5: Enough with this farce

Vivi shifted her gaze to Susan, who wore a soft, sympathetic smile that made Nami’s stomach churn.

“Us?” she asked, looking back at Ward. “Why is Susan here?”

Incensed by the resistance, Ward snapped. “Since when do you start questioning me, Vivi?! Stop wasting time and get out of the way. Susan and I will be staying here for a while!”

Susan nodded, putting on a wounded expression as she reached for Vivi’s hand, holding it. “Please, Vivi. It’s not that I want to impose on you, but I’m having housing problems too. We’re best friends, aren’t we? Surely, you can help us out. Please.”

“Why are you even begging her?” Ward interrupted with an impatient roll of his eyes. “She’s my girlfriend. Taking care of me is her responsibility! Now move, Vivi.”

The moment Vivi caught the brief, triumphant smirk that flashed across Susan’s face, she snatched her hand away as though she had touched something filthy.

“Enough with this farce.” All traces of pretense vanished from Vivi’s voice as she fixed Ward with a cold stare. “Why are you acting as though I owe you anything? I owe you nothing.”

Both Ward and Susan froze, caught completely off guard by her sudden change in attitude.

“You were reckless and arrogant. You took everything I put into your hands and lost it all. Now you have the absolute gall to show up at my door and demand shelter from me?” Vivi continued, her eyes flashing with anger. “What do you take me for? A trained dog that will crawl back to its master whenever you snap your fingers?”

Ward stared at her, his brain struggling to compute the defiance radiating from the woman who had always folded under his pressure.

“Are… are you actually talking back to me right now?” He demanded, alarmed by it.

Vivi gestured sharply between him and Susan. “Explain something to me. How is it that two grown adults with a mountain of problems magically end up on my doorstep together?”

Susan blinked, her expression briefly losing its composure. “I’m your friend, Vivi. We go back years…”

“Is that so?” Vivi cut her off, her glare fixed on Susan’s face. “Then what are you doing tangled up with my boyfriend? You both managed to lose your homes on the exact same day and decided my apartment was your charity ward?”

Susan opened and closed her mouth, utterly speechless.

Ward’s eyes narrowed as his fragile ego struggled for an excuse to regain control.

‘She’s jealous,’ he thought angrily. ‘This manipulative bitch is throwing a tantrum because she can’t handle sharing.’

He let out a bitter scoff and folded his arms across his chest.

“My personal life is not up for your audit, Vivi. What’s done is done, and I’m not in the mood to put up with your attitude. As my girlfriend and Susan’s best friend, you have a basic obligation to open this door and let us in.”

Vivi glanced at the time displayed in the corner of her phone screen. She was running out of time. Her flight was waiting, and she had no intention of wasting another minute entertaining these two parasites.

“Fine,” she said, meeting Ward’s gaze without blinking. “If that’s how you want to play it, then let me make things clear. To the boyfriend who took my life savings, lost everything, and cheated on me with my best friend, we’re done. I’ll file a report and make sure you pay back every single cent you owe me.”

Ward blinked, his expression twisting with rising panic and confusion.

Vivi turned her unblinking stare to Susan, who shrank back uncomfortably.

“And you, the snake sleeping with my boyfriend behind my back, you aren’t worthy of breathing the same air as me anymore. Get out of my sight, Susan.”

Susan shook her head frantically. “No! Where are you even getting these ridiculous accusations from?”

Vivi pressed a hand to her chest, putting on an expression of deep hurt.

“It sickens me that you thought I was stupid enough not to notice. I only kept quiet because I had bigger things on my mind. But standing here looking at this pathetic circus? It’s time to shed the dead weight. We are through. Go rot in the streets.”

Something inside Ward snapped.

Before Nami could blink, he lunged forward and grabbed the collar of her sweater, yanking her toward him with such force that she nearly lost her balance.

His eyes were bloodshot, and unhinged, his face twisted with fury. He looked nothing like the composed man he had pretended to be moments earlier.

“Do you think this is a joke?!” he roared. “You belong to me! You do what I tell you to do, Vivi! How dare you defy me?!”

Vivi’s face twisted and out of anger, she slammed both hands flat against his chest and shoved with everything she had.

The sudden force caught Ward completely off-guard, sending him stumbling backward into the hallway wall.

Vivi staggered back a step, her chest heaving and she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Help! Everyone, please come out! There are intruders trying to break into my home! Helllppp!!”

The sharp, echoing cry shattered the quiet of the apartment floor.

Doors down the hall immediately clicked open, and curious neighbors poked their heads out into the corridor.

Ward and Susan went pale with panic, looking around wildly as people began stepping out of their units to see what was happening.

Vivi pointed a trembling, dramatic finger straight at them, tears of rage spilling out.

“Thieves! They’re trying to force their way into my home! Please, someone help me! I don’t know what they’re going to do to me! They might hurt me! I’m all alone, and I have no one else to turn to! Please help me!”

Ward’s face flushed a deep, mottled red, a toxic mix of humiliation, rage, and terror as multiple pairs of neighborhood eyes locked onto him.

He instinctively took a hurried step backward, releasing his grip on the air.

“We’re not thieves!” Susan stammered, raising her hands as though that would shield her from the accusing stares. “She’s lying! We’re her friends!”

“Please help me!” Vivi cried out again, burying her face in her hands for a second before looking up with wide, terrified eyes.

Several neighbors, sensing a dangerous situation, began stepping purposefully out of their doorways, murmuring angrily as they closed in.

Ward and Susan quickly realized how badly the situation had turned against them. If the neighbors called the police, their attempt to force their way into Vivi’s apartment could become a public scandal they could not easily explain away.

Neither dared risk it.

Ward grabbed Susan by the arm, and the two hurried down the corridor toward the elevators without another word.

Only after they had disappeared did Vivi slowly lower her hands. She took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned to the neighbors with a grateful, trembling smile.

“Thank you so much for helping me. I was really scared.”

The neighbors reassured her that everything was fine now. After explaining that she was safe and thanking them once more for their quick response, Vivi returned to her apartment and firmly locked the door behind her.

The moment she was alone, the frightened expression vanished from her face.

Her eyes turned cold as she wiped away the fake tears off her face.

‘That’s the last time you ever lay a hand on me, Ward. Enjoy what little time you have left.’

She grabbed her traveling suitcase, gave the empty rooms one final, indifferent look, and walked out the door, ready to catch her flight.