C16 Maybe The Problem Was Not You

That question had clearly caught her off guard.

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m as clean as water.” “I’ll get married before I think about those things.”

For the first time, she actually looked shy. Chris immediately pointed it out. “Did I just see the fearless Alicia get shy?”

Then he laughed. “What kind of logic is that? How are you supposed to get married without ever having a boyfriend?” Alicia opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. For once, she was speechless.

Trying to change the topic, she pointed at both of us. “It is My turn now” “Do either of you have girlfriends?”

Chris answered first. “I’m a lone wolf.” “I don’t have time for relationships.” “Women need attention, money and time.” I nearly choked listening to him.

Alicia laughed loudly. “Lone wolf, my foot.” “Just admit you’ve been rejected.” “How many times was it?”

Chris glared at her. “Why would anyone reject me?” “I simply don’t have time.” Alicia grinned. “Fine. Keep hiding it.” “I’ll find out eventually.”

Then she turned toward me. “Your turn, Nerd.” I looked around instinctively. Before I could answer, she interrupted.

“What are you looking for?” “Checking if your girlfriend is watching?” Chris burst into laughter. I shook my head helplessly.

After thinking for a moment, I answered honestly. “No.” Alicia raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

I took a deep breath before continuing. “My first relationship ended about six months ago.” “I’m still trying to recover from it.”

The teasing expression disappeared from her face. She nodded apologetically and said, “Sorry.” I smiled lightly and shook my head. “It is fine. Some things are simply not meant to last forever.”

The moment those words left my mouth, both Alicia and Chris looked at me strangely. “What?” I asked. Chris folded his arms. “Brother, every time you say you are fine, you sound like someone who is not fine.” Alicia quickly nodded. “Exactly.”

I looked at the two of them and laughed. “Since when did you two start working together?”

Chris nearly choked on his drink. “We are not working together, how can I team up with her” Chris replied immediately.

Seeing his reaction, both Alicia and I burst into laughter. For a moment, all the worries in my heart seemed lighter.

Alicia then leaned forward slightly. “So, Nerd.” I already knew that tone. “What now?” “If your relationship ended six months ago, why do you still look so sad when talking about it?” The laughter around the table slowly faded.

I stared at my lunch box for a few seconds before answering. “Because not every ending comes with an explanation.”

Neither Alicia nor Chris interrupted me.

“When someone suddenly disappears from your life, you keep asking yourself questions. You wonder what you did wrong. You wonder if things would have been different if you had worked harder or loved better.”

Alicia quietly listened. Chris lowered his head. He knew the whole story. After a brief silence, Alicia spoke softly. “Then maybe the problem was never you.”

Those simple words caught me off guard.

For the first time since Samantha disappeared, someone had said something different.

Not that I should move on. Not that I should forget her. Not that I should stop thinking about her. Just… Maybe the problem was never you.

I found myself staring at Alicia for a few seconds. She immediately became embarrassed. “W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

Chris suddenly pointed at me. “See! I told you. My brother is finally looking at women again.” “What nonsense!” I protested. Alicia’s face turned red. Chris laughed loudly.

For the first time in months, the shadow Samantha left behind did not seem quite as heavy.

Just when I thought the topic was finally over, Alicia spoke again. This time her voice was much softer. “Would you mind telling me the name of the heartless woman who hurt you?”

Silence immediately fell between us. Chris and I exchanged glances.

The moment I thought about the consequences of telling her that the woman was the Vice Director’s pregnant fiancée, I decided it was better not to say anything.

“It’s better if you don’t...” Before I could finish, Chris interrupted. “It’s the Vice Director’s girlfriend.”

My eyes widened. Alicia looked completely shocked. For a moment she thought Chris was joking. Then she turned to me. Her eyes searched my face for an answer.

Unfortunately, I had no choice. I slowly nodded. “Yes. It’s her.” Alicia stared at me in disbelief. I could tell she suddenly had a hundred questions running through her mind. And before I could prepare myself, they all came out at once.

“Wait, I don’t understand.” “So the notice the Vice Director posted in the company group chat the other day was directed at you?” “Does he know he’s dating your ex-girlfriend?”

“Is he targeting you because of her?” “Did she tell him to bully you?” “If you dated his girlfriend, then all of you knew each other before joining the company, right?”

She fired the questions one after another without even stopping to breathe. Honestly, some of those were the same questions I asked myself almost every day. The problem was that I still didn’t have any answers.

As much as I wanted to believe Samantha had nothing to do with it, I couldn’t be completely sure. The way things had unfolded since she appeared at the company left me confused.

Before I could respond, Chris answered for me. “All three of us were friends before this.”

He leaned back in his chair. “We studied together and were in the same class.” “Everyone knew Mike and Samantha were dating.”

Alicia listened quietly. Chris continued. “Everything changed after the School Year End Function.”

His expression became serious. “To this day, we still don’t know exactly what happened.” “Samantha disappeared shortly afterward.”

“No calls.” “No messages.” “No explanations.” “We searched for answers but never found any.”

He paused for a moment. “The next thing we knew, she was gone.” His eyes shifted toward me briefly before returning to Alicia. “And then, a few weeks ago, she suddenly appeared here.” Alicia remained silent. The playful expression she usually wore had completely disappeared.

For the first time since meeting us, she seemed to realize that behind all the jokes and laughter, there was a story filled with pain that neither of us had fully moved on from.

The three of us continued talking until lunch break ended, completely unaware that on the second floor of the company building, someone was watching us through the window.