1

"Brother, I've agreed to go home for the arranged marriage."

Ira's soft voice was particularly clear in the quiet of the night.

On the other end of the phone, Wade finally let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "My baby, you’ve finally broken up with that little boyfriend of yours? After all these years together, he never agreed to meet me and Dad. I knew you two wouldn’t work out."

Hearing her brother's certain tone, Ira lowered her eyes and softly responded.

"I know, I was wrong before. I'll take care of things here as quickly as possible. You and Dad can arrange the wedding, I just need half a month to settle everything."

"You don't need to worry about the wedding. I'll contact the priest. Just come back on time. The person we've chosen for this arranged marriage is someone our parents and I carefully selected. His family background, personality, and looks are all perfect. He’ll surely catch your eye."

"By the way, when you come back for the wedding, make sure to bring one person—my best friend Alvin. You went to college in California, didn’t you? And stayed at his place for a while. You owe him a lot for taking care of you back then. Make sure to invite him to the wedding."

Ira didn’t know how to respond to this.

After a long silence, she finally spoke in a low voice.

"He can't come."

Before she could say anything else, the door opened.

Quick as a flash, Ira hung up the phone and looked up to see Alvin just returning.

He raised an eyebrow, and with a rebellious, cocky smile on his face, he said, "I can't come? Where can't I go?"

To my wedding.

Ira silently answered him in her mind.

But she remained calm, her tone indifferent as she said, "It's nothing."

Alvin didn’t think much of it. He casually started unbuttoning his black shirt. "Were you just talking to your brother?"

Ira nodded and got up to go back to her bedroom, but Alvin grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace.

His warm breath brushed her ear, and an intimate, lingering atmosphere filled the air between them.

"Did you tell him what our relationship is, my baby?"

Ira smiled faintly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "You're really good at joking. Didn’t you say before that we shouldn’t let him know?"

"It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t, baby. You know your brother’s personality. If he finds out that his best friend is with his precious little sister, he’ll probably fly to California tonight and beat me up until I can't get out of bed."

Hearing his joking tone, Ira’s eyelashes fluttered, but her voice remained steady, "So, in your heart, am I your girlfriend?"

Alvin raised his eyebrows when she suddenly asked such a question. "What kind of silly question is that? Not a girlfriend? We’ve lived together for six years. Not a girlfriend? I hug you as soon as I come back. Not a girlfriend? I do this kind of thing to you?"

As he spoke, his warm lips brushed against her neck, and Ira’s body tensed up immediately. She quickly turned her head to avoid the kiss. "I... I’m not feeling well today."

Alvin thought she was just shy and couldn’t help but laugh. "Little girlfriend, we’ve been together so long, and you’re still so shy."

He laughed and ruffled her hair before turning toward the bathroom.

Listening to his footsteps grow fainter, Ira muttered to herself again.

Girlfriend?

Shouldn’t I be... a substitute?

Ira first met Alvin eight years ago.

He and Wade were college roommates and in the same club, so Alvin would often bring people back to their shared apartment.

At that time, Ira was just beginning to experience her first crush, and almost at first sight, she was drawn to this cool, lazy, and incredibly handsome guy.

Later, after high school, Alvin graduated and returned to California. Still thinking about him, Ira, despite her family's objections, secretly applied to the university in his city.

Wade, worried about his younger sister, entrusted her to his best friend Alvin, even letting her stay in his apartment.

At first, they had little interaction. She focused on her studies, while Alvin was busy with racing and relationships, changing girlfriends almost every three days.

It wasn’t until her second year of college that Alvin came home drunk one night, and she rushed to take care of him.

Late into the night, as she looked at him seemingly asleep on the couch, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to smooth out the frown between his brows.

Just as her skin touched his, his eyes, which had been tightly shut, suddenly opened.

Alvin lazily lifted his eyelids and spoke in a hoarse, magnetic voice, "Do you like me?"

Caught off guard, Ira stood up immediately. "No, no..."

Alvin smirked. "If you don’t like me, why do you always blush whenever you see me, little sister?"

Ira was shocked to realize that he knew every time she sneaked glances at him. Just as she didn’t know how to react, he smiled and grabbed her head, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

She was lost in the tenderness of his kiss, unable to pull away.

After a night of passion, Ira’s previously peaceful life was turned upside down.

Alvin, once a carefree playboy, seemed to have finally settled down and focused on pursuing a relationship with her.

She repeatedly rejected her parents' and brother’s requests for her to come back home and go through the arranged marriage, insisting on staying in California, staying by his side.

Every time, her brother would angrily ask, "Who’s in California that makes you stay there for six years and never come home?"

Ira almost blurted out that she was with her brother's best friend. But Alvin always stopped her, and she never understood why, until a few days ago.

Alvin had been drunk at a party, and when she went to pick him up, one of his friends, also drunk, pointed at her and lamented:

"My God, how could such a beautiful girl end up being ruined by that damn kid?"

"Little sister, for God’s sake, let me give you some advice. Don’t fall for Alvin. He’s heartless. You, and all his exes, are just substitutes for Maria."

That was the first time Ira heard the name Maria, and she couldn’t forget it after that.

