Chapter 3

I immediately logged into SplitMate, attempting to pull up the electronic agreement we had signed at the very beginning.

However, a red system notification popped up. "Your account has been frozen by the other party. All access permissions have been revoked."

Irritation flared in my chest. I dialed Selena's number, only to be met by a cold, automated voice. "The number you're trying to reach has blocked you."

What was the meaning of this? Unilaterally freezing my account, cutting off all contact, and accusing me of misappropriation? This completely violated the most fundamental aspects of our agreement.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Assuming she had returned, I rose to my feet and answered the door. Instead of Selena, Vivian was the one outside, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Ollie!" she called out before throwing herself into my arms, shaking like a leaf.

"I was so worried about you! I called you so many times, but you wouldn't pick up. I was terrified you'd do something reckless… Those netizens are too much! How could they say such things about you?"

I pushed her away. "I'm fine."

"How could you possibly be fine?" Her eyes were red and puffy when she looked up at me.

"How could Sel do this to you? Even if she made it back safe and sound, she shouldn't have teamed up with her family to slander you! What do they mean by misappropriation? You're a couple. What's hers is yours!"

Her words struck a raw nerve. Exactly, we were a couple. Was everything we shared over the last three years nothing but a lie?

Noticing the grim look on my face, Vivian gingerly tugged at my sleeve. "Don't be mad, Ollie. Sel probably just wasn't thinking straight. She was probably scared out of her wits from being kidnapped. Once she calms down, she'll realize she made a mistake!"

She strutted into my apartment, navigating the layout like it was her own place. Then, she pulled open the fridge, took out a bottle of water, and poured me a glass.

"You look terrible. You must have been up all night. Why don't I stay over tonight to keep you company? I'm worried you will let your mind wander if you're home alone."

Her eyes were filled with worry and affection, in stark contrast to Selena, who was always calm and independent. For some reason, the restless irritation in my chest subsided.

Perhaps Vivian was right. Selena had simply let her emotions get the better of her.

Just then, the roar of an engine echoed from outside the window. A Maserati I had never seen before pulled up right downstairs. The driver's door swung open, and a man dressed in a bespoke suit walked around to open the door for Selena.

Selena climbed out of the vehicle. The wrinkled clothes she had been wearing were history, replaced by a crisp, haute couture suit. Without so much as a glance up at the window of our shoebox apartment, she walked shoulder-to-shoulder with the man into the luxury hotel across the street.

My mind went completely blank, a loud ringing filling my ears. After all, a single night at that hotel cost more than our entire month's rent.

"Jesus…" Vivian had witnessed it too. Covering her mouth, she looked dumbstruck. "Who's that man? How could Sel… I thought she absolutely loathed this kind of wasteful, materialistic lifestyle?"

Vivian turned to look at me timidly. "Ollie, she always said practical, rational men like you are the best. Was she... lying all along?"

Right. Selena had always despised extravagance.

On our very first date, she turned down a fine-dining establishment in favor of a run-of-the-mill fast-food chain. She told me that lavish gifts and fancy dates were superficial. The highest form of romance was about being emotionally and intellectually in sync.

Yet, what I had just seen downstairs completely contradicted everything I thought I knew about her. Was the calm, rational woman who inhabited the same mental plane as me genuinely the same person as this woman draped in designer clothes and stepping in and out of a luxury car?