The Last Truth of Twenty-Five Chapter 1

After my parents died, I was taken in by my father's best friend, the Vance family.

On my sixteenth birthday, Caleb Vance kissed me while drunk and demanded I only like him.

At eighteen, he coaxed me into tasting forbidden fruit, promising we'd be entangled for a lifetime.

At twenty-four, I wanted to get married.

But he said he wouldn't marry me.

After a month of cold war, our friends organized a party to help us reconcile.

That day, Caleb brought a young girl with him.

The girl's shy smile looked exactly like mine at eighteen.

My friends stood up for me: "Caleb, what the hell is Elara to you?"

Caleb sneered. "Why are you all overreacting?"

"I only see Elara as a sister. Just because she lived in my house all these years doesn't mean I have to marry her, right?"

* * *

After saying that, he lowered his head and kissed his little girlfriend's hair.

He looked around the room. "Don't spread rumors about my relationship with Elara Vance. My girlfriend might misunderstand."

"She's young. Hard to comfort."

Sitting across from him, Liam, who grew up with us, gritted his teeth. "Caleb Vance, are you serious right now?"

Everyone knew about my relationship with Caleb. Liam was speaking up for me.

Caleb glanced at him lazily, lit a cigarette, and his face turned cold.

"Liam, since when are you and Elara so close? Is it your turn to stand up for her?"

His gaze swept over me indifferently, then he pinched his girlfriend's cheek. "Babe, wait for me outside. It's too noisy here. I'll take you somewhere else later."

The girl was obedient. She glanced at him timidly and left quietly.

Once she was gone, Caleb lifted his eyelids to stare at me. "Elara, we were consenting adults. Is it fun for you to keep putting our friends up to pressure me into marriage?"

Before I could answer, he blew a smoke ring and smiled indifferently. "I never said you were my girlfriend, did I?"

I looked numbly at the face I had loved for eight years, suddenly feeling like he was a stranger.

Liam stood up to punch him.

"Caleb, are you even human saying sh*t like that?"

I held Liam back tightly.

He gritted his teeth. "If you want to break up, do it with some dignity. Why humiliate her like this?"

Caleb's gaze was icy.

"Liam, you're defending her so much. Do you like her?"

"Fine, I don't want her anymore. Go ahead and chase her."

"I've slept with her for years anyway. Even if she's not bored, I am."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Noah, sitting in the corner, smashed his wine glass.

Everyone turned to look at him.