Chapter 3

I froze for a second. She was home already?

That was strange. Whenever we fought, she'd stay out for at least seven or eight hours, sometimes days in a row, and wouldn't come back until I'd broken down and apologized.

Then she'd waltz back in, all smug, and say, "Next time you think about picking a fight with me, take a good look in the mirror first."

I was in the middle of gaming with my buddy Felix Greer and didn't feel like dealing with her, so I kept it short. "I'm at a friend's place. What's up?"

Celine fired right back. "Which friend? Guy or girl? Do I know them?"

She distracted me just long enough for me to lose the match, and I swore under my breath.

Celine's voice came through the phone, stunned. "Who taught you to talk like that? Get home. Now."

I didn't bother responding and hung up.

After we finished gaming, Felix took me out to a bar everyone had been talking about. In the five years I'd been with Celine, there was a long list of things I wasn't allowed to do.

I was a grown man, but she'd boxed me into her idea of the perfect, well-behaved boyfriend—what she liked to call a "modern gentleman". The result was that I had fewer and fewer friends.

Meanwhile, she got to enjoy me waiting on her hand and foot while she carried on with Tristan behind my back.

Felix and I were having a good time drinking with a young woman we'd just met when a figure stormed toward me and yanked me to my feet.

"You'd actually stoop this low just to get back at me?"

Celine's eyes were bloodshot, her mouth set in a thin, cold line.

I almost laughed. She really thought she was the center of the universe.

Her nose wrinkled like she'd caught a whiff of something unpleasant, and irritation flashed across her face. "Who said you could wear cologne? I've warned you before. If you ever wore cologne, I'd—"

"Break up with me." The words landed like a clap of thunder. I finished the sentence for her, calm as anything. "Then let's break up."

Celine went stiff. Her brain seemed to short-circuit. Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

Tristan, standing right beside her, let out a mocking laugh. "Who are you trying to scare? Weren't you the one crying and begging Celine not to break up with you last year?"

He was right. That humiliating scene had played out at least ten times over the past year, so many times that everyone in Celine's circle knew about it. But the man who'd lost all self-respect was standing here today, ready to walk away.

Celine laughed. Once Tristan's words sank in, she looked at me with open contempt. "There's a limit to how dramatic you can be, Gavin. Apologize right now, and I'll forgive you."

Felix snorted. He threw an arm around my shoulder and said, "Gavin, that lady just invited us to catch a movie. Let's go. Don't waste your time on people who don't matter."

I smiled, picked up what was left of my drink, and knocked it back in one go. "Let's go."

The three of us walked right past Celine, whose face had gone white with rage, and headed straight for a cab. She blew up my phone for the rest of the night.

…

After a comfortable weekend, I went to the office on Monday to resign. My boss looked genuinely sorry to see me go.

"Does your girlfriend know?"

I gave him a confused look. "Why would I need to tell my girlfriend I'm quitting?"

He hesitated, stumbling over his words, but eventually told me the truth. It turned out that Celine had been secretly investing in the company behind my back.

The disconnect hit me like a wall. I remembered how, two years ago, we were watching a movie together when I mentioned that the male lead really loved his girlfriend because he had invested in her company so she'd never have to struggle.

It had only been an offhand comment. But Celine had exploded, jabbing her finger at my forehead.

"How can you be that shallow? You're a man. You should be building something on your own. You only brought that up because you want me to pull strings for you!"

No matter how I tried to explain, she refused to believe me. I got so worked up that I couldn't breathe and ended up in the hospital. Only then did she sigh and say, like she was doing me a favor, "Don't pull something like that again."

I returned to the present. So my ex-girlfriend had done this for me after all. But I didn't feel the slightest bit of warmth. If anything, it made me sick.