"Our fifth year!"

This was sent by a WeChat friend I've added for more than a year. In the photo, she is smiling happily leaning against a man, although the man's head is covered by a cartoon avatar, I can tell it's Liu Yunyang from his outfit.

Is she trying to claim her territory with me?

We became friends through a hiking group. She missed a few meetups due to various reasons and would apologize in the group chat afterward.

She portrayed herself as a college student, and once mentioned in the group chat that she found an internship at a company she likes.

Afterward, we discussed her boss from time to time. At first, she thought the boss was a ruthless workaholic with no humanity.

Later, her attitude toward him changed. I remember one of her social media posts said: "Received milk tea from the boss today, very sweet."

I remember it clearly because I went to the office that day and saw Liu Yunyang treating everyone to the season's first milk tea.

That day, Liu Yunyang left work early because of me, and we went to our alma mater to eat candied chestnuts together.

It wasn't particularly sweet, just our usual routine, the only difference was encountering a drunken boy who tried to pick me up, making Liu Yunyang incredibly jealous, and leading to him keeping me up all night.

That night, he was different, gentle as usual, but there was a wildness in his actions that made things exciting.

It was a strange coincidence to stumble upon the social media post from that day. She wrote: "I also have my place in this world."

The picture showed a handsome man peeling chestnuts.

I even "liked" that post.

But then I started feeling sick. What I thought was something new and interesting turned out to be just her venting her emotions to someone she couldn't express them to before.

I screenshot the post and sent it to Lingling, asking if she had seen it. She replied no and added: "Really? Are third-party relationships this rampant now? Even the original partner's friends are monitoring their every move."

By the way, the reason she added me was because of Lingling. At the time, she needed a bag and Lingling asked me to help her buy it, saving her some money.

To show her gratitude, she sent me a red envelope and insisted that I take it.

Even though we've never met, looking back, it could have been Liu Yunyang's way of catching on to something.

I couldn't possibly remain guarded against him, but there was the mention of helping someone buy a bag that led to him saying that nowadays, some girls were too vain and, despite not having the spending power, they feel the need to show off.

Soon after, I received all the information about the girl. Her name was Yang Mingxi, and she interned at the headquarters a year ago, then started working at a media company after graduating.

The company has created an image of her as a kind-hearted flower shop owner, and she's already got a bit of a reputation.

She has another identity—she's been a female student that Liu Yunyang sponsored for four years.

It's clear that Liu Yunyang has been protecting her well, but it's a pity that she doesn't see it that way.

The bouquet of flowers was her way of testing things out. She didn't get the result she wanted, which is why she made the post visible only to me.

What will she do next?

I'm somewhat looking forward to it.

With that in mind, I immediately flew to meet Lingling, and we embarked on a trip from Asia to Europe. Wherever we went, I indulged, and Lingling even joked that I had flooded my social media with updates.

Every night, I video-called Liu Yunyang. Even if I sensed something amiss in his location, I pretended everything was normal.

Yang Mingxi started posting photos with lipstick marks, as if she wanted to rub her intentions of becoming the other woman in my face.

It was at this time that I deliberately sprained my ankle, and when I called Liu Yunyang, I put on a crying voice.

"Honey, I feel like I'm dying."

I didn't say much to him, and Lingling took the phone and exaggerated on the other end, basically trying to get him to fly over as soon as possible.

Truthfully, I didn't have high hopes because we were no longer the loving couple we used to be.

To my surprise, Liu Yunyang immediately booked a flight, and as expected, received a call and hurriedly left before boarding.

"That's why, the moment you decided to test things out, you've already lost," Lingling said.

I didn't agree with Lingling because it wasn't a test. It was simply my way of giving Liu Yunyang one last chance.