After five long years of dating, Winona Shaw finally said yes. I was elated, like a scavenger who'd struck gold.

I put everything I had into the engagement party, but out of the blue, Winona embraced Claude Landton instead. She even tried to frame me and boot me to jail.

I canceled the party and called the cops instead.

That made Winona mad, and Claude started panicking.

Icily, I said, "Now, calm down. We have a lot of trials to go through. See you in court."

Entitled Girlfriend

I spent three months just to make sure the engagement party went perfectly. I rented a manor on the outskirts of the city and spent nearly all my money just to make sure it looked like something out of a dream.

Even the champagne-colored petals—her favorite—were imported stuff. When the day came and Winona Shaw took the walk down the aisle, I thought she would cry tears of happiness, but all she did was stand and look around. A frown creased her forehead, and she did not look pleased.

"I thought you said you put all you had into the engagement party, and this is what you came up with?"

I clenched the ring in my pocket, the sweat from my hand drenching the box. Carefully, I heaved a sigh, and I asked, "Is there anything you don't like? I can change it out right now."

Winona said nothing. She merely sighed. Perhaps she was getting impatient. I had no idea what to say, and then Claude Landton showed up right outside the manor. He came up to us, smiling and checking out the decor.

"You must've put in a lot of hard work, Nate, but Winona prefers minimalism. Don't you know that?"

That almost wiped the smile off my face. I tried to say something, but nothing came. Winona looked at me, and her lips turned downward.

She spoke, but this time, there was anger in her voice. "He'd never have done something so OTT if he knew. If you're just trying to get on my nerves, Nathaniel, you did a great job."

I quickly waved my hands, but I was choking on myself. I had no idea how to explain all this. She told me this was the exact style she wanted when we were talking about the party and even specifically said she wanted it done Findellan style.

I spent a ton of time and money on that, and now she took back everything she said. What was I expecting? Winona had always been like this.

She was temperamental. One minute, she would be a big fan of a certain style and stop at nothing to get her hands on it, but the next, she would act like she never hated that same style more.

I thought girls were like that, so it was normal. No matter how fickle she was, I would always take the blame and never argue with her. I thought time would change her. Make her grow. I thought she would become wiser.

And I paid the price. She'd even throw a tantrum when it came to her own engagement. Three months. I spent three months perfecting every detail of this engagement, and she just said it was trash because she felt like it.

Powerlessness. That was what I felt.

Claude chimed in, "Nate's a great guy, but you know how us men work. We can be absent-minded sometimes."

I turned around and looked at him coldly. He might sound friendly, but I knew what he was getting at. He was calling me an inattentive boyfriend. I put all my mind on this event, and it was invalidated just because of an outsider.

That was infuriating.

Winona nodded, as if she agreed with Claude. Her chilly attitude froze my heart. I couldn't care less about anyone else's opinion, but I couldn't believe even Winona thought my efforts meant nothing.

She didn't even look at me. Instead, she left. "Forget it. There's always next time."

I stood in my spot, seeing her off. What should I feel? Anger? Disappointment? Sadness? I… I didn't know.

Claude stopped right beside me and quietly commented, "Don't take it to heart, Nate. You know what girls are like. Temperamental, I always say."

I gave him a look cold enough to freeze everything that met my eyes, yet he smiled at me smugly. He chuckled and went after Winona.

I let go of my ring, and it touched my fingertips. The stab of cold nearly cut me down. The lights still shone on brightly, showering the manor in golden light. The mainstay of the event—Winona—however, was gone.

I hurled the ring box down on the ground, hard.

Accusation

I lost sleep that night, tormented by exasperation and discontent. I stood in the empty manor, alone with nothing but smoke and cigarettes that provided little comfort.

Eventually, the light of dawn cut through the horizon, and I snapped out of my trance. Morning had come. I went to work and heaved a long, slow sigh. I had to shove away my frustrations.

The moment I sat down, my secretary told me Claude wanted to see me earlier, but he didn't say why. I answered coldly, "Ignore him. I have nothing to do, and I want nothing to do with him."

And then Winona came storming into my office looking all dark. She shot me with an icy look, her eyes filled with frigid fury. "You're going to push him down for revenge, Nathaniel? Just because he said the truth? How petty can you be? I can't believe you went after him right away."

I was stunned. I had no idea what she was saying, but I tried to calm myself and ask her what she was talking about.

That frustrated her more. "Don't play dumb, Nathaniel! Claude just told me his project got canceled! Your subsidiary took over! You're going to get him fired!"

I quickly went through all my business decisions lately, but none of them had anything to do with Claude. I didn't remember any of my subsidiaries' projects being related to him either.

With doubts creeping into my mind, I said, "I did not do anything to him. Even if someone took his project, it's just fair competition."

Winona slapped me. I froze.

