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Todos os capítulos de I Gave Up Everything For Her: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

12 Capítulos

Chapter 1

“How dare you even mention home?”My mom, Maryam Cruise’s, voice came through the receiver. It was so hoarse I almost did not recognize it.I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck in my throat.“Your dad had a heart bypass last month and spent twenty days in the ICU.”My head was buzzing.“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Tell you? You said it yourself. You were determined to marry that Weiss girl and cut all ties with the family.”“Mom, I…”“Don’t call me Mom. You haven’t called me that in three years, so don’t start now.”The call ended.I called again, but the phone was turned off.Crouching outside the International Trade Center banquet hall, I stared at the trending topic. The comments had already surpassed thousands.Someone had screenshotted a post I shared on Stories three hours earlier with an attached caption.[Today, too, I’ll wait for you.]There was a comment below it that had the most likes.[Too bad she wasn’t waiting for you.]The banquet hall manager came r

Chapter 2

“Layla, the food’s getting cold. Come on over already.”She kept her voice low.“I’ve got to go now. We’ll talk later.”There it was again: “We’ll talk later.”It had been three years, and all her promises had been left at “later.”I sat on the bed in the guest room, clutching my phone. Five minutes later, I got a call from an unknown number.“Dylan? It’s me, Alban.”His voice was warm and soft.“Layla told me to tell you that she won’t be coming back tonight. She said not to wait up for her and to get some rest early.”I did not say anything.He paused for a few seconds, then added, “Dylan, Layla says you’re the most understanding person there is. You definitely won’t get upset over something so trivial, will you?“She said you never hold a grudge.”…“Dylan, open the door. I’m here to pick something up.”The next day at noon, Alban was standing at the door.He was wearing a light gray knit sweater. His short hair was neatly styled, and he was holding two cups of coffee

Chapter 3

“Dylan, it’d be better if you don’t go online today.”Aidan Wright, my best friend, sent me a text at 2 a.m., but I did not see it until 7 a.m.I called him. “What’s wrong?”“Your photos have been doxxed online.”I checked social media.The trending headlines were about me.[The Weiss Family’s Engagement Farce: Groom-to-Be Left Alone in the Banquet Hall for Three Hours]The accompanying photo was a candid shot taken by a guest.There I was, sitting all alone at the empty head table in a borrowed suit, smiling and toasting people around me.The comments were all over the place.[Getting engaged in a borrowed suit is way too tacky. How can you even force this kind of engagement?][Hahaha… Getting stood up in front of 200 people? Yet, he’s still covering it by saying she was on a business trip.][The winner of the ‘Unluckiest Person of the Year’ award has been announced.]I locked my phone screen.Two minutes later, the phone rang.I picked it up. It was not Layla calling.

Chapter 4

“Have you packed your things yet?”Layla did not show up until three days later.When she pushed open the door, Alban followed right behind her.He slipped into the dark blue slippers, curled up on the sofa, and made himself at home as if this was his house.I stood at the doorway of the guest bedroom, watching them.She glanced at the suitcase in the guest bedroom.“Looks like you’ve made up your mind. I found a studio apartment, fully furnished. I’ll cover the security deposit and the first three months’ rent.”“I put $80,000 into the down payment for this house.”“I’ll pay you back later.”“What about the $120,000 in our joint account?”“Well… Alban was booking a hotel, so I borrowed it.”“What about the $200,000 I put into the company?”“The company is in a tight spot right now. You’ll have to wait a little longer.”I looked at her and realized that she did not even flinch as she said all this.It was so natural and casual for her.Everything was just as it should be

Chapter 5

“Do you think she’ll come looking for you?”Aidan handed me a cup of hot milk. I was curled up on his couch when I took the cup and took a sip.The milk had just been heated. The sides of the cup were still hot to the touch.“She will, but not because she cares about me.”“Then, why?”“Because she’s used to it.”I stared at the film on the surface of the milk and spoke slowly.“No one’s cleaning the apartment anymore, no one’s ironing the clothes, and no one’s paying the bills. “The food in the fridge must be past its expiration date by now, and the trash can must be overflowing. “She doesn’t miss me. She misses the person who used to take care of all that.”Aidan leaned back against the armrest of the sofa and looked at me. He opened his mouth but could not say anything.He was the kind of person who was rarely at a loss for words.In the past three days, he had been silent more often than in the previous three years combined.The next day at noon, his girlfriend texted

