She Preferred Her Ex… Until I Was Gone

I tossed the clothes aside.

My girlfriend, Lucinda Fowler, sat there watching me walk to the door.

"What, did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"There's another concert tonight, right?" I gripped the door handle. "Isn't that why you're being so passive-aggressive with me? Go or don't go, I don't care."

Never having seen me talk back, she laughed in sheer fury. "You really think I won't?"

"Suit yourself."

"Warren Calhoun!" she snapped, trying to stop me. "What's that supposed to mean? Which part of what I said isn't true? You won't be happy until you've actually pushed me to go, is that it?"

"I said, suit yourself."

I closed the door behind me. I had barely taken two steps down the hall before the sound of shattering glass echoed from inside the room.

…

I sat in a cafe, stirring my coffee, as I looked up the number for my supervisor, Eve Hoffman.

I'd been living frugally to save up for a marital home. In fact, the most expensive drink I'd ever had was from a convenience store. Even though the cefe drink didn't taste as good as I'd imagined, I was happy.

Ms. Hoffman picked up, and I hurriedly said, "Ms. Hoffman, is your earlier offer to go to the overseas branch still valid?"

Ms. Hoffman was stunned for a moment, then chuckled. "So long as you're willing to go."

"I am!"

"What about you and Lucinda's wedding?"

"We broke up."

Instead of consoling me, Ms. Hoffman laughed. "Not bad, you've finally come to your senses."

In the six years Lucinda and I had been together, everyone dropping hints that I was throwing away a bright future on her.

Back when she recklessly started a business, she wouldn't listen to anyone's advice, and the venture crashed and burn. I still had a promising future ahead of me, so I shouldn't have to suffer alongside her.

But back then, I couldn't bear to leave her when she was at her lowest.

Her ex-boyfriend, Owen Boyd, had dumped her for being poor and taken up with a rich heiress abroad. But now that Lucinda had made a name for herself, he came crawling back and was still living it up in luxury, no less.

My phone buzzed. It was a new post from Owen.

The two people in the picture were snuggled up together, and the camera happened to capture them on the large screen. Their left and right hands came together to form a heart shape, displayed before the eyes of the massive concert crowd.

Anyone who saw them would have thought that they were a couple.

The caption read, "After all the twists and turns, the right person is still right where they've always been."

Lucinda liked it.

I screenshotted it and sent it to my good buddy, Ethan Glass.

"I'm so sick of these two."

However, Ethan sent back a question mark and showed me an empty screenshot. I tried sending it to a few more people, but none of them could see it.

Owen had set the photo to be visible only to me and Lucinda. No, to be precise, only to me.

I let out a cold laugh, then blocked and deleted him.

Once I got the external contract from Ms. Hoffman, most of my anger had subsided.

With only a week before I flew abroad, I had no intention of spending it at home waiting on Lucinda. But when I got back to the apartment to pack, the place was a complete disaster.

Holding a plate of burnt chicken wings, Owen said jokingly, "Lucinda, is it okay that I made such a mess?"

Lucinda, who had always been a neat freak, didn't mind at all. "It's fine. Warren will clean it up later."

"Man, I wish I were half as good as Warren at doing housework."

"What are you talking about? Even a housekeeper wouldn't deign to do this kind of thing, let alone you."

I walked straight past both of them toward the bedroom to pack my luggage.

Lucinda was stunned for a moment.

Owen put down the chicken wings and chased after me.

"Warren, I—ah!"

I pushed him, but he acted as if he'd been hit hard by something and fell straight to the floor.