She glared at me with rage and roared, "You're lying! If it was fair competition, why didn't you see Claude when he asked you to? Unbelievable! You'd even go after your own friend, Nathaniel? What did I ever see in you?"

My chest started to twist, and I looked at Winona in disbelief. Five years I spent dating her, and I never spoke a single lie. Everything I said to her came from the depths of my heart.

Why? Because I thought a relationship was based on trust. Trust from both sides. That was the foundation. And yet, and yet she believed Claude's accusations before she even talked with me.

I clenched my teeth and coolly answered, "Friend? Claude is no friend of mine. Whose side are you on? No, wait, do you even remember that you're my fiance?"

Winona fell into silence and turned her head away. I took a deep breath.

"I did not go after Claude. You can check if you don't believe me."

She turned her gaze back on me, but there was an accusatory look in it. "When you can push all the blame onto the company and keep your hands clean? An investigation is pointless. You'd even scheme and plot against people on your side. Don't you feel any guilt?"

Okay, I was running out of patience. "And why should I? I worked hard just to make sure you can have the best the world has to offer, but you'd take an outsider's side and interrogate me like I'm some sort of criminal!"

The look in her eyes went colder than anything I'd ever seen. I probably struck a nerve. She was fierce.

"Claude is my… He's not an outsider!"

I smiled dryly. "And what am I?"

No answer. Winona gave me a scathing look and stormed off. I slumped into my seat, my heart filled with fury and sorrow. It was… complicated.

We'd been dating for five years, and marriage was on the horizon, yet Winona would throw away all that foundation, all that trust, all just for Claude.

My fists balled up, and veins throbbed on the back of my hands. Very well, then. We'd come to the end of the line.

I did not need a relationship like this. If you could even call it a relationship to begin with.

Screeching Like a Banshee

I stayed at work until late at night and tossed everything else behind me. It was nearly midnight when I came out of the company.

I got home, and Winona was on the couch, holding a glass of champagne. Her gaze was still cool. I wanted to ask her why she was still up, but then my fury took over and shut me up.

She looked at me and said calmly, "I know what you did to Claude. Stop, and I will forgive you."

I sighed. Exhaustion grasped my heart and soul. Nothing I could say would be of use if Winona did not trust me.

My silence frustrated her. Winona slammed her glass onto the table. "Cat got your tongue? I'm talking to you! Say something!"

I took my coat off and set it aside. Then, I went into the bathroom to wash my face. Cold water splashed against my skin, and I felt much better afterward.

Winona came to the entrance and looked at me through the mirror. She took a deep breath and said gently, "I know you're jealous of him because he's being nice to me. Then, what you should do is treat me better. Besides, he's just a friend. You don't have to go so far. Or do you hate it when people are nice to me? You don't think I deserve better?"

I sighed and asked her what happened to Claude. She told me Claude lost important clients after important clients, and some of his competitors were engaging in aggressive competition against him.

She implied that everything was linked to me. If I hadn't told my subsidiaries to attack him, he would never have lost those clients. I frowned, and it was taking everything I had just to keep my anger in check.

"Then, tell him to prove it. I'm not the kind of guy who'd deny what I did. Still, I can't believe you'd buy his story when it's clearly a lie."

A hint of hesitation crossed Winona's face, but it was replaced by determination soon enough. She seemed to have a great deal of faith in Claude as a person.

"Claude's not a liar. He's always been a straightforward guy. He'd never lie to me."

I laughed mirthlessly. "And I have?"

She opened her mouth and tried to say something, then she muttered, "He has no reason to slander you."

That stabbed me right in my soul. 'He has no reason to slander me? Are you serious? The fact that he's trying to take over my place is reason enough!' I sneered.

"Really? Taking over my spot as your fiance is reason enough."

Winona's face fell, and she chided, "He's not a vile person, Nathaniel!"

She couldn't continue the conversation, and a moment of silence later, she walked off, huffing and puffing.

I looked into the mirror and sighed again. After that day, Winona pulled even further away from me. She kept avoiding me, but I didn't care at all.

The weekend came, and I went out with a friend to check some houses. When I came back, Winona was holding her phone, horror etched on her face.

I said nothing and changed into my slippers before heading to the study. She called out to me, "Claude's not feeling well. I need you to give me a ride to his place."

I ignored her.

Displeased, she snapped, "Enough with that tantrum, Nathaniel! Claude could be hurt, for all we know! What are you going to do if anything happens to him?"

'What am I going to do?' I mused. Icily, I answered, "Nothing. I'm not his husband, you know."

Winona screamed, "You heartless bastard!" She shot up from her seat, changed into a new set of clothes, and barged out of the house.

Silence encased the living room. The only sound left was that of my breathing. I slowly sank into the couch and waited for the time to pass.

Neon lights started to shine outside, lighting up the city.

Neon lights started to dwindle, dim, and pucker out.

She never came back.