THE MISSING EX-BOYFRIEND AND THE SWEET REVENGE

Arthur stepped out of the bathroom, the clothes washed clean and neatly folded. His eyes were calm, though a faint blush still lingered at their corners.

I looked up at him and burst out teasing. “Your hands do a good job?”

Arthur went still.

Even though we’d already crossed the line, there was still a certain hesitancy hanging between the two of us.

“On you—” I pointed at the outfit I’d just thrown at him, “anything about it you weren’t happy with?”

“…I washed it all thoroughly, check however you like.”

“Relax, I’m not complaining about you.”

I looked Arthur up and down. Six foot two, his proportions nearly flawless. However you looked at it, his outward assets far surpassed Julian’s by miles.

“In a bit, I’ll probably have to trouble young master Arthur to wash a dress for me too.”

“Hm?” Arthur lowered his eyes at me, not yet catching the meaning tucked into that sentence.

I’d already taken the initiative, slipping off my jacket, rising onto my toes to press a slow, deep kiss to his lips.

“Arthur, maybe Julian really is dead,” I murmured against his ear, my voice pitched with a carefully faked note of self-pity. “Stay and keep me company tonight, won’t you?”

From that day on, all it took was the slightest crook of my finger, and Arthur would appear at once.

We were remarkably in sync, even more so than I’d ever been with Julian. Arthur always put my feelings first, so the whole experience was, without question, on a different level entirely. On top of that, his stamina and physique left Julian in the dust by several notches.

Only then did I truly start to regret something — why hadn’t I crossed this line sooner? Why had I wasted my youth on someone as worthless as Julian in the first place?

Arthur had no idea I’d wiped clean every trace of the chat log between him and Julian. Whenever I got the chance, I’d borrow his phone to browse that circle’s group chat.

I’d gone quiet these past few days, no longer chasing for news, and Julian, predictably, began to panic. He tagged everyone in the group like a madman:

【What’s going on? Why has Evelyn suddenly stopped trying to reach me?】

One friend replied: 【Julian, don’t worry, she’s probably just too worn out to keep it up.】

【No way! No matter how exhausted Evelyn is, she’d never neglect me! Maybe I should head back early?】

Princess Celeste: 【Hold out a little longer! Leave her hanging a bit more — if you go back now, you’ll ruin everything!】

Julian: 【But I want to go check on things tomorrow…】

Princess Celeste: 【Julian, has your brain turned to mush? I worked hard to lay this whole plan out for you, and you won’t even follow it — what do you take me for, huh? You men are all… And besides, we women have a strange instinct, I bet she heard something from somewhere and is deliberately putting on an act to force you to show up. Just let me deal with her!】

Julian went quiet a moment, then finally chose to listen to her: 【Fine, I’ll do whatever you say.】

But though he said that, his heart was clearly on fire. That night, he secretly called Arthur.

At the exact moment the phone rang, I was seated comfortably on Arthur’s lap, and the screen showed an incoming call from an unfamiliar number.

I reached over and pressed answer myself, holding the phone right up against Arthur’s ear.

“Hey, man, I couldn’t sit still so I had to call and check in. How’s Evelyn doing lately?”

Arthur, assuming I couldn’t hear clearly, answered in an even voice: “She’s… doing fine.”

“Damn, Arthur, why’s your voice all hoarse? Is there a woman with you?”

“…How on earth did you get that from my voice?”

“I can just tell you’re happy. You interrupting something good over there? One of these days you gotta introduce her to us—”

Before Julian could finish his sentence, I deliberately let out a soft, coquettish murmur right beside him: “Are you done yet? Pay attention already.”

Silence fell over the line for a moment. When Julian spoke again, his voice had shifted entirely:

“Arthur! Who the hell are you with right now?!”

Arthur pulled himself out of the moment. He turned the phone’s volume down and answered calmly, “That’s my business, none of yours.”

“But that voice just now sounded exactly like Evelyn.”

“You heard wrong. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up, don’t bother me.”

Arthur cut the call without hesitation, then turned to hold me tight, his voice thick with eager devotion: “Where were we — I’ll give you my full attention now.”

“Never mind that.” I pushed him back, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you worried Julian might drive straight over here in a fit of recklessness?”

Arthur froze.

I went on: “He’s probably hiding out at that house on the outskirts, isn’t he? Driving here would only take about half an hour.”

“You… you heard all of that?”

“To be honest, I’ve even crossed paths with him on the street.”

Arthur’s expression shifted through a dozen different colors. It took him a long moment to process the information. “So you’ve known all along he was never really missing?”

“That’s right.”

“Aren’t you angry?”

“I was, but once I got angry, I understood something — getting worked up over trash like that only hurts my own health.”

The day I ran into Julian, I hadn’t launched into a fight, hadn’t screamed and demanded to know why he’d deceived me. A man rotten to that degree — what could possibly come out of his mouth worth listening to?

I looked over at Arthur. “And what about you? Nothing you want to say?”

Arthur had, at first, been the one most fiercely opposed to the whole “fake disappearance” scheme. I was intensely curious what had driven him to eventually get his hands dirty in it.

“I owed him a debt.” Arthur unburdened himself, telling me the truth earnestly. “Julian once did me a favor, and later used it to bind me, forcing me to go along with him. But whatever the reason, I shouldn’t have deceived you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. If anything, I should thank you for taking part in this whole farce.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I reached up, tilted Arthur’s chin toward me, and laughed softly. “Want to betray them? Officially become my accomplice?”