After asking around, she eventually learned the truth.

Alvin and Maria had been each other’s first love. The year he loved her the most, Maria suddenly broke up with him and left for abroad.

He was unable to move on from the past, and so he indulged in a playboy lifestyle, constantly changing girlfriends.

Each of those girlfriends, in one way or another, bore a resemblance to Maria.

Ira was no exception.

After graduation, he refused to take over the family business and insisted on becoming a race car driver, because of something Maria had said when they were younger: "I think race car drivers are so handsome. My future husband has to be a race car driver."

Six years of youth and sincerity, it turned out, were all just an illusion.

At that moment, Ira made her decision to return home for the arranged marriage.

She no longer wanted Alvin, and she would never love him again.

2

At 7 AM the next day, Ira’s biological clock woke her up on time.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Alvin, who was in front of the mirror adjusting his shirt.

His daily schedule was always chaotic, and it was the first time she had ever seen him wake up this early.

Hearing footsteps, Alvin turned around, saw her, and asked, "Do I look handsome in this outfit today?"

He was a natural at wearing clothes. Even a casual black shirt looked good on him. Today, after making an effort to dress up, he looked even more handsome, his lazy glance enough to make a group of young girls swoon.

Ira didn’t know why he suddenly started caring so much about his appearance. In the past, she would have been charmed and her heart would have raced, but now, she simply nodded calmly, "Mm, very handsome."

Alvin didn’t notice anything unusual about her. He smiled slightly and said, "I have a gathering today. You stay home and be good. When I get back, I’ll bring you your favorite dessert."

With that, he turned and left.

After watching him disappear into the hallway, Ira was about to go get a glass of water when she saw his phone left on the table.

When she picked it up, she accidentally pressed the power button.

The screen lit up, revealing a new message.

It was from someone saved under "Maria."

"Dear Alvin, it’s been eight years since we last met. I’m really looking forward to seeing you today."

After reading the message, Ira froze in her tracks.

So today was the day Maria, his first love, was coming back to the country.

No wonder he had woken up so early and gone to such trouble to dress up. He was humming happily as he walked.

Just then, the door opened.

Alvin, who had turned back halfway, came back and snatched his phone from her hands. He glanced at the message on the screen, his footsteps pausing for a moment. He couldn’t help but glance at Ira, who was sitting at the dining table.

"Baby, did you see my phone just now?"

Ira slightly raised her gaze, her expression calm. "No, why?"

He smiled and seemed to relax, saying it was nothing before turning and leaving again.

This was the first time Ira felt like she didn’t understand him.

He had always been in love with Maria, and every girlfriend he had was just a stand-in for her. Logically, he shouldn’t care about her at all. So why did he care whether she had discovered the truth?

Was he afraid of losing her?

Ira didn’t want to overthink it. Besides, she had known from the beginning that she was destined to lose his love.

After breakfast, Ira sat down at the computer and opened her drawing software.

She was a comic artist, and things were about to get busier.

After all, once she returned home, she would be busy with wedding preparations.

She spent the whole morning drawing, and by noon, she sent her work to the editor.

In the afternoon, she tidied up the room and found some items related to Alvin.

Couple-themed cups, keychains, scarves, jackets...

These were things she had gradually bought over the years, and they filled an entire large box.

Seeing these items reminded her of the times when she bought new things and insisted that Alvin wear them. He would always look at her helplessly.

"These are the kind of things little girls like. Do you really want me to wear them outside and let the guys laugh at me?"

Thinking of this, Ira dragged the box downstairs and tossed everything, box and all, into the trash.

Now, no one would ever laugh at him again.

Having quickly dealt with it, Ira was about to return upstairs when she suddenly bumped into a cool, familiar embrace.

Alvin had come back without her noticing. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and used the other hand to push aside the sweaty bangs on her forehead.

"What did you throw away? Why are you sweating so much?"

"Just useless junk."

Ira didn’t flinch as she gave a casual excuse, and Alvin didn’t suspect anything. He simply pulled her upstairs with him.

As the elevator door opened, a sanitation truck was passing by, rumbling loudly.

Looking at the box of items being taken away by the truck, Ira finally withdrew her gaze.

Their house usually only had one or two bags of regular trash. When had there ever been such a large bag of garbage?

It would have been easy to spot the oddity, but Alvin didn’t ask a single question.

It was probably because he didn’t care.

Today, when Alvin smiled, his eyes were filled with genuine happiness.

He had met Maria, and it seemed that he was truly delighted.

When they entered the house, Alvin immediately noticed that the place seemed emptier than usual.

He glanced around, looking surprised.

"Did someone rob the place? Why does it feel like a lot of things are missing? Where’s the cup? And the throw pillow is gone too?"

Just as Ira was about to answer, Alvin’s phone buzzed several times.

He glanced at the messages and quickly dismissed the matter. He walked toward his study and, before closing the door, called out,

"Baby, I’ve got some things to take care of. You go ahead and sleep, you don’t need to wait for me."

Ira didn’t ask anything and went back to the bedroom alone.

The wall clock’s hour hand passed twelve, and her phone, which she had placed under her pillow, began vibrating wildly.

