One Day My Boyfriend Said He Didn’t Know Me Chapter 03
I shoved him away and ran home like a person possessed.
After we moved to the city, the other kids looked down on me for being from the countryside. None of them wanted to be my friend.
Only Sophie was willing to spend time with me.
All these years, I thought we were the best of friends.
I never imagined a photography contest would cost me my friend, my Buddy, and even my fiancé.
Behind me, Sophie’s voice drifted in fragments.
“Good thing you were there. Her reaction in the office was way too flat, and just now, she didn’t even panic…”
I ran faster.
The strange details from earlier at home replayed in my mind, frame by frame.
Before, Buddy would start barking the moment I got close to the front door.
But today, I’d stood out there listening for ages, and apart from their voices, there hadn’t been a single bark.
Even stranger—when I walked in, Buddy hadn’t come bounding over like he always did.
The floor was spotless. Not a single dog hair anywhere.
The more I thought about it, the more afraid I became.
I sprinted all the way home. When I pushed open the door, the soup was already on the table.
The pot was bubbling away, wisps of steam rising from the surface, a few bones floating on top.
Tears fell instantly.
My hand shook as I reached for the pot.
Suddenly, a blur of motion shot out from the side and clamped down on my pant leg.
“Buddy!”
I dropped to my knees and threw my arms around him, tears crashing onto his back in a steady stream.
Thank God. Thank God.
Thank God Buddy was still here.
But in the next second, teeth sank hard into my shoulder.
A jolt of pain tore through me. I shoved the dog away.
It bared its teeth and snarled at me.
Only then did I realize—it wasn’t Buddy.
It was Sophie’s dog, Tom.
“Mom, where’s Buddy?”
My voice shook. I stared at my mother without blinking.
Mom was evasive. “Sophie’s getting engaged soon—she can’t look after Tom right now, so we’re watching him for a few days.”
“I asked you where Buddy is!”
Mom pressed her lips together and said nothing. Her gaze drifted to the pot of soup.
A terrible thought clawed its way up from the pit of my stomach.
Dad walked over then, his tone light, offhand.
“Oh, you mean Buddy.”
“That dog was too aggressive. The second Tom arrived, it lunged and tried to bite. Took me a lot of effort to get it outside.”
Buddy had always been gentle. He never snapped at other dogs for no reason.
And even if they had to put him outside, why take off his tag?
I stared at my parents in disbelief and finally forced out the question I was most afraid to ask.
“You got rid of Buddy, didn’t you?”
My parents exchanged a look. Neither said a word.
“Why?” I screamed. “Why can’t you even tolerate a dog? Am I even your real daughter?”
Slap.
Mom’s hand cracked across my face.
“We feed you, we clothe you, and you won’t even show us basic affection. Now you’re turning on us over a dog.”
“We raised an ungrateful brat.”
My cheek swelled hot and red.
I pressed my hand to my face and glared at them.
“You knew how much Buddy meant to me, and you used him to get a reaction out of me.”
“Fine—you treat Sophie better than you treat me. I’ve accepted that. But why does even a dog have to be ranked?”
“How dare you!”
Mom raised her hand to strike again.
Dad stepped between us just in time.
“Emma, you can’t blame us for being partial to Sophie. You should take a hard look at yourself.”
“Sophie isn’t our daughter, but every time she walks through that door, it’s ‘Aunt Claire’ this and ‘Uncle Mark’ that—warm as can be.”
“She’s sweet, she’s pretty, and she’s talented at photography. And you? You lock yourself in your room all day, doing God knows what.”
I was suddenly speechless.
Sophie was sweet because she knew exactly how to get what she wanted from them.
She’d gotten prettier starting three years ago—right around the time she and Ryan got tangled up. Ryan bought her clothes, shoes, makeup, always picking things that suited her, never caring whether any of it suited me.
And as for photography—
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I’d taught myself photography because I was lonely and had no friends. It was something to fill the time.
Sophie saw how good my work was and begged me to teach her.
Later, she sweet-talked me into giving her all my equipment.
I looked at my parents and felt the absurdity of it all crash over me.
“So being good at photography is that impressive.”
I spoke slowly.
“Then I guess it’s my turn to be impressive.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the door opened.
Ryan and Sophie walked in.
Tom trotted over immediately, circling at their feet.
Ryan saw the bite wound on my shoulder and the red mark on my face. Something like pain flickered across his eyes.
He stepped forward and held out a bottle of iodine.
“Here—Tom’s had all his shots. But if you’re worried, I can take you to the hospital right now to get it checked.”
Sophie’s eyes gleamed. She slipped her arm through his.
“That’s right, Emma. My boyfriend is your friend too. Don’t be shy.”
Buddy was gone.
I had no heart left for their performance.
“Your parents, your boyfriend, your dog—keep them all.”
I looked at Sophie, enunciating every word.
“From now on, we stay out of each other’s lives.”
I slammed the bedroom door, pulled out my suitcase, and started packing.
I didn’t want to spend another minute in this house.
Through the door came hushed voices, deliberately kept low.
Ryan, his tone uneasy: “That’s probably enough, right? Maybe we should stop here.”
Mom, wavering: “She really doesn’t seem okay. Mark, maybe you should go look around outside—see if you can find Buddy.”
Dad let out a sigh.
“You think I didn’t look? Cars are flying past just outside the complex. I searched for half the day. All I found was a pool of blood.”
My whole body began to shake.
The thing I’d feared most had happened.
This was my fault.
If I hadn’t been so careless about who I called a friend, so careless about who I loved, Buddy would still be alive.
I zipped the suitcase shut. The voices outside started up again.
Sophie sounded deeply aggrieved.
“But my piece is almost done. I just need a little more. You can’t expect me to submit something without an ending.”
“If I come in last place, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
After a long silence, Ryan sighed.
“Okay. One last time.”
When I opened the bedroom door, Ryan was standing right outside.
He looked at me, his expression unreadable.
“Emma, you’ve been wanting to know—why did your whole world change after that game, right?”
He handed me an address.
“Come here this weekend. You’ll get every answer you’ve been looking for.”
I glanced down.
It was the venue for the national photography competition.
The City Art Center.
Something clicked in my mind. I looked up at Ryan.
“Fine.”
Everyone in the room exhaled in unison.