THE MISSING EX-BOYFRIEND AND THE SWEET REVENGE
Just as I’d predicted, Julian, unable to sit still any longer, decided to come back and scope things out himself.
At one in the morning, he crept in through the door of my flat using a fingerprint he’d registered long before.
I lay in bed, pretending to be deeply, thoroughly asleep. The blankets were neatly arranged, the bedroom held not a single trace of any man. On the nightstand sat a box of tissues for wiping away tears, and a framed photo of the two of us together.
Julian let out a quiet sigh of relief. He had no idea that every single move he made was being caught on a hidden camera on the desk. The moment he dared lay a hand on me, Arthur, standing by downstairs, would come charging up to catch him red-handed.
Once he’d confirmed I was still just as “clueless” as ever, Julian slipped straight back out. He hurried off to meet Arthur at a convenience store to report on how things had gone.
“Man, sorry, I misunderstood you earlier.”
“It’s fine.”
“So where’s your girlfriend?”
“Asleep. She doesn’t like going out.”
“Her voice earlier really did sound just like Evelyn’s — one of these days you have to introduce her to us.”
Arthur said nothing.
Julian looked visibly worn down. “Arthur, tell me honestly — should I just go back for good?”
“Why would you think that?”
“I haven’t been able to sleep lately…” Julian tipped his head back and downed a mouthful of beer, the tip of his nose flushed red. “Before, when I was with Evelyn, I always found it annoying how much she kept tabs on me. Now that I’m free, nothing feels right anymore… I haven’t slept properly in days. I heard Evelyn hasn’t bothered asking about me at all this whole week — I’m… I’m scared I’ve taken this too far and actually lost her.”
Arthur offered calm advice: “Don’t worry about it. She hasn’t abandoned you — if anything, she was thinking about going to the police to file a report recently.”
“No! Filing a report will blow the whole thing wide open!”
“I know, I already stopped her. Evelyn hasn’t been feeling well lately, so she doesn’t have the energy to think it through.”
“Is she alright?”
“Just a cold, nothing serious.”
Julian let out a long, heavy sigh. “I regret it now, I shouldn’t have let Evelyn suffer like this…”
“Don’t overthink it.” Arthur stoked the fire a little further. “Think about it — before, she wouldn’t let you go out drinking, always got jealous over Celeste. Use this chance to teach her a lesson, break that bad habit of hers once and for all.”
“So I should…”
“Listen to Celeste. Leave her hanging a few more days.”
After Julian left, Arthur immediately pulled out his phone.
“How’d it go?” I asked, anxious.
“Perfectly. Everything’s going exactly according to plan.” I looked into the camera lens, smiling sweetly. “Come home. There’s a reward waiting for you.”
What I had Arthur do was simple enough: keep reassuring Julian, and play his role as accomplice in this disappearance charade to the very end.
Because I had already prepared a grand gift for young master Julian.
Three days later, on a Saturday afternoon, I sent out invitations to our entire old circle of friends.
The room was decorated with elaborate, solemn care. In the center hung a large photo of Julian, bordered with black-and-white mourning ribbon, beneath a large banner reading:
— 【A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JULIAN】
The moment the group walked in, every jaw dropped in horror.
“Evelyn, what on earth is this madness?!”
I was dressed head to toe in black, my face deliberately made pale and haggard with powder, and I spoke in a choked, trembling voice:
“Julian’s been missing for over a month now…”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“I didn’t want to disturb everyone’s lives, and besides, his parents wouldn’t allow me to say anything…”
“So… how is he now?”
“Still… hasn’t been found.”
The whole group drew in a sharp, chilled breath.
“God, over a month with no trace — does that mean…”
“I heard the golden window for rescue is only seventy-two hours…”
“Past seventy-two hours, the chance of survival’s basically zero.”
Listening to the murmurs around me, I blinked at once, letting the tears come pouring down.
“That’s enough, don’t bring it up, Evelyn’s already in so much pain.”
“Exactly, the two of them were so good together, she must be on the verge of collapse.”
Everyone crowded around, comforting me for a long while. Suddenly, an old classmate asked, puzzled: “Haven’t the police found any leads?”
I shook my head tearfully. “We haven’t filed a report.”
“Why not?”
“His parents wouldn’t agree — said they’d use the family’s connections to search on their own.”
“No wonder, the Julians have money, must be worried about bad press.”
Exactly right. Julian’s parents had always cared more about appearances than anything else — a scandal like this getting out would leave them no face to show anyone.
As I dabbed at my eyes, I glanced straight up into the lens of the phone livestreaming from the corner of the room.
I’d already told a few close friends who lived out of town and couldn’t attend that I’d be livestreaming the whole thing so they could join remotely. No one had raised an objection.
Modern internet users are endlessly nosy, and it’s rare to see someone livestream such a bizarrely elaborate living memorial. The stream quickly pulled in a wave of viewers.
Plenty of people who had no idea who Julian even was tapped in condolence emojis or lit virtual candles anyway. Naturally, the comments section began erupting with heated debate:
【What kind of world has a son go missing and his parents refuse to report it to the police? Bizarre.】
【Exactly, if they don’t call in police rescue first, what are they even waiting for?】
【Just looked it up, the Julians are pretty well-known, they probably have a private rescue team.】
【Missing out in the countryside? Give me a break, my family lives right around there, and there’s no rescue team combing the area at all.】
I paid no mind to the chatter. No rush — the main character himself was about to make his grand entrance any moment.
Sure enough. Just half an hour later, someone kicked my front door open with a resounding crash.