"I love you, my baby. Happy Birthday!"

"To the most beautiful Miss Ira, happy 3rd birthday! Don’t forget to eat cake!"

The messages continued to pour in, all birthday wishes.

From Dad, Mom, her brother, friends, classmates—everyone from far and wide had sent their greetings.

Yet the boyfriend who was supposed to be closest to her seemed to have forgotten all about it.

3

Because he had more important things to do.

Ira turned off the movie she had been watching halfway through, then clicked on the message notification at the bottom right corner of her laptop screen.

It was Alvin chatting with Maria.

He didn’t realize that his account was still logged into the laptop.

Ira could see all the conversations.

She watched helplessly as they talked about the past, the present, and even the future—there were even old videos from their youth.

In the long, dense series of messages, Alvin never once mentioned her.

Well, after all, she was just a stand-in to comfort him. What was there to mention?

As she continued to watch the endless stream of conversations refresh, Ira pressed the power button and shut down the laptop.

She slept through the night without any dreams.

The next day, Ira was woken up by the doorbell.

Rubbing her eyes, she walked to the living room and saw Alvin, who had somehow woken up early, holding a bouquet of flowers and a birthday cake, turning toward her.

"My baby, did you order a cake? Why do you suddenly want cake?"

The room was silent for a few seconds before Ira slowly spoke up.

"My birthday should have been celebrated with a delivery from my friends."

Hearing this, Alvin froze in place.

He instinctively glanced at the calendar on the wall and then realized that today was July 12th.

He had actually forgotten her birthday!

A flash of guilt crossed Alvin’s eyes. He quickly put down what he was holding and gently pushed Ira back toward the bedroom.

"Today’s your birthday, let’s go out and celebrate. What would you like to eat?"

"No need, I’d rather stay home," Ira refused the suggestion.

Alvin, however, insisted on going out to celebrate and even took a dress from the wardrobe and handed it to her.

Unable to refuse him, Ira had no choice but to go wash up and leave with him.

The two went to their favorite restaurant for morning tea, then watched the latest movie together, and later wandered around a few stores.

At some point during their outing, Ira went to the restroom, and when she returned, she saw him on the phone, asking his family to help order an expensive necklace.

The necklace happened to be one that Ira had noticed in a magazine two weeks ago.

Seeing him so eager, Ira felt a mix of emotions.

She didn’t quite understand what was going on in his mind.

He remembered the necklace she had glanced at; yet, he had completely forgotten the most important thing—her birthday.

Could he really not tell the difference between what was important and what wasn’t?

On second thought, maybe he could tell.

Before Maria returned, he had treated Ira as a stand-in, so he paid attention to every little detail about her.

But now that Maria was back, all his attention was directed toward her.

So, all things related to Ira had been pushed aside and forgotten.

Ira couldn’t seem to muster any energy that morning, everything seemed lackluster to her.

Alvin noticed her distracted mood and rubbed her head. "My baby, why do you look so down? Are you not happy with my plans for today?"

Now that she thought about it, he always rubbed her head like that. Subconsciously, he always treated her like a younger sister, not as a lover.

Ira shook her head and was about to say she was tired and wanted to go home, but Alvin hailed a cab and gave the driver an address for a mountain resort.

Seeing the surprise in her eyes, he raised an eyebrow.

"Aren’t you always saying you want to meet my friends? Everyone’s free today, so I’ll take you to meet them. Maybe it’ll make you feel better."

This unexpected plan left Ira momentarily stunned.

In the past, Alvin had been unwilling to introduce her to his family or friends. She had thought about meeting his friends, but every time, he found all sorts of reasons to reject her. Eventually, she gave up on bringing it up.

Now, just when she was about to leave California, he was taking her to meet them out of a sense of guilt.

It seemed like everything in life happened by chance.

She quietly stared out the window at the fleeting scenery and didn’t say anything more.

The taxi stopped halfway up the mountain.

Alvin took her by the hand and led her into the resort, pushing open the heavy gate.

With a few loud bangs, colorful fireworks and ribbons shot up into the air, and a crowd of people rushed out, laughing and shouting, "Happy Birthday!"

Seeing the spectacle, Alvin hurriedly pulled Ira into his arms, gently removing the ribbons from her head while shooing away a few of his friends who had gotten too close.

"Be careful, don’t scare my little girl. She’s a bit…" He was cut off abruptly.

His eyes landed on a familiar face in the crowd, and his expression immediately changed.

Maria was smiling confidently, walking toward them.

"Mr. Alvin, it’s been so many years since I went abroad, and I haven’t been to a group gathering in ages. I heard you were celebrating your girlfriend’s birthday today, so I thought I’d join the fun. I hope I’m not unwelcome?"

Alvin coldly scanned the room, and everyone who met his gaze quickly averted their eyes, pretending to be indifferent to the situation.

Seeing the atmosphere turn tense, Ira extended her hand with a polite smile.

"Welcome, nice to meet you. I’m Ira."

Maria stared at her for a long moment, as if realizing something, then smiled slightly and shook her hand.

"Hello, I’m Maria, Alvin’s... friend."

"Miss Ira, has anyone ever told you that we look a little alike?"