The Last Insult that Broke Me

A flash of embarrassment crossed Mom's face. But she still obediently poured the plate of jumbo shrimp into the dog's bowl.The Schaunzer, Lucky, wagged its tail as it happily ate the shrimp.My girlfriend's mother, Wendy Slade, laughed as she pointed at the dog. "Our Lucky deserves the good stuff. Unlike some people, who live their whole lives worse than a dog's."She shot Mom and me a snide look.I ignored my girlfriend Yara Quinn's silent plea to let it go. "Mrs. Quinn, I'm severely allergic to shrimp," I said. "So my mom wouldn't use expensive ingredients just to take advantage of you."Yara stared at me in shock.Wendy immediately stopped smiling. A vicious look flashed in her eyes as she asked, "So you're saying I blamed your mother for no reason?"Before I could even say yes, Yara quickly stepped in with an apologetic smile. She said, "Come on, forget it. It was just a misunderstanding."Mom took the chance to pull me into the kitchen. She wanted to stop things fro

Just as Yara and I reached a standstill, her childhood friend, Liam Jackson, showed up."Wendy, Yara, your place is really lively today," Liam said.Wendy's attitude flipped instantly. She beamed at him and said, "Yara was kind enough to bring one of her classmates over to see how people like us live."Liam said in a clear, cheerful voice, "And he's a male classmate, too."Wendy responded, "It's only because his mom works as our housekeeper. Yara just happened to bring him along. Don't read too much into it."He clearly knew I was Yara's boyfriend, but he pretended otherwise."I see." Liam straightened his cuff and said quietly, "Good. As long as he's not her boyfriend."As he moved, a red braided bracelet slipped into view. The exact same one was on Yara's wrist.I had asked about it before, and Yara had brushed it off. She said it was a lucky charm her mother gave her. She had gotten used to wearing it and never took it off.But now I knew that wasn't the truth."Oh, come o

The exchange program at a top university overseas was invitation-only. It came with full funding and a generous scholarship. The total was more than enough to cover my student loans.But an opportunity like that came with a price.Prof. Walker saw the potential in my research, and she wanted me to stay on for my master's under her.That meant spending three years abroad.I kept putting it off because I couldn't leave Mom or Yara behind.But now, I understood one thing. The only way to earn respect was to become strong enough to stand on my own."That's wonderful, Ian! Prof. Walker will be thrilled." Roger could barely hide his excitement.That same night, Prof. Walker called me. "Ian, you made a good decision!"Before hanging up, she reminded me to get all my paperwork ready.Once the university approved it, everything else would fall into place.As time was tight, I went straight to the lab as soon as I was back on campus. After a week of late nights, I finally had everyth

I sat by the railing on the lab's rooftop.Suddenly, footsteps came from behind me. Yara, the other person at the center of the scandal, had finally shown up."You know I didn't steal anything," I said.The security footage Wendy posted was clearly from when I took back the gift I had brought. But she twisted it into "proof" that I had stolen from her."Ian, I know. But if you look at it another way, maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all," Yara said. I gestured for her to continue."If you don't go abroad, we won't have to lose each other because of the distance," she continued. "Once things die down, I'll explain everything to my mom. I'll also make it clear that you never stole anything."I laughed until tears filled my eyes. "Yara, have you ever thought about my future? If I lose this opportunity, everything I've worked for will be for nothing!"Yara looked annoyed. "Ian, why are you so stubborn? Just swallow your pride and get on my mom's good side. Then you can marr

Wendy looked embarrassed. She awkwardly pulled back the serving spoon and mumbled, "I was just trying to be nice…"Yara, who had been silent since I arrived, suddenly spoke up.There was fury in her eyes."Mom, can you use some common sense? Stop embarrassing us!" she yelled.Wendy froze at Yara's outburst, then her face flushed. "Yara, what's gotten into you? Don't talk to me like that!"She threw the serving spoon onto the table, then she turned away and started crying.The room fell awkwardly silent.Seeing that the meal was clearly over, Yara's father politely walked us to the door. He even tried to give each of us a gift as an apology.Just as we politely declined and were about to leave, Yara hurried after us and blocked my path."I never got married," she said.Afraid I wouldn't believe her, she rushed to explain. "Right before I said my vows, I realized I had always loved you. All these years, I've been waiting for you to give me another chance."She stepped forward