Chapter 3

A week later, they finally returned.

I walked through the door of our home and saw Liam pounce on Chloe on the sofa.

His face was nuzzling her neck, and she was giggling playfully.

Rage exploded in my chest.

I quickly stepped forward and pulled the two of them apart.

"What exactly are you two doing?"

"Doing what? Were we doing anything inappropriate?" Chloe said, her voice dripping with self-righteousness.

I was about to retort when I noticed a ring on Liam's hand.

"What is this?" I grabbed his hand and forcefully yanked the ring off.

"You gave him our engagement ring?"

"Mommy, Uncle is so mean! He hurt me!"

"He just thought it looked pretty and wanted to wear it. Why are you so aggressive? You scared him! Apologize right now!"

With that, she actually came straight for me, trying to forcibly take the ring from my hand to give back to Liam.

Feeling my resistance, she let go, her voice impatient: "Can you be reasonable for once? Either we talk, or we break up."

Seeing Chloe's self-righteousness and her unwavering defense of Liam,

I was utterly crushed.

"Fine. Break up then. I won't apologize. It's not my fault."

"Don't you dare regret this. Even if you beg me later, there'll be no going back for us," Chloe said, her face grim, staring at me coldly.

The disappointment and pure disgust in her eyes were crystal clear.

"I won't."

I calmly took off the ring from my finger, placed it on the table, and turned to leave this woman who had become so utterly foreign to me.

Five years of dating, and even though I knew Chloe's feelings for me were barely a tenth of mine for her, I still loved her fiercely and without reservation.

Because I loved her, I indulged her, tolerated all her little tantrums. Whether it was money or anything else, I always tried my best to satisfy her.

But I never expected her to take it for granted, to trample on my sincere feelings again and again, even giving our engagement ring to Liam just because he liked it.

A suffocating pain wrapped around my heart, tightening its grip until I could barely breathe.

I swallowed the lump of hurt in my throat, digging my nails into my palms, trying to stay composed.

Let's break up.

Because I loved her, for five years, I tolerated all her bad temper and occasional cold shoulders.

I endured her indulgence and favoritism towards Liam, and Liam's deliberate provocations.

I never thought it would lead to this.

What man could tolerate his girlfriend unconditionally favoring her ex-boyfriend, even turning on him for the ex's sake?

It's better to just let it go.

Loving her was truly exhausting.

After moving into my new apartment, I received a message from her.

"Send me some money. I'm taking Liam out for dinner tonight and I'm short."

Even though she had broken up with me, she still came to me for money, ordering me around with that same sense of entitlement.

But Chloe, we’ve broken up. We have nothing to do with each other anymore.

This is where it ends for us.