He said that and sent me a transfer of $1.88 on his phone.

The note with the transfer contained two words: "Gold Digger."

I had been with him for seven whole years and had not spent a dime of his money.

I even gave him gifts on holidays and anniversaries.

He took them like he was entitled to them, but he never got me anything in return.

He would mockingly ask if I thought it was a man's duty to buy gifts for his girlfriend.

That was how he looked at me: a gold digger.

After all, he was an heir with billions to his name.

I thought about the gifts he had bought for Nevaeh Smith.

I thought about my mom, who had suffered so much from her illness and died in pain because we could not afford her treatment.

I could not stand to be near him a second longer.

I got up to leave, but then there was noise at the door.

Nevaeh came in, taking off her coat to reveal a sexy outfit underneath.

However, when she saw me, she was startled and quickly put her coat back on. "Jess, why are you here?"

I turned to Caleb.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is our place, isn't it?

"Do you give out the password to just anyone and allow them to waltz in whenever they want?"

Nevaeh looked like I had accused her of the worst crime in the world.

She dashed over and plopped down next to Caleb, taking hold of his arm. "Caleb, I’m not just some stranger to you, right? I only forgot my house key and needed a place to crash for the night.

"And think about it, if you didn't agree to split the rent, Jess would be stuck paying it all by herself.

"Really, Jess is the one who's getting a good deal here."

I wondered how many times I had been talked about like this behind my back.

Caleb listened and did not think he was in the wrong. In fact, he agreed with Nevaeh. "Nevaeh's got a point. I've got my own place, and sharing the rent is just throwing money away.

"It's no different than paying someone to sleep with you."

With that, he whipped out his payment code and shoved it in my face.

"You don't want people to think you're just after money, do you?

"Give me back all the rent I've paid for the past seven years."

The tiny apartment, barely forty square meters, was our first home together.

After college, I stayed in the capital to make more money. Back then, I could only afford a tiny place, far from the city center.

Caleb complained that it was too far to come see me and that the place was so bad it ruined the mood to even be close. He wanted us to rent a bigger spot together. As such, I ended up paying higher rent and even got a part-time job to make ends meet.

Now, he wanted all that rent money from the past seven years. He even thought he had been paying to be with me and that he had been shortchanged.

"Caleb, what have I been to you these past seven years?" The tears welling up in my eyes were just for the time I felt I had wasted.

Seven years of my life, gone on. Wasted on someone like him.

The hand reaching out to me shook just as my tears started to fall.

He pressed his lips together and pulled his hand back.

"I was just teasing you. It’s no big deal..."

He did not get to finish his words.

Nevaeh tutted twice, her face twisted with scorn.

"You say you're not after Caleb's money, but without him, you couldn't even dream of living in such a nice place."

"Caleb, you really should end the lease next month. You can't keep letting strangers mooch off you.

"Or maybe Jess should put it in writing. That seems fair."

If it was not against the law to hit people, I would have loved to slap them both.

However, if I did, they would surely try to squeeze money out of me.

Rich folks lacking class loved playing nasty games.

Seven years was enough. I was done with this charade.

"I won't put it in writing. If you want money, go ahead and sue me. Let's see if the court takes your side.

"I won’t be staying in the house anymore, Ms. Smith. Since you're so keen on spending the night, don't forget to pay Caleb the rent.

"Otherwise, you'll just be another moocher."

I was about to walk away when Caleb grabbed me. His teasing look was gone, replaced by a stern warmth.

"Jess, do you have to be like this? Nevaeh and I were only joking.

"Think about it. If you leave, you'll never find a place as nice as this again."

I was so wrong, so incredibly wrong.

I should not have dropped the idea of breaking up when I learned Caleb was a rich heir, charmed by his words.

I should not have believed in an 'equal love' that was not supposed to be about money.

I should not remember the coldest days of winter, when he would warm my feet with his belly.

The times when I had cramps, when he would gently soothe me with his warm hands.

We really did love each other once, and we had our happy times.

However, our love could not mix with money, not even a little bit.

"Caleb, we should break up."

Only when I said those words did he stop smiling that sly smile.

Then, his face got all panicky.

"Break up? Jess, you're actually breaking up with me?

"I won't accept that. What gives you the right to leave me? You can't just get mad and call it quits."

