For seven years, my CEO girlfriend never once came home with me to see my parents. She told me that she hated social obligations, and that she didn't want to deal with the gossip and hassle that came with meeting my parents and relatives.

Even in daily life, she treated me with cold professionalism, never spending any anniversaries with me in favor of working overtime.

I'd always thought that it was just a simple matter of her being too rational and prideful, and I was fine with slowly teaching her how to nurture a relationship.

That was, until Thanksgiving arrived.

Once again, she stressed that holidays were just a capitalistic norm, and that she was going to work overtime instead of coming home with me. By chance, however, I accidentally stumbled upon my intern's social media.

Inside a private room at a five-star hotel, he and his family sat at a table as my girlfriend sat beside him, carefully serving him food.

[Yo, my boss secretly brought my parents into the city for Thanksgiving, and even gave me gifts! She told me that I was worth special gestures, too. Where can you even find a boss this romantic? My parents even told me to marry her as soon as I could! LOL!]

So she knew better than anyone how to make people feel cherished.

I just wasn't worth any of it.

I commented: [How romantic.]

Then, I messaged my girlfriend.

[Let's break up.]

The moment the message was sent, my girlfriend, Joanna Vale, replied with a single question mark.

When I didn’t answer, she called me immediately.

"What are you flipping out about now? Zion forgot to block you this time, so I knew you'd overthink it. After he's shown so much improvement, can't I show him some encouragement as the CEO? The kid's out there trying to build a career, and now he just made a joke after feeling the warmth of society. How could you turn it into some big issue?

"Stop trying to threaten me with a breakup. It's tasteless."

She'd never minced her words with me, and it was always a matter of winning a debate or making me admit defeat for her.

This time, I couldn't swallow it anymore.

The improvement she talked about? All of it was just taking my achievements and giving the credit to Zion, turning him into the best performer in the team.

I laughed coldly and asked, "Don't you hate social obligations with colleagues the most, Joanna? Since when did you become so friendly? Also… Did you say this time? How many times have there been, hm? Besides, I've been the best performer for seven years in a row. Why haven't you graced me with a reward, Your Highness?"

I had never spoken back against her at all, so she screeched like a cat that had its tail stepped on.

"What's with your attitude?! You know that I hate social obligations the most! I did it all so that you'd have a good relationship with Zion, and that he could reduce your burden once he came into his own! How could you repay me by doubting me? Do you even want me to meet your parents anymore?"

Whenever she was in the wrong, she always shifted the focus to my “attitude” to avoid the real issue.

But I couldn’t pretend to be blind anymore.

Three months ago, during his interview, Zion had deliberately bumped into Joanna, then chased after her apologizing, fussing over her, insisting on making it up to her. The stunt left such a strong impression that she bent the rules to keep him at the company.

From that day onward, the cold and distant Joanna began to change.

For the first time ever, she asked me how to politely reject people and how to respond gracefully to someone else’s kindness.

I watched helplessly as she smiled at Zion, as she comforted him instead of firing him when he came in dead last during performance evaluations, and as she stole my credit just to polish his performance.

Everything that I witnessed felt like knives stabbing into my heart.

Each time I questioned her, she reprimanded me for having a filthy mind. She said she was only using Zion as a practice partner for social skills, so that when she eventually came home with me to meet my parents, she wouldn't embarrass herself.

I chose to believe her.

That was, until she once again refused to come home with me while secretly preparing a surprise for Zion instead, even going out of her way to invite his parents.

What I couldn’t get Joanna to do in seven years, Zion accomplished in just three months.

The difference between when someone loved you or not really was painfully obvious.

I came back to my senses, and spoke.

"Looks like you were smiling just fine in those photos. Didn't seem like you were suffering at all. Besides, if we break up, you can just go ahead and marry Zion tomorrow."

Joanna's breath hitched. "You disappoint me! I thought that after using his parents as practice, I can go back and see your parents with you later. Now, it seems like it was all for nothing!"

In the past, I would've thought that I truly misunderstood her, but now? I knew she was doing nothing more than leading me on with false promises.

I was about to mock her when a thin jacket was placed onto my shoulders. I reflexively covered my phone speaker with my hand.

I had come out into the courtyard to avoid my parents from overhearing, and the temperature outside was quite low.

Worried, my mother asked, "Ethan, are you fighting with Joanna?"

Behind her, my father was sat at the dinner table, but he hadn't even taken one bite. Clearly, he was concerned about me too.

Something stung sharply in my chest.

Every year, I came home alone carrying bags of gifts. I told them Joanna was busy, that she had specifically picked out presents for them and asked them not to blame her.

This year, my parents had finally suggested coming into the city for the holiday so they could visit us.

The moment Joanna found out, she flew into a rage. She said my parents were trying to mooch off me now that I had become successful. Either they went back home, or we broke up.

I knew she came from a terrible family background and had long since cut ties with her relatives, so I never forced her.

Meanwhile, she treated my parents like bargaining chips. She relentlessly looked down on them when she had no use for them, but used them to string me on when she needed to.

Thinking of that, I looked down at the phone, only to see that she had already hung up.

To that, I only sent her a message.

[It's fine. My parents wouldn't want to meet a woman as rude as you, anyway.]

The very next moment, she blocked me.

Not paying it any mind, I smiled at my parents. "Just a little scuffle at the company."

At the dinner table, I prepared to transfer some money to my parents as a holiday gift.

Instead, a notification popped up, telling me that my balance was insufficient.

