It's Time to Let Go

Charles Jansen's true love returns to the country in my seventh year with him.

The first post on her social media after she lands is an intimate photo of them together. She captions it, "I'm glad we've come full circle."

Only then do I find out the ring hidden in the living room isn't for me. Charles' proposal isn't for me, either.

Suddenly, I feel exhausted.

When my boyfriend, Charles Jansen, came home, a gentle smile still lingered on his face.

But when he saw the ring box I was holding, he froze. "Who said you could touch my things?"

Three days ago, I found this diamond ring while I was cleaning the house.

At first, I thought that Charles had finally come to his senses and was planning to propose. Overjoyed, I had bragged about this to all my friends.

Charles was indeed planning to propose—just not to me.

If this had happened in the past, I would have cried and thrown a tantrum. I would've questioned why he still couldn't forget Yvonne Cross.

But now, I simply handed the box back to him, my expression calm. "I found this while cleaning. I thought it was for me."

My reaction stunned Charles. It took him a while to finally take the box. "I shouldn't have raised my voice earlier. Sorry about that," he said. "This is a custom order for a client. It's very important."

"I do remember your birthday," he continued gently, ruffling my hair. "Your gift is on the way. I promise it will be a nice surprise."

I watched as he turned and walked back into his room, my eyes stinging with tears.

My phone was vibrating incessantly in my pocket.

When I checked it, I found out that I had been added to a group chat containing about a hundred people. The group chat was named "Charles' Proposal Planning Committee".

I stared at the name of the group chat and couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. Charles was brainstorming ideas to propose to his first love, and he had had the gall to add me to the group chat.

"What kind of proposal would Yvonne want? What do you think, guys?"

Charles' message was the first to pop up, igniting a heated discussion from the other group members.

Fireworks, balloons, drones—countless romantic ideas poured in.

I slumped onto the couch, staring at the flurry of messages as pain formed in my heart.

After a while, someone finally remembered me.

"Uh, what about Cindy?"

The barrage of messages abruptly stopped.

Everyone knew that Charles had been dating me these past few years while Yvonne was aboard.

Charles brushed off the question with a simple sentence: "I was just playing around with her. Ignore her."

He was just playing around with me?

My fingers tightened around my phone. I could hardly breathe.

Laughter erupted in the group chat.

"Charles. It's been seven years. Aren't you tired of her yet? Maybe you should teach us your tricks."

"Yeah,