He always acted like he was better than everyone else. Like dating me was some kind of gift he was giving.

However, I just looked at him emotionlessly.

"I'm not mad, but since you think I'm after your money all the time, you should find someone who matches your wealth and have a fair relationship."

I did not want to talk to him anymore. I turned around, went back to my room, and started packing.

About half a minute later, I heard him yell.

"Jess, you're going to regret this."

I did not listen to his threats, and I did not care when he stormed out with Nevaeh and slammed the door.

I had put up with a love that felt like a crime for seven years.

I never blamed Caleb for not saving my mom.

He did not have to lend me the money.

However, when I needed help the most, even when I begged him with a promise to pay him back to save my mom, he just ignored me, all the while thinking that I was just after his money.

That was when I gave up on him and on our seven years of love.

In the middle of the night, with all my bags, I walked down the empty streets.

In the big city, I had no place to call home and, without my mom or love, there was no reason to stay.

Every second here just made me sadder.

With nowhere to go, I sat in the hospital lobby all night.

The first thing I did when I got to work was quit.

My supervisor was shocked when he got my resignation letter.

"You’re quitting your job? Did Mr. Brooks say it was okay for you to quit?

"Oh, right, since you're leaving, this month's bonus won't be much. We'll put the rest of your pay on a card."

I scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to make sense of it all. I was so confused.

What did they mean, put it on a card?

Since when did I have a bonus?

However, the biggest question was… What was Mr. Brooks up to?

My supervisor looked just as puzzled as I felt.

"Aren't you and Mr. Brooks a couple? He's the one who told the finance department to split up your pay.

"They give you your regular pay, but the bonus and any extra, they put on a different card. He said you wanted to save.

"I never would've guessed you had a boyfriend like Mr. Brooks and that you'd be so careful with money. That's pretty cool."

It turned out that all these years, I was only getting the salary from when I first started.

I kept asking for a raise, not knowing that my pay hadn’t increased not because I was not working hard, but because Caleb had been moving it to another card.

When I finally asked for my pay records, I noticed the bonus section. It showed a big, shiny $2,000.

Just a few days earlier, I had been scrambling to come up with that last $2,000 and had fallen behind on the hospital bill.

Because of that, my mom did not get her surgery in time and passed away.

The craziest part? The total of all the bonuses Caleb kept from me over seven years would have been more than enough to pay for my mom's treatment.

I had been so silly.

Silly enough to just keep working hard, scared of losing my job and not having money to live.

Silly enough to be tricked by Caleb and not even know it.

I did not want him to think I was after his money, so I never touched it, only to find out he took what I earned.

I stayed in that fake, hurtful relationship for seven whole years.

I clutched my paycheck, ready to confront Caleb, but he strolled up without a care in the world.

"Jess, we had a tiny spat, and you stormed off, threatening to quit," he said.

"It looks like you've got quite the temper."

Nevaeh, trailing behind him, wore a grin that said she loved seeing me in trouble.

She sauntered over, pretending to care, and said. "Jess, that's pretty cold of you. You're spending Caleb's money and living in a house he got for you.

"Could you even make it here in the city without Caleb?"

People without shame could lie so easily, without even a blush.

I was so mad I had to laugh, and was about to snap back. However, Caleb cut me off.

"Nevaeh's right. Without me, you'd have been gone long ago," he said.

"Let's just say you're having a bad day. I'll give you a break and not dock your pay. Come on home with me."

The clearer Caleb's true colors became, the more I saw my own blindness over those seven years.

People around them started to gossip and point.

When Caleb did nothing to stop them, they got louder.

"Mr. Brooks just hid who he was so Jessica wouldn't feel bad. He's always cared that much about her."

"She's living off Mr. Brooks, getting mad at him, and still wants more."

"She thinks she can become something special, but without Mr. Brooks, she's nothing."

The more they talked, the prouder Caleb looked.

Nevaeh kept egging them on, heaping false blame on me.

"Jess, weren't you the one who told a fib about your mom being super sick, just to borrow 2000 bucks from Caleb?

"You sure know how to make a buck and still act like you're the good guy. You're pretty slick."

Her words hit the room like tossing ice water into a frying pan, and everything just blew up.