Chapter 2

(Jude's POV)

I looked away, utterly humiliated. Then I took a cab back to the hotel.

The moment I turned on my phone, Sabina's messages popped up.

"It was just to avoid gossip. Don't make a scene."

"You were way too emotional today. You almost ruined everything we've worked for over the past eight years."

"Apologize to everyone in the group chat and smooth things over. Don't make this awkward for everyone.

It was rare for her to send more than a couple of messages, yet every one of them was telling me to back down.

I was struck by how absurd it all was.

I couldn't help but ask, "Who's really making a scene here? When you gave my wedding to Caleb, did you ever care how humiliating that was for me?

"When they insulted me, did you ever care how embarrassed I was?

"Sabina, whose side are you really on?"

There was a brief silence before she replied, "I'm thinking about the bigger picture. This is all to avoid gossip."

I gave a bitter laugh and asked again, "Then what if I want to tell everyone about us?"

The next moment, Sabina sent me a one-minute-long voice message.

She sounded more tense than I had ever heard her. "Jude, don't do anything rash. You know everyone thinks Caleb is the groom. If you suddenly tell them about us, you'll only embarrass him and…"

I couldn't listen to the rest.

My throat tightened, and I could barely breathe.

She was willing to sacrifice my feelings for the bigger picture, yet when it came to Caleb's pride, the bigger picture had to take a back seat.

So she wasn't blind to how humiliated I was. She had simply chosen the lesser of two losses.

I was the easier one for her to sacrifice.

While I was still deep in my thoughts, several more long voice messages came through.

I didn't open them. I just typed out a firm reply.

"I won't apologize to the people who humiliated me. If you want to keep your distance, then keep doing it. I'm breaking up with…"

Before I could finish the message, a payment notification suddenly distracted me.

"50,000 dollars was charged to your card ending in 0520."

The charge had gone through the shared payment account Sabina and I had set up.

Another message from Sabina came right after. "I know you're too proud to do it yourself, so I'll make an exception and help you this once. There won't be a next time."

She sent cash gifts to everyone in the company chat group, each one marked as an apology from me.

It was the first time in eight years she hadn't tried to keep her distance from me, yet all I felt was humiliation.

My hands trembled as I typed, "Sabina, do you even remember what this money was for?"

She didn't reply, so I called her again.

The phone rang for a long time.

Just when I thought she wasn't going to answer, Caleb's voice suddenly came through. "I won the bet! See? Jude isn't the type to admit he's wrong that easily."

Sabina laughed fondly. "Fine, you win. You can have the cash gift as your winnings. Now you can get those sneakers you've been talking about for a month, right?"

Caleb gave a soft snort, then sounded a little uneasy. "Jude won't get angry and leave when he finds out, will he? After all, that's the down payment you two saved for your new home."

Sabina fell silent for a moment.

"He won't. We've been like this for eight years. He could never bring himself to leave me."

Her certainty left me speechless, and my eyes burned with tears.

So eight years of putting up with everything hadn't earned me love. It had only made me the fool in their bet.

The money she had just lost was the down payment I had saved for the home I had been looking forward to for so long.

Back then, Sabina held my hand as she took me through every room. Her eyes were full of hope as she planned our future together.

She had said, "This will be our bedroom, and that one can be the nursery."

She wanted an open kitchen so she could always see me from across the room. She said that would make her happy.

She told me, "You've been through so much for me all these years. I'll give you a beautiful wedding and the warmest home!"

Now the wedding was Caleb's, and she had lost the home to him in a bet.

There wasn't enough left in my account to pay for the life Sabina and I had planned together, but it was enough for a ticket home.

After I ended the call, I submitted my resignation to HR. Then I accepted the job offer from back home.

I was done being part of Sabina's future.