from anxiety, and realized Lorenzo wasn't as cold as he seemed. He also had a pleasant cedar scent.
After that, Lorenzo let down his guard and we grew closer.
I saw him as my best big brother and followed him around all day.
When I was sixteen, Lorenzo's whole family moved back to Manhattan. I held his hand with tears in my eyes, and he said he would wait for me in Manhattan.
When I was eighteen, I got into Columbia University. I excitedly told my parents the news, but they told me to give up my studies and marry a man twenty years older than me.
I fled to Manhattan overnight and found the address Lorenzo had sent me in his letters, only to discover the place had long been abandoned.
I wandered the streets in a daze, not knowing where to go even after dark.
A few drunk thugs saw me alone and surrounded me with bad intentions.
Just when I didn't know what to do, Alex appeared. He put his arm around my shoulder and deliberately raised his voice. "Honey, what are you doing here alone? You worried me to death."
The thugs thought he was my boyfriend, cursed a few times, and left in disappointment.
I looked up at Alex. His charming amber eyes were like a light, illuminating my dark life.
Later we ran into each other on Columbia University's campus, and I learned he was a popular figure at our school, from a famous wealthy merchant family in Manhattan, and many girls liked him.
My parents heard about this and called to tell me I had to win Alex over, or they would come to Manhattan and drag me back to marry Ethan.
I already had feelings for Alex, so under my parents' pressure, I quickly began pursuing him.
At first, Alex was indifferent to me, until one day he called me to the rooftop, tilted his head, and looked at me with a mischievous smile. "Do you really like me that much?"
I looked at him seriously. "As long as you agree to be my boyfriend, I'll do anything!"
Just like that, I became Alex's girlfriend in name, but behind my back everyone called me Female Simp.
I would run over ten miles in the freezing cold at three in the morning to buy him the donuts he wanted.
When he lost money on sports betting, I would wear ridiculous clothes and sing loudly in the library.
He even made me jump into a frozen lake on a snowy winter day, just to retrieve a bracelet Samantha had accidentally dropped.
The lake water was bone-chillingly cold. I nearly lost all feeling, and when I climbed out I was shaking all over, while Alex just held Samantha and laughed hysterically with the others.
I became the campus joke, but I didn't care. As long as he would accept me, I was willing to do anything.
But later I found out that the only reason Alex accepted my pursuit was because he lost a bet with friends and had to agree to date me for one year.
And today was the last day of that bet.
I took out my phone, found Alex's contact, and blocked him without hesitation.
From now on, I never want to love anyone again.