Chapter 4

Gabriel's POV

Natalie hurried to the door. The moment she opened it, Ryan greeted her with a charming smile and a playful wink. "Ms. Prescott, I'm all ready to go!"

Natalie rested one hand against the door while nervously twisting the hem of her shirt with the other. I knew that gesture all too well. When we first met, she did the same thing whenever she got shy around me.

Ryan glanced past her and spotted me inside. "Hey, could you grab me a pair of slippers?"

I froze. "What?"

The moment Ryan realized his mistake, he clapped a hand over his mouth and made an exaggerated face of panic. "Oh! Mr. Cole, I'm so sorry! I mistook you for someone else. I'm really, really sorry!"

He kept apologizing until Natalie finally cut him off. "It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong."

She said it so casually, as if there were nothing to apologize for.

He'd done nothing wrong. So who was to blame? Me?

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror across the room. My eyes were bloodshot, my lips pale, and my hair a mess. I was still wearing the same pajamas I'd had for five years, looking every bit like the pathetic man Ryan had mistaken me for.

"It's getting colder. Aren't you worried about catching a cold?" Natalie asked, tugging Ryan's collar up.

Ryan let out a playful huff. "But deep V-necks are in right now! It's called fashion. Isn't that right, Mr. Cole?"

He suddenly turned to me and dragged me into the conversation.

Before I could respond, Natalie scoffed. "What would he know about fashion? He's just a househusband who sits around doing nothing all day."

Ryan burst out laughing, and heat rushed to my face. I clenched my jaw, fighting with everything I had to keep my tears from falling.

After ten years together, this was what I'd become in Natalie's eyes—a useless man who contributed nothing and knew nothing, someone she could dismiss without a second thought.

The two of them picked up their suitcases and headed for the door. I hurried after them and held out the house key to Natalie. "Take this."

She glanced at the key, then looked at me in confusion. "Why?"

I didn't answer. I simply held it out a little farther, waiting for her to take it.

Natalie stared at me, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something. For a brief moment, I thought she might finally ask what was going on.

Then Ryan sneezed softly.

Natalie immediately turned toward him, her attention shifting in an instant.

The door slammed shut in my face, missing my outstretched hand by barely an inch. Natalie hadn't hesitated for even a second. She hadn't even looked back.

I stood there for a moment, trying to swallow the hurt, before finally turning and dragging myself upstairs.

Natalie had been home for barely a morning, yet she'd already left the entire house a mess. Her discarded socks lay on the nightstand, half-eaten toast sat on the table, and her used towel was crumpled beside the bathroom sink.

She'd even noticed the leaking pipe but hadn't bothered to do anything about it. Wet footprints trailed from the bathroom into the bedroom, across the study, and all the way down the stairs.

Normally, I'd have spent the next hour cleaning up after her without a word. This time, I didn't lift a finger.

Instead, I called a cleaning service and let someone else deal with the mess for once.

While the cleaners worked, I started packing my belongings. As I reached into the study drawer for my passport, I came across a notebook I'd never seen before.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it to find page after page filled with meticulous notes about Ryan and all the money Natalie planned to spend on him.

"Ryan's birthday celebration—Budget: 200,000 dollars."

"Trip to Mount Evercrest with Ryan—Budget: 300,000 dollars."

"Take Ryan to an auction house—Budget: 5 million dollars."

The list went on and on, each entry more extravagant than the last. I flipped through the pages, searching for my name, and finally found a single line buried among all those detailed plans.

"Household expenses—Monthly budget: 3,000 dollars."

I couldn't help letting out a bitter laugh.

Natalie had no trouble spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on Ryan or setting aside millions for his entertainment. Yet when it came to me, all I was worth was a small monthly allowance to cover household expenses.

In her eyes, I wasn't a partner she'd spent ten years building a life with. I was just someone who kept her house running, someone she could take for granted because she never thought I'd leave.

I closed the notebook and put it back in the drawer. By the time I'd finished packing and arranged to move my belongings, the clock had struck the hour.

Meanwhile, Ryan kept flooding Twitter with new photos of himself and Natalie, from the two of them embracing beneath cherry blossom trees to sharing kisses in front of snow-covered mountains.

Each post seemed designed to show off how happy they were together, and I couldn't help but wonder how long they'd been planning all this behind my back.

His latest post was even more brazen. In the photo, Ryan wore a sharp suit and was down on one knee, holding up a ring to Natalie, who stood before him in a wedding dress. The caption read, "You spent years guarding Mount Evercrest, but now she's mine and mine alone."

The message was unmistakable. Ryan wasn't just flaunting his relationship with Natalie. He was making a point of rubbing it in my face, as if he wanted me to know he'd taken the place I'd spent ten years trying to earn.

I'd thought seeing something like this would leave me furious, humiliated, or heartbroken. But when I pressed a hand to my chest, I realized the pain I'd expected never came.

Maybe I'd finally cried enough. Maybe I'd simply reached the point where there was nothing left to lose.

I turned off my phone and slowly got to my feet. Before leaving, I slipped my key beneath the doormat and took one last look at the house I'd called home for nearly two years.

Then I turned around and walked away without looking back.

…

Third Person's POV

Several days later, Natalie finally stumbled across Ryan's wedding photo on Twitter. A twinge of unease stirred in her chest as she stared at the post. She wanted to ask him to take it down, but before she could say anything, Ryan leaned toward her with a bright smile.

"Don't I look handsome in this picture?"

Seeing how happy he was, Natalie swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and forced a smile. "You look great."

She was still trying to figure out how to explain everything to Gabriel when she got home, but then a post from one of his friends caught her attention.

"Let's welcome violinist Gabriel Cole to the orchestra!"

The post included a photo of a familiar figure playing the violin, completely lost in the music. Natalie's eyes widened as she recognized him. Even more unmistakable was the building in the background—the Royal Bay Opera House.