Chapter 2

Having said her piece, Delilah whipped out her phone. Noel pretended to stop her, but she fought him off, pulled up the checkout page, and thrust her phone in my face.

"Pay for these sneakers, and we'll call it even for the day. Then, I won't hold this against you."

I lifted my head and saw the price tag on the sneakers—5,800 dollars.

Delilah sure had been spoiled rotten by me. Her clothes routinely cost two or three grand, but whenever she asked for money, I'd transfer it to her without a second thought.

I'd spoiled her to the point where she had no real concept of money and thought nothing of spending 5,800 dollars at a time. Little did she know, I couldn't even bring myself to spend more than 200 dollars on a pair of shoes for myself.

Moreover, these sneakers looked strangely familiar. It hit me that I'd seen them on Noel's social media feed before.

He'd jokingly said he wanted to make the woman who bought him these sneakers his official girlfriend. I rarely browsed social media, so I'd only happen to come across that post by chance.

Now that she was asking me to buy the exact same pair of sneakers, I didn't believe it was a coincidence.

Meeting her haughty gaze, I jeered, "Sorry, I can't afford them."

"You've got to be kidding me." Obviously, Delilah didn't believe me.

"I'm serious. I've already deployed all of my company's available cash into investments, so I'm short on cash right now," I said matter-of-factly.

Delilah had never taken much interest in my company. Still, my words seemed to jog her memory. She seemed to recall that I'd been investing in a major project in the last two months.

Her face flushed. I thought she would give up, but to my surprise, after a moment's thought, she abruptly said, "In that case, I'll choose monthly installments. You can pay it off once you have the money."

I was caught off guard. I stared at the woman I had spent years living with day in and day out. At that moment, she felt like a complete stranger.

With that, she tried to shove her phone into my hand, expecting me to enter my password.

I shoved her hand away. "That won't be necessary."

Delilah's eyes lit up. "I knew you could afford—"

Before she could finish, I declared without a moment's hesitation, "Let's break up."

Her words caught in her throat. Her pupils contracted, as if she'd just heard the most ridiculous thing in her life. "What did you just say? You're breaking up with me just because I asked you to buy me a pair of sneakers?"

I held her gaze and nodded solemnly. "Yep." Paying no mind to how everyone in the room reacted, I turned on my heel and walked straight out.

…

The cool breeze downstairs did little to ease my irritation. I lit a cigarette and sat by the curb. I smoked as I reflected on how Delilah and I had reached this point.

We had been together for seven years.

My family wasn't well-off, and because I was dirt poor, I fainted from hunger during gym class in college. Everyone else had kept their distance. Delilah was the only one who took me to the campus clinic.

When she learned I had hypoglycemia, she even went out of her way to buy me some snacks. With a bright smile, she told me to take better care of myself and covered my medical bills.

From that day on, I swore I'd repay her kindness a hundredfold. I studied hard, did everything I could to find ways to make money, and planned for our future.

After we made it official, I worked even harder, carrying our hopes and dreams on my shoulders. I often stayed up until the wee hours working on company projects, and once, I drank until I coughed up blood just to secure a single business opportunity.

Delilah's heart went out for me back then. She would often send me messages telling me not to work so hard and to take care of myself. Whenever she was free, she would even bring me food and homemade soup.