Chapter 2

As soon as he left the chapel, Zeke got a text. To punish him for his earlier "jealousy", Ruth had revoked his access to her account, even though his monthly spending limit had been only 300 dollars.

He let out a cold laugh, went home, and laid the signed divorce papers on the desk in her study. Then, he headed straight to his part-time job and started running delivery orders.

He had emptied his savings to pay for Margaret's medical bills. Now, to scrape together enough for a proper burial, he could only grind it out at work.

On the way, Zeke's thoughts drifted to his past. His mother had died young. His father had racked up a huge gambling debt and skipped town, leaving just him and Margaret to depend on each other. Later, he'd worked at a late-night food stall, earning money for Margaret's treatment.

The first time he'd met Ruth, she'd been drunk out of her mind and had thrown up all over him. He hadn't been disgusted—he'd even brought her home and taken care of her all night. He'd thought they would never cross paths again. He hadn't expected her to latch onto him after that.

For some reason, she'd started pursuing him like crazy, pulling every trick she could think of. Even though he wasn't part of the rich-kid crowd, he'd still heard plenty about her, the heiress of the Jensen family in Gristona.

He knew she changed boyfriends more often than outfits, and he knew she was just playing the field. He'd refused to accept her advances. On top of that, his family had been heavily in debt, and he had a sick grandmother to look after. Dating had been way too much of a luxury.

Ruth had refused to give up. She'd even shown up at the food stall to work alongside him. She'd given him all the money she'd earned, her eyes gleaming with devotion. "Zeke, I made this money myself. Use it to pay for your grandma's medical bills."

Zeke had felt too guilty to take the money. He'd even snapped at her, saying some really harsh things. As he'd watched her eyes fill with hurt, he'd still forced himself to drive her away.

Then, late one night, a drunk customer had cornered him at the food stall. Ruth had suddenly shown up, grabbed a stick, and struck the man repeatedly. In the fight, her leg had been broken, and the Jensen family had to drag her out of there and rush her to the hospital.

Zeke had thought he'd never see her again. But in the middle of the night, someone had tapped on his window. Ruth had slipped out under her family's noses and hobbled all the way over on her injured leg just to see him.

His heart had completely melted. He'd finally admitted he'd fallen for her, and he'd been madly in love with her since then. Back then, he'd believed nothing could ever come between them. After that, they'd naturally transitioned from dating to marriage.

During their first year as newlyweds, Ruth had genuinely treated Zeke well. But a year later, she'd suddenly gotten bored of him. She'd started resenting his frugality and acted like he was an embarrassment.

She hadn't even bothered to hide it when she started shamelessly flirting with Calvin, her new assistant at the time, the same way she'd once chased after Zeke.

Zeke had completely lost it and started getting revenge by maxing out her card. Every time Ruth spoiled Calvin, Zeke would buy himself something too, trying to compete for her attention—even if he hadn't liked the stuff at all. He'd just wanted Ruth to come back to him.

But all Ruth had done was sneer at him. "Looks like my mom was right about you after all. A social climber from some nameless family like yours was only ever after my money. If you can't learn to behave, I'll just have to teach you!"

At that moment, Zeke's heart had shattered. Before he could even process how fast Ruth's feelings for him had changed, Margaret's condition had suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

When he'd finally needed Ruth's money for something that mattered, she'd decided he was just being jealous, frozen his cards, and instead blown through her limit on Calvin overseas.

Now, Margaret was gone. Zeke's heart had gone numb with her, and he no longer needed Ruth's money.

…

When Zeke went home to pack, there really wasn't much that actually belonged to him. Since she'd lost interest in him, Ruth had hardly bought him anything.

He left with a single suitcase, found somewhere cheap to crash, and went right back to grinding deliveries.

One particular order came in. The note on it told him to pick up a box of condoms and said he'd get a fat tip. The delivery address was a villa way out in the suburbs. Clearly, whoever placed the order had money to burn.

Zeke figured that if he did a really good job, maybe he could land a big enough tip to speed up saving for Margaret's headstone.

The moment the villa door swung open, he froze. A couple's photo of Ruth and Calvin hung on the wall. The living room was overflowing with beautifully wrapped gifts, more than the space could possibly hold.

A moving truck was parked out front. Two workers were hauling in more boxes.

"Man, the lady who owns this place really spoils her husband. I heard even the cheapest thing here costs a few million dollars!"

"And there's another whole truckload of luxury goods on the way. Apparently, one house wasn't big enough to hold everything, so she bought this villa just for all the stuff."