I Was Never a Worthless Man

I spent three months just to make sure the engagement party went perfectly. I rented a manor on the outskirts of the city and spent nearly all my money just to make sure it looked like something out of a dream.

Even the champagne-colored petals—her favorite—were imported stuff. When the day came and Winona Shaw took the walk down the aisle, I thought she would cry tears of happiness, but all she did was stand and look around. A frown creased her forehead, and she did not look pleased.

"I thought you said you put all you had into the engagement party, and this is what you came up with?"

I clenched the ring in my pocket, the sweat from my hand drenching the box. Carefully, I heaved a sigh, and I asked, "Is there anything you don't like? I can change it out right now."

Winona said nothing. She merely sighed. Perhaps she was getting impatient. I had no idea what to say, and then Claude Landton showed up right outside the manor. He came up to us, smiling and checking out the decor.

"You must've put in a lot of hard work, Nate, but Winona prefers minimalism. Don't you know that?"

That almost wiped the smile off my face. I tried to say something, but nothing came. Winona looked at me, and her lips turned downward.

She spoke, but this time, there was anger in her voice. "He'd never have done something so OTT if he knew. If you're just trying to get on my nerves, Nathaniel, you did a great job."

I quickly waved my hands, but I was choking on myself. I had no idea how to explain all this. She told me this was the exact style she wanted when we were talking about the party and even specifically said she wanted it done Findellan style.

I spent a ton of time and money on that, and now she took back everything she said. What was I expecting? Winona had always been like this.

She was temperamental. One minute, she would be a big fan of a certain style and stop at nothing to get her hands on it, but the next, she would act like she never hated that same style more.

I thought girls were like that, so it was normal. No matter how fickle she was, I would always take the blame and never argue with her. I thought time would change her. Make her grow. I thought she would become wiser.

And I paid the price. She'd even throw a tantrum when it came to her own engagement. Three months. I spent three months perfecting every detail of this engagement, and she just said it was trash because she felt like it.

Powerlessness. That was what I felt.

Claude chimed in, "Nate's a great guy, but you know how us men work. We can be absent-minded sometimes."

I turned around and looked at him coldly. He might sound friendly, but I knew what he was getting at. He was calling me an inattentive boyfriend. I put all my mind on this event, and it was invalidated just because of an outsider.

That was infuriating.

Winona nodded, as if she agreed with Claude. Her chilly attitude froze my heart. I couldn't care less about anyone else's opinion, but I couldn't believe even Winona thought my efforts meant nothing.

She didn't even look at me. Instead, she left. "Forget it. There's always next time."

I stood in my spot, seeing her off. What should I feel? Anger? Disappointment? Sadness? I… I didn't know.

Claude stopped right beside me and quietly commented, "Don't take it to heart, Nate. You know what girls are like. Temperamental, I always say."

I gave him a look cold enough to freeze everything that met my eyes, yet he smiled at me smugly. He chuckled and went after Winona.

I let go of my ring, and it touched my fingertips. The stab of cold nearly cut me down. The lights still shone on brightly, showering the manor in golden light. The mainstay of the event—Winona—however, was gone.

I hurled the ring box down on the ground, hard.