“You’re going on a trip?” He asked me suddenly.

I gave him a nonchalant smile. “It’s not that big of a deal. I just felt like having a change of style.”

Jared stared at me for a while. He seemed to believe me and relaxed visibly.

I was starving from skipping lunch, so when I saw the cakes on the table, I ate a slice.

Vincy suddenly shouted, “Ms. Lawson! Mr. Payne got that for me…”

I halted and looked at Jared. The man’s lips twitched. “Vincy’s right. She’s never tried them before. You can buy yourself a new cake anyway.”

I frowned at him, taking her side. “I haven’t had anything today, Jared. I’m hungry.”

Vincy pouted pitifully. Before she could say anything, Jared spoke up for her harshly, “What is wrong with you? It’s just a slice of cake. Why do you have to steal Vincy’s?”

I stared at him. Perhaps realizing his tone was wrong, Jared spoke softer this time, “I’m not trying to reprimand you. Are you craving anything specifically? Maybe a steak? Or spaghetti?”

“I’ll cook whatever you want, okay? Let Vincy have her cake, yeah?”

Vincy was sobbing beside him. “You don’t have to take my side, Mr. Payne. I’m just a maid. If Ms. Lawson really wants my cake, she shouldn’t have to ask me.”

Jared responded by snatching the cake from my hands and shoving it in Vincy’s arms. “Ignore her, Vincy. I bought the cake for you.”

If this was before, I knew I would have picked a fight with Jared and forced him to explain himself. Now, I just wanted to leave.

The opposite of love was not hate but indifference.

I smiled. “I’ll take a steak, then.”

Surprised that I let him off the hook so easily, Jared explained, “Don’t misunderstand, okay? Vincy got hurt today. That’s why I’m going easy on her.

“You’re my fiancée, the woman I love. There’s no need to be angry over something so insignificant.”

“I’ll have the chauffeur send you to the mall later, okay? Just charge everything to my card.”

I shook my head. I did not need his money. I had my own to spend.

Ever since the beginning, all I ever wanted was Jared’s love, and yet.

Jared gave me an apologetic smile and headed to the kitchen, Vincy following behind.

Before long, I began to hear giggles coming from the kitchen. It had me reminiscing about our relationship when it first started.

Jared was not good with his words, so every time I got angry, he would apologize with a home-cooked meal. I would silently follow him to the kitchen, and when he saw me, I would hug him from behind, and we would kiss.

Now, I sat in the living room and flipped through the magazine, ignoring whatever was happening in the kitchen.

I glanced over just in time to see Jared feed Vincy a slice of steak.

I walked over calmly and heard Vincy say, “Mr. Payne, those things Ms. Lawson doesn’t want anymore, could I…”

“I mean, it’s not that I’m asking for… It’s just… You put a lot of effort into choosing those gifts, and they still look new. I just think it’s a pity…”

A carefully worded phrase, and she had painted me as a wasteful and ungrateful woman in Jared’s eyes.

I watched the man nod.

“Just because I don’t want them anymore doesn’t mean I want to give them to you.”

Jared frowned. “You were going to throw them away anyway! Why can’t you give them to Vincy? I’m not even asking you to buy something new anyway!”

Seeing the pride on Vincy’s face, I lost the energy to argue with Jared. “They belong to me. I decide who I want to give them to.”

“And do I look like an idiot to you, Jared? You think I don’t know about the luxury goods you bought her behind my back?”

I ignored them and walked away.

The helpers I called for had arrived, and they helped to carry my things to the car.

After I arrived at my best friend’s place, I pulled out my phone to answer a few messages, only to see a notification on Instagram about Vincy’s new post.

She posted a selfie of herself and Jared next to two large parcel boxes with the caption: [Souvenirs for everyone from the Arctic with my boss!].

The comments section was filled with cheers.

"Boss? Or husband?"

“Your husband is handsome! He's so good to you, oh my God!”

“Kiss him! Kiss him!” Jared liked this comment, and Vincy replied with a ‘shy’ meme.

Vincy’s number of followers skyrocketed, and she received many grateful messages in Jared’s villa’s maid group chat.

“Thank you for thinking of us even when you were on vacation, Vincy!”

“As expected of our millionaire CEO! So generous! Thanks, Vincy!"

I remember creating this group chat when I started living with Jared so it would be easier for them to discuss Jared’s meal plans. The man was a picky eater and always too busy to eat.

I stopped paying attention to the group after Vincy joined it, and my relationship with Jared grew distant.

I did not care to read through all the messages and deleted the group chat instead. It was only at that moment that I remembered Jared was also in the group chat.

After learning about the group, he joined it too and used it to track how I was when I was busy with studies or if I had fallen sick.

During our anniversary, Jared would ask them to prepare a list of ingredients for our candlelit dinner, only for Vincy to ruin everything. She needed to be more clumsy, spilling Jared’s coffee and dropping my warm milk multiple times. Each time she made a mistake, she would cry and apologize but never improve.

Jared used to be frustrated with her, but slowly, the man teased her for it and cleaned up after her.

I wanted to fire her more than once, but Jared would stop me. “Vincy is still young. She's only 18, you should be kinder to her.”

One of our maids complained about how slow Vincy was before, and Jared fired her for it. I was the one who found this maid another employer so this single mom could afford a living for herself and her newborn.

That night, I switched the lights off and got ready for bed when suddenly, I realized I was still wearing my engagement ring.

