Leonard glanced at Rowena, his tone dripping with mock exasperation.

"My girlfriend knows I can't stand scallions, so she picks them out for me every single time."

"I told her I can't handle the taste, and she just stopped eating them altogether. The CEO of Ashworth Group—making her kitchen staff leave out scallions even at business dinners!"

A year ago, Rowena had never been a picky eater. Then, out of nowhere, she announced she didn't eat scallions anymore.

I'd assumed her stomach couldn't handle the irritation. Every time I cooked, I'd been so careful to leave them out.

Turns out, it was all for Leonard.

"Now everyone in her circle calls her whipped!" Leonard beamed as he said it, radiating smug satisfaction.

I stood frozen in place, cold seeping through every inch of me.

He didn't notice. He just kept eating, nodding between bites.

"This is really good, by the way. Leave me your number. I'll book you directly next time."

Rowena's expression cooled instantly, her voice dropping low. "You're hired help. A cook. Don't overstep."

The warning in her tone cut through me, and a wave of bitter resentment surged up from somewhere deep.

I was the one who'd been with her first. So why was I being treated like the other man?

My chest burned. I opened my mouth, the impulse to confront her nearly spilling over.

But before I could speak, she stepped in front of Leonard, her eyes locking onto mine with a glare so vicious it didn't belong to anyone I recognized.

The words died in my throat.

Leonard didn't seem to notice anything off about her. "Rowena, what's wrong?"

The sight of them together stabbed behind my eyes like needles.

I mumbled something about having somewhere to be and practically fled, stumbling out the door.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A message from Rowena.

Be home tonight. We need to talk.

What was left to talk about?

When we'd first gotten together, I'd even teased her once: "Your last name's Ashworth, and you just happen to work at the Ashworth Group? Don't tell me you're secretly the CEO."

I had only myself to blame for being so dense. I never followed business news, never questioned anything she told me. Whatever came out of her mouth, I believed.

A quick search told me everything. Rowena was the sole heir to the Ashworth family. She'd taken the reins at an age when most people were still figuring out their careers.

And I'd met her five years ago, waiting tables at a coffee shop. In all that time, she'd never breathed a word of it.

Looking back, the signs had been everywhere.

She'd told me all her clothes were bargain finds from thrift stores. But the fabric, the stitching, the way they draped—they were finer than anything on a designer rack.

She'd complain about her boss running her ragged at work. But her hands were soft. Not a single callus.

I'd scrimped and saved for nearly six months to buy her a necklace for her birthday. Nothing extravagant—just a modest designer piece. Something I was proud of.

She never wore it. Not once.

When I asked about it, she'd pouted and nuzzled against me. "It's from my baby. I love it too much to wear it."

Now I understood. It wasn't that she loved it too much.

She was embarrassed by it. A necklace like that didn't belong on a CEO.

The tears came before I could stop them. I walked home half-blind, wiping my face with the back of my hand the entire way.

Late that night, the front door clicked open. Rowena stepped inside and found me sitting there, eyes swollen and red.

Something flickered across her face—guilt, maybe, or pity. She crossed the room and threw her arms around me, then let out a long sigh.

"Ulysses, don't blame me."

"Leonard's still in college. He's young, full of energy, spontaneous."

"And you... all you ever think about anymore is work and money. You can't even take me out for our anniversary without using a discount coupon."

The words hit me like a bolt of lightning.

Six months ago, Rowena had told me she'd gotten a promotion and a raise. I'd gritted my teeth and splurged on two discount coupons for a high-end steakhouse to celebrate.

I'd been so excited when I told her. Grinning ear to ear, practically bouncing.

Her face had gone cold in an instant.

She'd slammed the door on her way out that night. The celebration was over before it started.

But just moments ago, scrolling through Leonard's social media, I'd discovered the truth: that same day, she'd been on a luxury yacht, throwing a party for Leonard.

A single bottle of champagne from that party cost more than hundreds of those discount coupons combined.

I suddenly found the whole thing laughable.

A violent cramp seized my stomach, and I doubled over, retching.

Rowena panicked and rushed to hold me. "Ulysses, what's wrong?"

"Don't touch me!"

I shoved her hands away with every ounce of strength I had and forced myself upright.

I blinked the tears back.

"This thing between us... it's over."

"Just go. Don't come looking for me again."

Rowena stared at me, her eyes brimming with hurt.

I turned my back to her. I couldn't look at her anymore.

A sigh drifted from behind me.

"Ulysses, no matter what you're thinking, I've never once considered leaving you."

"If you insist on blowing this out of proportion, maybe we both need to cool down."

Her voice had gone cold. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall.

Only when the door clicked shut did I feel the last of my strength drain away.

The cramping in my stomach finally won. My legs buckled, and I crumpled to the floor.

In the early hours of the morning, my phone rang.

