Dale was rubbing her temples and look up to shot me a provocative grin.

They were both half-naked, their bodies practically pressed together.

My blood rushed to my head. I shoved the door open and stared coldly at Elena, who looked annoyed by the interruption.

“That’s it! I’m calling off the wedding, Elena!”

“What? You can’t be serious!” Elena sat up in bed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“We already sent out all the invitations! Our families, friends—they’re all expecting the wedding! You can’t just cancel it.”

“Can’t you grow up?” she sneered. “We’ve been together for years. How could you just say that? Does it never cross you mind that it’ll hurt me?”

She looked genuinely offended, like I was the one who screwed up. It made me want to laugh. 

I had to bite back a bitter laugh as I blinked away the sting in my eyes. 

“What, you want me to marry you while you're pregnant with another man’s baby?”

“Why not?” Lenny replied, dead serious. “I’m still early in the pregnancy. I’m not even showing. And even if I was, so what? We’re married. No one’s gonna ask questions. Our parents won’t suspect anything.”

I stared at her. She was so calm, not a trace of regret or shame on her face, which made me wonder—how could her mind be so twisted?

I clenched my fists, trying to keep my voice from cracking. “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I don’t want it?”

She laughed. Flat-out laughed. Dale, standing beside her like a smug bastard, scoffed openly.

“Why wouldn’t you?” he sneered. “Everyone knows you’re crazy about Lenny. You’ve been her pathetic lapdog for years. She’s already agreed to marry you. Just take the win and stop throwing tantrums. Be a man. Stop being such a drama queen before you ruin a good thing.”

Dale always loved talking down to me and I used to put up with it for Elena’s sake. But now? I was done.

I stepped forward, my eyes locked on his. “Who the hell do you think you are? I’m talking to Elena. You have no business butting in.”

He didn’t expect me to fight back. His face twisted for a second, but then he switched tactics, shooting a pitiful look at Elena.

“Lenny,” he murmured, turning to her with a sorrowful expression, “It seems your fiancé doesn’t want me here. Maybe I should just leave. I don’t want to be the one who causes a rift between you.”

“Or,” he continued, “we could stay at my place?”

Lenny immediately stepped in front of him like I was being the unreasonable one here, her tone patronizing and tired. “Okay, okay. I get it. You’re throwing a fit because you don’t want to move out and be away from me, right? How about this? I’ll stay with you on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I’ll be at Dale’s. Sundays, you two can take turns being with me. Sounds fair, right?”

The way she laid it out so matter-of-factly—like she was being generous—made me want to throw up.

I couldn’t tell if she’d gone completely insane from the pregnancy hormones, or if this twisted logic had always been inside her.

But it didn’t really matter anymore.

From the moment she chose to cheat on me, to roll around in bed with Dale like I didn’t exist, she made it clear—there was no going back.

“Let’s not make this more complicated than it has,” I took a deep breath and steadied myself. “Elena, I’m breaking up with you. We’re done.”

Her face froze. Then her expression twisted, moving quickly from shock to outrage.

“Are you really doing this? You better be ready to live with that decision, because I won’t be giving you a second chance.”

She still didn’t believe I meant it.

I stared straight at her, the love I once had now buried under the weight of betrayal and disgust.

“The moment you slept with him, you stopped being someone I could ever forgive.” I squeezed the words out through clenched teeth.

Elena’s face was full of fury as she shoved me hard.

“Fine! Then just get out! Who needs your forgiveness anyway? Think you’re so high mighty?”

She was clearly furious.

Dale pulled her into a protective hug.

“Easy, Lenny, being mad won’t be good for your health. You’re carrying our baby, remember?”

At that, Elena shot me a fierce glare.

“Can you see that? Dale’s just my friend, but he cares so much about me. While you? You’re my fiancé and you don’t care about me the slightest!”

Her voice dripped with disgust.

“Alright, Clifton, I think you’d better leave. Lenny’s probably just upset right now. When she’s calmer, I’ll let you know.”

Dale waved me off impatiently. But I stayed cold and calm.

“Are you two serious? This is my house.”

I fixed them both with a cold stare.

I bought this house especially for our wedding, every inch decorated with Elena’s ideas.