I took it off and caressed the pattern engraved upon it. Jared had made it himself despite knowing nothing about ring-making. He had accidentally hammered his fingers many times, too, because of this.

On the inside was a crooked engraving of our initials.

“This ring symbolizes my promise to you.”

“Jenny, as long as you wear this ring, I will never leave your side. We will always be together, no matter what.”

How ironic.

I asked for an express delivery and had the man deliver the ring back to Jared.

Coincidentally, my dad had just sent over information on my new husband. The wedding was set to occur next week.

The next morning, Jared stood outside my room. The moment I opened the door, he questioned, “Jenny. Why did you give the ring back to me?”

“Are you breaking up with me? Over that insignificant problem yesterday?”

I looked at him calmly. "It doesn't fit me anymore.”

Jared must have realized how aggressive he sounded, for he apologized, “I'm sorry. I just panicked when I received the ring.

“You should've texted me and explained.”

I ignored his explanation, nor would I ever explain anything to him again.

I waited four hours at the bridal shop for him while the man happily brought his darling maid to watch the aurora. I sent him many messages, but he blocked me on all social media platforms.

This man standing before me was no longer the fiancé who loved me like I was his world.

“This is my best friend's home. You should leave if you have nothing more to say.”

I turned around to close the door, only for him to pull me into his arms. “It's okay if the engagement ring doesn’t fit anymore. We still have the wedding ring, don’t we? I’ll make you one that looks much better.”

“I know you're angry I wasn't there when you were trying out wedding gowns, I'm sorry. I booked a new time for us with them already. Let's go try them tomorrow, hmm?”

From Jared’s tone, I almost believed that he cared about our future, but then I saw a hickey on the side of his neck. He also smelled strongly of Vincy’s perfume.

I was a fool to believe this man loved me, the same man who abandoned me for another woman.

I pushed him away with a smile. "We'll see."

‘Oh, Jared. What made you think I'd marry you after everything?’

If he were not asking me about the design of the wedding ring, he would be asking me about the material of the wedding dress.

The panic on his face dazed me. It had been too long since Jared cared so much about me.

Since Vincy appeared, Jared became busier and had no time to reply to my messages.

He was either in an international meeting, on a business trip or working overtime to complete proposals. When, in truth, he was spending all that time with Vincy.

Afraid of losing him, I became more dependent on him. Perhaps it was this dependency that solidified his belief that I would never leave him for anyone else.

Perhaps this was why he dote on someone else so openly, without fear of losing me.

“Answer the phone, Jenny!”

“Are you still angry at me, Jenny? You’re not even going to choose your ring and dress?”

I ignored the long line of missed calls on my phone. On the way to the airport, I texted him one last time. “Cancel the wedding. Don’t text or call me again.”

At the same time, I received an image from Vincy. It was a selfie of her in a wedding dress, and Jared could be seen in the background glaring at his phone.

“I’m trying out your tailored wedding dress. Maybe it’s because I’m thinner, so the dress is a bit big on me. The style fits me, though!”

The way she was boasting made me laugh. “You really do like hand-me-downs, don’t you? Since you want this so much, sure. Why the heck not?”

I was referring to both the wedding dress and the man.

The last call for boarding was broadcast through the speakers. ‘I can finally leave this place,’ I thought to myself.

Just as the plane began to taxi, I suddenly saw a group of bodyguards rush towards the gate. Surrounded by them was Jared.

I quickly faced away, but I could feel a piercing gaze fall on me through the walls.

As figures on the grounds slowly became black speckles, I took a deep breath and bid my youth goodbye.

The flight took 3 hours, and I left the cabin as quickly as possible.

From a distance, I saw my parents waiting for me upon arrival, with a mountain of presents in their hands.

Dad grabbed my luggage and looked at me with warmth and love. Mom placed a bouquet in my hand. “My daughter’s all grown up now. She looks so pretty, much prettier than on call. I’m so glad you’re back. No more running away from home now, okay?”

“Don’t you worry, Jenny! I promise you’ll love the boy we found for you!” Dad sounded proud of himself, “He’s had a crush on you since he was a kid! He knows that you’re still single, and I heard that he never dated anyone because of that! But if he makes you angry one day… Hmph! I’ll go teach him a lesson! No one makes my daughter cry!”

I forced a smile and rubbed my face on Mom’s shoulders.

My parents had wanted to bring me home more than once, but Jared always persuaded me not to. He convinced me they must resent me for leaving home and would scold me if I returned before I was happily married.

How foolish of me to believe him.

Seeing the tears of excitement on my parents’ faces, I was overwhelmed with guilt. “Don’t worry. I’m not a kid anymore. I won’t cry so easily. And I trust you, Dad. I know you’ll find someone good for me.”

My parents visibly relaxed at how easily I accepted this marriage.

“Good, good. We were worried you’d miss that boy… But! It’s all in the past now. Did you deal with everything on that side? You two only got engaged, not married anyway. It’s best if you two distanced yourselves from each other, too. It won’t look nice to still be in contact.”

I nodded.

We returned home, and Mom insisted on cooking something grand for me. After dinner, I decided to take a walk outside.

The sky began to darken, and I felt like someone was watching me for some reason.

Just then, I received a message from my best friend. “Jared reached out to his connections and he knows where you are. Be careful.”

Confused, I stopped walking. I heard a familiar voice call out behind me as I tried to decode what the text meant.

“Jenny.”

My head whipped around. It was Jared.

Slowly, he adjusted his tie and growled, “How dare you run away, my dear fiancée?”