For five years, I quietly supported my boyfriend, helping him rise from a lawyer's assistant to a partner at a top-tier law firm.

At the annual awards ceremony, I was thrilled, ready to celebrate publicly and surprise him.

But then, he walked on stage with a female coworker, their behavior cozy and intimate.

"Cade owes his success to my brilliant strategies behind the scenes," Caitlyn boasted.

Cade smiled, echoing her words, "Absolutely, without Caitlyn, I wouldn't be where I am today."

The audience erupted in applause, congratulating them.

I stood at the back of the crowd, frozen.

Leaving the venue, I called my assistant. "Cut off all networking support for Cade Gilliam. End all cooperation. That shady case he took on? Stop smoothing things over. Let him face the consequences."

"Madam, are you sure? Once we pull the plug, it's hard to undo." My assistant hesitated. "You know the plaintiff is powerful. If this isn't handled, Mr. Gilliam could lose money or even go to jail. His career would be over."

I left the venue, staring at the honor wall where Cade Gilliam's smiling face beamed from the top. We had been together for five years, but he had always been vague about marrying me.

"I'm focused on my career right now. Once I'm settled, we'll tie the knot," he excused.

I heard those words over and over, but I trusted him, time and again, pouring everything into paving the way for him to become a partner at a top-tier law firm.

All I got was betrayal right to my face.

"Defend him again, and you're out too," I snapped, hanging up the phone.

Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"What's your deal?" Cade demanded, a bit out of breath.

His brows were knitted together as he continued, "Everyone was there, and you just walked out before I finished. What will people think of me?"

"Should I have stayed to watch you guys get all lovey-dovey?" I shook off his hand, glaring at him.

He crossed his arms, visibly annoyed. "Come on, don't be jealous at a time like this. Caitlyn helped me out big time. What's wrong with us going on stage together? If it hadn't been for her full support, I would still have been a nobody like you."

That was funny.

To protect his ego, I never told him I arranged for my assistant to set everything up through Caitlyn Farley.

Now she took all the credit, and I got nothing.

"If that's what you think, there's nothing left to say," I said, driving off.

Right when I arrived home, Caitlyn called me via voice chat.

Just as I was about to hang up, the loud voices of Cade's colleagues came through.

"Man, you should dump Mila and get with Caitlyn. She is way better than your deadbeat girlfriend," said one of them.

"Yeah. Mila is lazy, always slacking off somewhere. Watch out. She might cheat on you someday," another echoed.

Cade laughed, "If she weren't so sweet and good at keeping my bed warm, I'd have dumped her a long time ago."

I couldn't believe he was trashing me like that in public.

Caitlyn sent me a message: [See? You cling to him, but he is sick of you. If I were you, I'd disappear right now.]

My eyes stung with tears.

I blocked her and finally made up my mind to leave Cade for good.

Cade didn't come home all night.

At breakfast, I saw his flushed cheeks and a gentle smile on his lips, like he was reliving something sweet.

His eyes still held a flicker of happiness when he looked at me.

"You're up early. And drinking milk on an empty stomach's bad for you," he said.

My hand froze mid-stir, but I didn't respond.

It had been years since he cared about me like that last time. It showed he was in a good mood.

He sat down beside me and handed me a look. "Cheer up. I won't hold what happened yesterday against you. Here, I got this for you. Didn't you always want it?"

It was a collection of legal cases, the one I'd been searching for.

It was already out of print, and most importantly, it was the last book my mother edited before she passed away.

Four years ago, her final wish was to see this book one last time. She never did.

I fought back my tears and opened it.

The first page read: [Cade's gift to Caitlyn, wishing her every success.]

Then my eyes landed on the date below. It was four years ago.

I pointed to the writing and demanded, "What does this mean?"

Cade kept his smile, failing to sense my pain. He shrugged, explaining, "Oh, just what it says. I gave this book to Caitlyn before, but she didn't want it, so I brought it to you. Happy?"

He looked up and froze at my cold gaze.

I sulked, "I searched for this book for five years. You knew that. It means everything to me. Why didn't you give it to me first?"

Cade paused, his tone turning cold. "It's just a collectible to you. You're only good for filing cases and fetching coffee. What's the point of your reading it? It's a different story for Caitlyn, a big-shot lawyer. She needs it to boost her skills. Can't you be reasonable and let someone who needs it have it?"

I trembled with rage, thinking of my mother's final tears.

"My mom's dying wish was to see this book," I reasoned. "I would have returned it to you after. You knew where it was and didn't bother to get it for her. You're so disappointing!"

Cade's patience ran out.

His face darkened, and he scoffed, "Knock it off, okay? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know this book existed. I kindly got it for you, and this is your attitude? Besides, it's not my problem that your mom passed. She's not my mom. Ugh! It just proves I was right not to give it to you first. Who knows if you'd hog it and not let Caitlyn..."

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face, cutting off his rant.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "You hit me? Do you know how many people out there call you lazy and tell me to dump you? I didn't only because you were obedient. Are you trying to break up now?"

I took a deep breath, fighting back my tears.

It was frustrating that Cade thought of me that way too.

I looked up and glared at him. "You've been thinking that all along, haven't you? "That's why you paraded Caitlyn on stage for your speech."

He slammed his fist down on the table and stood to yell at me. "Enough! I told you we're just colleagues. She helped me so much. What's wrong with her joining me on stage? Do you think everyone's like you, stuck with a dead-end job and no ambition? All you do is a bit of housework. What else are you good for?"

I flipped a bowl of soup over his head. The warm broth dripped from his hair to the floor. It was a sticky mess.

But instead of hitting the roof, he laughed and slowly took the bowl off his head.

"Fine! Stay here and cool off. I shouldn't have come back," he said, grabbing his jacket and storming out.

The room fell silent once again.

I looked at the book, opened it, and tore off the page with their writing. I crumpled it and threw it in the trash, then went upstairs to pack.

We shared a bed for five years. Every corner of the room still held traces of us.

Halfway through packing, I saw Cade return, pulling two suitcases. Behind him was Caitlyn, crying dramatically.

"I'm sorry to trouble you guys, but I have nowhere else to go," she sobbed.

Her smugness when she texted me earlier was gone, replaced by weakness.

I slowly stood up, speaking calmly. "So, you're moving in?"

Cade stepped in front of her, protective. "Don't overthink it. I brought her here because she can't afford her rent. And she is scared of the dark, so she'll have to stay in our room."

"You wanna share a bed with her?" I scoffed.

Caitlyn's eyes widened at my blunt words. "No, you got it wrong. Cade and I are just friends."

Cade took her hand and looked at me like a stranger. He sulked, "Take it up with me, not her. Don't go crazy again."

I didn't bother to argue with him. It was pointless. Instead, I nodded, packed my things, and headed out.

"Wait," Cade called out, grabbing my wrist and eyeing my stuff. "Leave the lamp."

I made that lamp myself because I couldn't sleep without light. He knew that, but he still demanded it.

Blocking my path, he asked, "How much does it take? Caitlyn can't sleep without a light."

I looked down at his hand and pulled free. Taking it as my reluctance, he lectured me until I handed over the lamp.

It was fine if they wanted my scraps. They could have them.

Cade paused, then shoved the lamp into Caitlyn's hands.

"If you'd been this reasonable this morning, we wouldn't have fought," he snorted, throwing his arm around Caitlyn's waist and leading her straight to the master bedroom.

I grabbed my luggage and went back to my old place.