Maybe it was because she’d lived here too long, or maybe she never believed I’d really break up with her—either way, she still acted like this was her home.

“Are you even a man?” Elena exploded again.

“Your house? You bought this house because of me. Can you even live here without me? Now I’m pregnant. This is exactly time when I need care and you can’t even give me a place to stay?”

Her entitled excuses made me lose any will to talk sense into her.

I took a deep breath.

“I’ll give you ten minutes to pack your things and leave. After that, I’m calling security.”

Without another word, I walked out of the house.

Behind me, Elena’s shouting filled the air and Dale wasn’t shy about calling me petty and jealous. But none of that mattered anymore.

Like I said, from the moment Elena cheated, forgiveness was off the table forever.

They wasted several cigarettes before finally dragging themselves out of the house.

Elena stared at me with venom.

“Clifton, no matter how much you beg me later, I’m never coming back here!”

She didn’t forget to threaten me as she left.

I just found her noise annoying and slammed the front door hard enough to echo through the empty house.

When the world finally settled into silence, I collapsed inside the house and cried my heart out.

As I overcome with grief, I realized—everything we had was severed, by my own hand.

Not long after, I got a call from Elena’s mother.

“My daughter says you kicked her out? How dare you?”

Mrs. Humphrey wasted no time launching into a tirade.

Mr. Humphrey joined in, bombarding me with questions.

“How could you go back on your word? You promised you’d tolerate anything Elena did, yet now you’ve thrown her out? Your promises mean nothing. What good are you as a son-in-law? I’m warning you—you need to beg Elena to come back right now, or the wedding three days from now is off.” Mr. Humphrey was even less patient than his wife.

Hearing their words chilled me to the bone.

I’d always taken care of Elena’s family. She told me her parents spent everything sending her abroad to study, so since then I never let her or her family spend a dime on me.

She said her dad liked his whiskey; I regularly sent over bottles of top-shelf bourbon and scotch.

Her mom had a thing for designer handbags but had given up splurging on herself while putting Elena through school, so I made sure she always had the latest collections of luxury brands.

At first, Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey were polite and grateful. But over time, they began treating all that as if it were owed to them.

They even told me straight to my face that I should treat them better than my own parents—otherwise, it meant I wasn’t serious enough about Elena.

I used to put up with it all for Elena’s sake.

But not anymore.

“I broke up with Elena—”

“Because you got bored and thought you could just toss her aside?” her father snapped before I could get another word in.

“You think my daughter’s some disposable thing? Something you can use and throw away whenever you feel like it? Do you have any idea what kind of mess you’re creating? The wedding’s in three days! Everyone’s been invited, the announcements are out and now you want to call it off? If you don’t give a damn about your own dignity, that’s fine—but don’t drag our whole family down with you!”

He just kept going, ranting nonstop while I sat there in silence.

When he finally paused for breath, I clenched my jaw and said, “You done?”

“Good. Now, listen carefully. Not only am I breaking up with your daughter, but I’m also coming after every penny you’ve leeched off me. Every single one of them, I’ll take it all back.”

Then I hung up and blocked both of them.

If they wanted to play dirty, then they shouldn’t expect me to play nice.

After ending the call, I just sat there on the floor, numb.

I kept telling myself not to let this get to me, but everywhere I looked, I saw reminders of her—of us.

It was suffocating.

I called a moving company and told them to clear out everything that had anything to do with Elena.

Only after her things were gone did I finally feel like I could breathe again.

That night, my parents called.

“Heard you and Elena broke up?”

My dad sounded way too cheerful for someone asking breakup news. Well, he never liked her to begin with. Fair say, because he’d been around the block enough in his day to spot a gold digger a mile away—and Elena fit the bill.

He’d never trusted her.

“If you called just to rub it in, I’m hanging up,” I snapped.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re just relieved you’re finally out of that nightmare,” my mom cut in. “Don’t worry, son” she added. “I’ve found you a woman. Very decent and definitely more to your league.”

I rolled my eyes.

For years, they’d tolerated Elena for my sake—never once stepping in to stop the wedding.

But now that I’d called it off, they were acting like they’d won the lottery.

Still, I had to admit... after that phone call, I did feel a little lighter.

Just as I was about to head to bed, Dale sent me a disappearing video.