There was no way I didn't even have twenty thousand in my account, but I didn't let any of my surprise show in my expression.

The moment I returned to my room, I pulled up my bank records.

There was only three thousand dollars left in the account where my salary was deposited. Several massive transactions from the previous night stood out immediately.

One jewelry store purchase at fifty-two thousand.

Two transfers to private accounts, each thirty thousand.

Finally, one last transaction of fifty thousand, billed to a five-star hotel.

Even an idiot would have connected the dots. Zion’s holiday family dinner had been paid for using my card.

Blood rushed straight to my head, and I immediately called Joanna.

She deliberately left me hanging for a full minute before finally answering with a cold snort. "So? Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Why did you use my card?" I asked coldly.

Joanna choked.

Then, Zion's voice came from the other end of the call, clearly having witnessed the exchange.

"See, I told you he'd act out if you used his card! My god, I knew that the generous act he showed at the office was fake after all. It's completely normal for a boyfriend to spend money on his girlfriend. If I had a girlfriend like you who doesn't care about money or status, I would've handed over every cent I had without hiding anything!"

Hearing his words, Joanna seemingly found her footing in the argument.

"That's right! I've never spent your money in the seven years we've been together, so what's a little now? You're the vice-president of the company. Can't you bear to spend a little money for me?"

I clutched my phone so tightly and with so much force that my knuckles turned white.

I laughed.

"Oh, I can't?

"Doesn't it hurt your conscience to say that, Joanna? Have you forgotten the amount of money I've transferred you and the amount of gifts I've given you during every holiday, every anniversary?

"I could’ve used all that money to buy a house or a car, but instead I spent it trying to make you happy! Even my parents are still living out in the countryside!

"Now, you're saying that I'm stingy?"

This time, what hurt me wasn't just some holiday stunt.

It was finally realizing how blatantly biased she was, and how she purposefully ignored my emotional needs, treating me like a court jester.

Why should I keep someone like her around?

Yet, Joanna felt no guilt whatsoever. There was nothing but annoyance in her voice when she spoke.

"Everything you did was just to satisfy yourself. I wanted none of that, and you didn't even know! Fine, I get it. You’re just picking a fight because of the holiday thing. Let me guess, did your parents talk bad about me? Before the end of the year, I'll go…"

Talking to her was like speaking to a brick wall.

Completely disappointed, I stopped her from making any more false promises. "Give me my money back right now unless you want cops knocking at your door, got it?"

She cared too much about appearances to risk public humiliation.

There was a long silence on the other end before she exploded.

"You're the one who said that your money was mine to spend, so why are you getting all twisted up now that I've done it? Do you really think I care about that tiny amount of money? From now on, I won't touch a single cent of your money even if you beg me!"

The next second, she hung up. Soon afterward, the money was transferred back to my account.

Joanna deleted and blocked me everywhere.

For the first time, I didn’t beg her to add me back. Instead, I transferred a hundred thousand dollars to my parents.

The shocked, overwhelmed expressions on their faces made my chest ache.

-

After spending a proper holiday with them, I returned to the city a day early.

The apartment was empty, but there were unfamiliar sneakers by the entrance, men’s T-shirts, a razor, and even cologne.

The place was a complete mess. Clearly, Zion had already moved in.

I clenched my fist, but I acted like I didn't see any of it. I stepped over the dirty clothes on the floor as I went to collect my belongings, suppressing my disgust.

Since money wasn’t an issue, I quickly rented a fully furnished apartment and moved in immediately.

That evening, just after I finished cleaning, Joanna suddenly called.

"Did you go back home? Where are you?"

"Yeah. I moved out."

She didn't pursue the topic, only changing it. "Why didn't you tell me to come fetch you?"

In the past, I had always indulged her in everything.

I only ever had one request. Whenever I returned from a business trip, she had to come pick me up. At least then, I could feel like someone was waiting for me.

Now, I understood that care without sincerity meant nothing.

"There's no need. We've already broken up, so it wouldn't be appropriate."

"I think you're just feeling guilty!" Joanna's voice suddenly rose shrilly, accusing me. "Zion’s family’s staying at his apartment, so he had nowhere to live. You weren't home anyway, so I just let him stay over for a few days. How could you sneak back in just to break his things?"

Then, Zion's tearful voice chimed in.

"It's alright, Joanna. So what if the limited-edition jersey you bought me got cut to pieces? So what if our photos together were ripped up? Ethan’s probably just jealous. I’ll move out and give the apartment back to him."

I didn't even need to think to know that this was some ploy by Zion to incriminate me. It wouldn't have been the first time, after all.

Yet Joanna believed him without question. She immediately softened her tone to comfort him.

"It's fine. I'll buy you another jersey, and we can take more photos together. I'll teach this jealous brat a lesson for throwing his weight around!"

The subject of her words turned back to me, and her tone became cold immediately.

"Ethan, do you just hate seeing me happy? Apologize to Zion right now, or just wait until tomorrow at work!"

Nobody knew that the cold, untouchable female CEO everyone admired treated the man she had dated for seven years with nothing but harshness and selfishness, as if I were her enemy.

After spending seven years as her emotional punching bag, I was exhausted.

Calmly, I replied, "I didn't do it. You should change your temper, Joanna. No one's going to keep on indulging you anymore."

She froze for a second, before letting out a mocking laugh.

"Since when did I need anyone to indulge me? Ethan, I got where I am today all because of my hard work, so stop giving yourself too much credit!"