I sighed and answered without looking at the screen.

"Stop calling. We're done—"

Leonard's voice came through, thick with tears.

"Ulysses, I think my girlfriend's cheating on me. What do I do?"

"She went out all of a sudden tonight and she's still not back..."

"What else could she be doing besides keeping some boy toy on the side? She used to tell me everywhere she went!"

I didn't respond.

Or rather, I had no idea how to.

What was I supposed to say? That the woman who doted on him so attentively was actually my girlfriend?

His sobbing bled through the speaker. I said nothing and pressed the end-call button.

I didn't sleep at all that night. The next morning, I dragged myself to work with dark circles under both eyes.

I came home exhausted, only to find Leonard standing outside my apartment complex.

The second he spotted me, he rushed over. "Ulysses, can I crash at your place?"

I didn't dare let anything show. I played dumb. "Doesn't your girlfriend have money? Did you two have a fight?"

Leonard's eyes went red instantly.

"She cheated on me! I'm not spending a single cent of hers!"

"I'm still in college. You're the only person I'm close to. None of my classmates get along with me. I've got nowhere else to go..."

I couldn't bring myself to say no. So I brought him home.

Inside the cramped studio apartment, the silence was suffocating.

Leonard sniffled.

"Honestly, I don't really think she cheated. I just... I don't feel secure, you know? I figured if I threw a little tantrum, she'd care about me more."

"I mean, the gap between us is huge. I have to do something to keep her attention."

"Rowena doesn't know you, so there's no way she'd think to look for me here."

There was a smugness in his voice. I listened and couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Leonard didn't notice my silence. He was already wandering around the apartment, poking through my things.

"Ulysses, you and your girlfriend aren't that close, huh?"

I froze. Leonard was pointing at a box of ultra-thin condoms in my drawer, a sly grin plastered across his face.

"If things were good between you two, why's the packaging still sealed?"

Pride crept across his features.

"My girlfriend is insatiable. Always all over me... We never run out of condoms at our place."

"Oh, funny coincidence. My girlfriend likes lemon-flavored ones too!"

My mind went blank. A low ringing filled my ears.

The truth was, life had ground me down so hard that Rowena and I hadn't been intimate all that often.

Two months ago, she'd come home and a box of condoms had fallen out of her coat pocket.

Lemon-flavored. I'd assumed she bought them for us. I'd even felt a little shy about it.

They were for Leonard?

The humiliation hit me like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

Leonard was still rambling, oblivious:

"I get the feeling your girlfriend doesn't really love you that much. I mean, why else would she let you live in a rental?"

"My girlfriend always says money is where the love is. That's why she gives me nothing but the best."

His tone was so guileless, so innocent. To me, every word was a knife twisting deeper.

I laughed bitterly. It wasn't that Rowena didn't understand the importance of money.

She just didn't think I was worth spending it on.

I'd never once experienced the kind of devotion she showed him. Every sentence he spoke was another cut, slow and precise, flaying me alive.

I practically fled to the bathroom.

But when I came back to the living room, Leonard was holding my phone, staring at the screen with a blank expression.

My pupils contracted.

I'd left in such a rush that I'd forgotten to lock it.

Leonard's voice came out soft, almost fragile:

"What a coincidence. Your girlfriend's name is Rowena Ashworth too?"

My hands and feet went ice-cold. Before I could say a word, there was a noise at the front door.

"Ulysses, I picked up that cake you love..."

Rowena pushed the door open and locked eyes with Leonard, who was sitting on the couch.

"You're a goddamn bastard!"

Leonard burst into tears and ran out.

Rowena panicked instantly.

She whipped around and glared at me, her face twisted with a fury I had never seen before:

"I told you I never wanted to break up with you! Why would you hurt Leonard like this?"

"You think this little stunt will drive him away? Not a chance! The more jealous you act, the harder I'll protect him!"

She shoved my hand away when I tried to explain and rushed after Leonard.

The motion was too forceful. She knocked the piggy bank off the shelf.

Ceramic shards exploded across the floor, and with them, a shower of loose change.

I ignored the cut on my ankle and stared at the coins scattered on the ground.

Those first few years after I started working, the hours were brutal and the pay was pitiful. Rowena had bought that piggy bank specifically for me, told me to toss in whatever spare change I had.

She'd joked that we'd save up enough for a penthouse someday.

She forgot about it eventually. I never did. I kept dropping coins in, one by one. Sometimes I'd even go to the farmers' market and ask vendors to break bills into change.

As if filling that jar meant Rowena and I would finally have a home of our own.

I crouched down and counted the coins slowly.

Most of them were dimes and nickels. Barely any quarters.

It wasn't much.

But it was enough to buy a plane ticket out of here.

I didn't know what Rowena said to Leonard.

That night, a post went viral, trending on every platform.