I Let My Eighteen Year Old Self Cancel Our Engagement Chapter 03

I Let My Eighteen Year Old Self Cancel Our Engagement Chapter 03

The gathering was at a BBQ place near campus.

Every time we passed by this restaurant, Owen always said we’d come back when he had time.

That “when I have time” had dragged on for several years.

Zoey knew the place well and led the way, pushing open the private room door.

“Owen’s here!”

The room instantly livened up.

“Owen, you finally brought your girlfriend today?”

“So this is the legendary girlfriend who’s been with you from undergrad all the way to your PhD?”

“Hi, Willow!”

There were only three empty seats left—two were next to each other, and one was sandwiched between two people.

Zoey subtly quickened her pace and shifted half a step sideways.

She pulled out the chair beside her and waved at Owen. “Owen, sit here. You’ve had a cold these past few days. Don’t sit under the AC.”

Owen naturally walked over.

Zoey hung up his coat while handing him the menu. “The usual?”

“Yeah. Beef and lamb skewers, mild spice, extra cumin.”

A labmate nearby started teasing them. “Zoey knows Owen better than Willow does!”

Zoey immediately waved her hands. “Don’t say that! Willow was already upset earlier! We just managed to calm her down!”

Owen gave a soft laugh. Only then did he finally have time to glance at me. “Willow, you can sit there. Let me introduce you. On your right is Brandon, and on your left is Tyler.”

The two guys nodded at me, both with a trace of awkwardness in their eyes.

Eighteen-year-old Willow cursed furiously in her heart. What a pair of assholes! I’m definitely going to teach them a lesson!

But I noticed something different. Don’t rush. Why do I feel like Owen isn’t the only fish Zoey has on the line?

While waiting for the food, Zoey busied herself pouring water for Owen.

A flash of resentment crossed Brandon’s eyes.

Zoey rested her chin in her hands, her eyes bright as she listened to Owen talk.

Tyler silently clenched his fists.

Zoey knew Owen hadn’t finished revising his dissertation, so she thoughtfully reminded him that their advisor had been in a bad mood lately and told him to focus and get it done.

After saying that, she glanced at me.

Someone asked, “Is Willow also a PhD student?”

Zoey cut in with a smile. “She’s not in our field. Humanities are easier. They don’t take as much energy. Willow, you must be pretty bored listening to us talk about this, right?”

Owen nodded. “Willow really doesn’t understand much of this.”

With one light sentence, he erased every paper I had helped him revise, every late night I had stayed up with him, and every piece of core data I had organized for him.

Eighteen-year-old Willow couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Owen, so those figures in your slides were fixed by ghosts in the middle of the night? You can’t even clean up your own mess, but you’ve got time to run to campus every day to guide your precious Zoey.”

“Zoey, you really will take anything you can get, won’t you? Anything to graduate.”

Owen’s face stiffened. Zoey’s hand froze around her glass of water.

Owen set his cutlery down hard. “Willow, everyone came out to eat. Why are you bringing this up? Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose? Was making a scene at home not enough? You had to come out here and humiliate me too?”

Zoey immediately tried to smooth things over. “Oh, Willow, a defense is stressful. Owen is already exhausted. Don’t keep holding this over his head.”

Someone in the private room laughed awkwardly. “Zoey’s getting more and more like Owen’s little nanny. Willow, you’d better feel threatened.”

Zoey blushed and tapped that person with her fork. “Stop talking nonsense. Owen and I are as platonic as it gets.”

Only then did Owen’s expression ease. “That’s just how she is—a little careless, but she means no harm.”

After dinner ended, Owen went to pay the bill. Zoey deliberately fell half a step behind and walked over to me. “Willow, please don’t blame Owen. He really has it hard. You two have been together for too long. Some feelings eventually turn into boring family affection.”

She smiled, lowering her voice. “Owen said sometimes holding your hand feels like holding his own. People always like what’s young and fresh, right?”

Zoey blinked. “Willow, you’re not going to get mad again, are you?”

I thought eighteen-year-old Willow would slap her straight across the face.

Instead, she smiled and asked, “Have you given that same advice to other people’s girlfriends too? Using your lack of boundaries as bait, making those guys run around like your personal servants?”

Zoey’s expression flickered for a moment, then she quickly tilted her head with a smile. “Willow, what do you mean?”

Nothing.

Eighteen-year-old Willow had simply figured it out, too.

She sneered in her heart and asked me, “How about we give them a gift they’ll never forget?”