My girlfriend's top supporter had asked her out again for a passionate night together, and she was planning to cancel our engagement banquet at the last minute so she could happily accept his invitation.
I swallowed my heartbreak and resentment and tried to stop her. "Could you just not go tonight?"
She impatiently slapped me and sneered in reply.
"Hah, it's just an engagement banquet. So what if we put it off? You've put up with it ninety-eight times already. What's one more?"
"Oh, and my top supporter is a light sleeper and gets up late. Don't go crazy calling me tomorrow morning. If you ruin things for me, you'll regret it!"
When I said nothing, she hugged me, still impatient.
"That's enough. Don't be so sensitive. And don't get jealous. I'm doing this for work. I promised my top supporter I'd meet him in person ninety-nine times. After this, I'll behave and get engaged to you."
As she happily walked away in her high heels, the guests, now used to this, all asked me with mocking smiles,
"Xiao Qi, are we going to have to attend this engagement banquet more than a hundred times?"
I smiled and shook my head, then tossed the engagement ring into the trash. "No more. I took ninety-nine steps. For the final step, I choose to be free for the rest of my life."
But when I truly gave up on her, went home to inherit the family business, and vanished from her world, she completely lost her mind and begged me through tears to love her once more.
