4

Grace was my best friend in college and the only one who supported me in breaking up. Once in college, Derek asked me to go to the library to study. Getting up at 7 o'clock on weekends was a challenge for me. Although I tried my best, I was still two minutes late.

At that time, Derek crossed his arms in front of his chest and said with an unhappy look: " Luna , why do you have no sense of time? When you work in the future, will you be late for meeting clients like this? What if it involves a cooperation worth tens of millions?"

I subconsciously wanted to apologize, but Grace, who had just returned from morning exercise, pulled me behind her. "It's inhumane to get up early on the weekend to study with you. Luna is great for doing this." She said, "And you were only two minutes late, do you have to make such a big deal?"

Since then, the relationship between Derek and Grace has become bad. Grace likes to praise me very much. She would praise me for being the second in GPA, for passing the CET-4, and even for getting up early to attend the early classes. She said: "Don't listen to Derek , our Luna is the best!"

This kind of affirmation is something I have never received in my more than 20 years of life. Therefore, I like to be with Grace very much. But Derek sneered at this: "She praises you just to make you proud so that you can't see your own shortcomings. Humility makes people reflect on themselves. Pointing out your shortcomings directly like me is really for your own good!"

When talking about Grace, Derek always couldn't help frowning and pursing his lips. I knew this was a sign that he was in a bad mood. Every time he made this expression, I knew I was going to be scolded. I wanted to refute him and say that Grace was not like that, but fear spread out for no reason and froze me in place.

I was too scared - afraid of Derek 's anger, afraid of his accusations. When Grace heard this, she just sighed softly and said, " Luna , it's hard for people who are used to being oppressed to break free. Take your time."

So today when I finally made up my mind to break up with Derek, Grace was particularly happy. She hugged me and whispered, "Congratulations, Luna, for getting out of this misery."