Chapter 2

The next morning, Harry put on his suit and got ready for work.

Before leaving, he stopped by the entryway and looked down at me as I drank my milk.

"I have a lot of meetings today. I don't have time to coddle you. Stay home and reflect on your attitude last night. I'll let the gaming console thing slide, but you have to get the ring back."

He paused before softening his tone slightly. "Evelyn's doing better now. If you apologize, we can get registered next week."

I took a long sip of milk before replying. "The door's right there. Have a nice day."

Harry scoffed and slammed the door behind him.

The moment it shut, I put down my milk and called a local moving company.

Thirty minutes later, four burly movers showed up in my living room with boxes.

"Ma'am, do you want us to clear everything out?" the foreman asked.

"No. We're going to be completely fair. Only half of everything." I pulled out a marker and started drawing circles around things throughout the apartment.

We had both contributed half the rent for the place, and we'd also split the cost of the furniture and appliances. If we were going our separate ways, then we were going to settle the scores properly.

"This router is mine. Leave the network cable for him.

"Take the TV. Leave him the remote so he has something to remember it by.

"I'll take the AC remote. Leave the AC itself."

The movers exchanged glances, but they were professionals who had been paid to do a job, so they quickly got to work.

I walked into the closet and looked at Harry's entire wall of designer sneakers and limited-edition dress shoes. I smiled.

"Guys, do me a favor. Pack up every left shoe on this wall."

"The left shoes? What about the right ones?" The foreman looked baffled.

"Leave those. He likes one-sided relationships, so I'm giving him the full experience."

Less than two hours later, our once cozy, crowded apartment looked like it had been stripped bare.

Everything that belonged to me had been moved into the studio apartment I'd just rented.

At eight that evening, my phone started vibrating nonstop. Harry's calls came one after another.

I leisurely answered and put him on speaker.

"Olivia! What the hell did you do?" Harry's furious roar blasted through the phone. "Where are my shoes? Why do I only have right-sided shoes?

"Fine, I'll let the router thing go, but why did you take the AC remote? Are you trying to roast me alive in the middle of summer?"

I applied the top coat to my freshly done manicure while I spoke. "We paid for everything fifty-fifty. So when we split up, everything gets divided fifty-fifty. A pair of shoes has two shoes. I took the left one. It's completely fair.

"As for the AC remote, I paid half for it, so I chose the remote as my half. You can replace the AC or have Evelyn physically cool you down."

"You're insane! Who divides their belongings like this?" Harry was furious. "Bring my stuff back! Right now!"

"Sure. The delivery fee is twenty bucks. Wear-and-tear will cost fifty. The fee for coming over to teach you how to wear a right-sided shoe is a hundred. The total will be 170 bucks. Are you paying by cash or an online transfer?"

I heard heavy, ragged breathing from the other end of the call. It was followed by something being smashed onto the ground.

"Olivia, don't push it. My family is hosting a dinner tomorrow night. My mom specifically told you to dress properly and come over. You'd better bring my shoes, or you're the one who'll be embarrassed in front of everyone!"

"A family dinner?" I gently blew on my nails. "Sure. I'll be there on time, and I'll definitely dress appropriately."