Chapter 6

He swiped the screen.Alban had written something way below.[Didn’t you say before that he was no match for me in any way?]Those words swirled in my mind. ‘No match for me in any way.’That was how she spoke of me.I saved up the money for her startup, stayed up late writing her business plan, paid off her mortgage and car loan, and bought health supplements for her mom.But in Alban’s eyes, all of that boiled down to just one sentence.“Not as good as me in any way.”Aidan watched my expression slowly change and asked in a soft voice, “Are you okay?”I picked up my phone and opened my social media account.It was an account I had registered three years ago. The profile picture was one of Layla and me.I pulled up the settings. Then, I chose to delete my account.A confirmation box popped up. [All data will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Are you sure?]I clicked on [Confirm].“I have an interview tomorrow.”Aidan paused for a moment. “What interview?

Chapter 7

“’She doesn’t want to hear the truth, but she can’t help but check to see if anyone mentioned me,” I answered.He tutted and swiped the screen again.“There’s something else. Do you want to see it?”“What?”“She and Alban had a fight.”He turned his phone screen toward me.Alban had posted a long message on his Stories.Against a dark background, there was a selfie of him looking very upset. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes.The gist was that life was tough for him. He said Layla’s temper had been getting worse lately. She snapped at him over the slightest thing.She did not do housework, cook, take out the trash, and even refused to buy him the watch he had his eye on.The original post was quite long, but the message boiled down to just one sentence he wrote at the end.[I’ve given up so much for you. Is this how you treat me?]I wondered what exactly he had given up for her.I gave up a job that paid $300,000 a year, along with my parents, three years’ worth o

Chapter 8

“Now, there’re no personal reasons anymore.”He glanced at me, did not press the issue, and nodded.“You start next Monday. The company will arrange for your flight and temporary housing. Once you arrive, report directly to HR.”Aidan had been listening the whole time. As soon as the video call ended, he jumped up.“An annual salary of $300,000! Dylan, you are flying high!”“Let’s see how it goes first. Don’t hype me up too much. It’ll hurt when I fall.”He snorted and looked down. Then, he continued to stuff things into the suitcase.The night before I left, we ate takeout in his living room.We ordered chicken tikka masala, with double the amount of meat and sides, with the spice level cranked up to the highest.Back when I was with Layla, I did not dare eat this. She would frown at the sight of chili peppers, saying they were bad for her stomach.No one was there to frown at my food choices anymore.My brow was beading with sweat from the heat. Just as I was about to reac

Chapter 9

I pulled my cap down low, averted my gaze, and handed my boarding pass at the security checkpoint.The machine beeped, and the gate opened.I walked through.The plane landed in Southshire at 8:40 p.m.Outside the window, the city was ablaze with lights. It was a brightness unlike anything I had seen in Kingston Vale.When I turned on my phone, there were no notifications whatsoever, except for a text from Aidan.[She waited at the airport for six hours. From morning until dark, she kept her eyes on the arrivals gate for every incoming flight. She didn’t see you.]He had sent another text.[She posted something on her Stories. A picture of the empty arrivals hall, lit by a harsh, pale light, with just one word in the caption: “Waiting.”]Finally, Aidan sent a voice note.I hesitated for a moment, then tapped on it.His voice sounded a bit muffled, as if he were speaking with his hand over his mouth.“Dylan, she cried at the airport. A friend of Crystal’s happened to be pass

Chapter 10

I called Aidan.“That investor met with her last week and asked how you have been lately.”I fell silent.That investment was a deal I had arranged for her behind the scenes.I had stayed up three nights in a row to write the business plan.She never knew about it because she did not like men meddling in her business.I never did anything that she did not like, and not a word was ever said that she did not already know about.“How did she react when she found out?”Aidan paused for a moment.“My girlfriend said that after she got back, she locked herself in her room and tried to call your old number 37 times.“Obviously, the call didn’t go through even once.”‘37 times…’ I thought.It was just like the 37 missed calls she left me that day.She really liked that number, but she had never asked what number I liked the most.My phone rang again.It was not Aidan. It was a local Southshire number.“Is this Mr. Dylan Cruise? I’m Louis, an attorney from Concordia Law Firm. A

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