It was a party thrown in his honour. He finally hit the jackpot, he signed the contract.

I've been waiting for him to get me for months.

Leo didn't invite me personally, but I thought to show up. I believed he wanted to surprise me. So, I decided to beat him to it.

At the reception, a security man stopped me to confirm my invitation.

This was expected for an event of such standard.

“Your name and invite, please.”

“I'm Mr. Leo's girlfriend,” I replied.

Our relationship had been a secret for the past six years. However, he promised me that he would tell our relationship to everyone on the party to announce this project, or so I thought. Telling the security a few minutes or hours before the time wouldn't ruin anything, would it?

The man laughed. He looked at me like I was insane.

“Girlfriend, come off it. Who are you?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, puzzled.

“Mr. Leo is already inside with his real girlfriend.”

As he said that, he moved aside for me to see the stage. There, under the warm, cozy lights, my Leo was locking lips with another woman in a long, passionate kiss.

He was looking at her and holding her like she was his world. He had never looked at me like that.

I gasped, lost my balance and fell like a pack of cards. I accidentally knocked over the table where the ten-layer cake was placed.

The cake came crashing down to the floor. In no time, the once magnificent cake was a pile of dirt on the floor. Everyone turned to the back in my direction.

Leo's face changed the instant he sighted me.

“Miss Mia, what is wrong with you? You've ruined the cake I set up for my lady.”

After lashing out at me, he turned to the woman, caressed her arms, and promised to get her another cake.

I dashed to the bathroom and dialed my father's number.

“Dad, I've changed my mind. I'll agree to the arranged marriage.”

There was a brief pause on the other end.

“I knew you'd come around and stop being silly. I've been waiting for you to make the right choice. I'll start making the arrangements right away. When can you come home?”

“As soon as possible. I'll leave the company and come home.”

"Leave which company?” Leo's voice interrupted.

“Don’t be such a baby. About earlier, everyone was there, so I had to act cold. They can’t find out about us. I'll make it up to you at home.”

Was that all he could say? How about the girl he was kissing? The tears hung in my eyes, and they stung.

"Come on, love...”

Just then, the door opened, and an elegantly dressed woman entered. In a split second, Leo's expression changed.

“I will not press charges for the damage because you're my employee. Behave yourself next time, Miss Mia.”

"Thank you, sir,” I responded, lowering my gaze to the floor. And he went out without sparing me another glance.

The woman glanced at me and smiled.

“You've got a generous boss. That cake cost a fortune, and he let you go just like that.”

I didn't say anything to her; I just turned and left for home.

I remembered how I found out about the party.

My boyfriend and I were watching a movie on his laptop when he left to receive a phone call. He muttered the word 'work' before leaving. As soon as he left, an email popped up.

'Dear Mr. Leo, we are happy to announce the successful signing of the contract. A party has been fixed in the honor, congratulations.'

I was so happy to see the email. He had been working hard on this project. I tried to be supportive all along, and I was happy now that it paid off.

I waited for him to inform me about the party, but he never did. I figured he wanted to surprise me, so I didn't ask.

On the D-day, I decided to go there and see for myself. After all, I was an employee, and the employees of the company were invited.

That was my greatest mistake. How foolish of me to think that he would show me off to the world after six years. He only thought of me as his employee, nothing more.

He didn't come home that night. When I checked the news coverage of the party, he was all over her, looking at her lovingly in a way that he had never looked at me. He was introducing her to his friends and business partners.

I had waited for this for six years. On the night I was supposed to get it, he gave it to another woman without thinking twice.

In the past six years, each time I asked where we could go public, he brushed it off curtly. Until he promised me that it would be this night; the night of the party for signing the contract. That was why I put my soul into helping him get the contract. But now…

Three days went by, no calls, no texts. Then I got a text from him.

'She has helped me a lot with this project. I'll break up with her as soon as I finalize things. I'm with her for the sake of this contract. You know the value of this contract. It's worth millions of dollars. I can't blow it up for a mere relationship.’

Tears filled my eyes. She wasn't the one helping him; I knew it.

I didn't know what hurt me more. If it was the fact that he didn't show remorse for seeing another woman, or that he referred to what we had as a mere relationship.

I pressed the call button and phoned him before I could stop myself.

“Why are you calling right now? Do you have to be clingy? Didn't you get my message?” His cold voice came.

“Babe, can you help me dry my hair?” I heard Lizzy's voice over the phone.

“Sure, I’ll love to, my love.” He answered before the call ended abruptly. He had answered her sweetly, a contrast from the sharp and cold tone he used for me.

He was with Lizzy at a hotel. He didn’t care about how I felt. He wasn’t bothered. No, I didn’t matter, not enough to make him feel guilty.

That was when reality hit me. He never loved me. He was in a hotel with another woman, flaunting her and not me, whom he had dated for six years.

My phone beeped, and I checked the notification. Leo had updated his profile photo on social media. It was a picture of him and Lizzy, looking like a perfect couple.

I stared at it, and the tears continued to stream down my face. The comment section was filled with a lot of people cheering them on. No one was talking about me. Of course not. I was a secret that the world didn't need to know. Six years of my life wasted.

I looked around the house again. Nothing to show us as a couple was there. No pictures, nothing. Leo had been too keen on the secrecy that we didn’t even take pictures together. Not on our phones, not for one day.

Leo had never used the matching stuffs I bought for us. One time, he had given them out to the less privileged. When I tried to make a fuss, he asked me not to be insensitive.

“We can't be seen as a couple out there. When we go public, we would get matching items and use them.” I had agreed like a fool and waited for a day that was never going to come.

On his profile picture, he was wearing matching outfits with another woman that wasn't me. I had been so blinded in love to see through his actions.

It wasn’t about having a private relationship. Leo had never loved me. He had never seen me as his girlfriend. If he did, he wouldn’t treat me this way. Today was the day the world was supposed to know we were together for goodness sake!

With the tears still rolling down my face, I got up and began to pack my things. I went to trash out some of the things I wouldn't need. I noticed something shiny in the trashcan. It was oddly familiar. I took it out and saw that it was a bangle I had given him when we first met. A symbol of our love. He had discarded it just like he did our six years together.

For the nth time that day, my heart shattered. I fell to the floor and cried myself to sleep. I woke up to see him standing before me.

“I saw your packed suitcase. Don’t tell me you want to leave over something trivial.”

I looked at him, not sure of what to say. I swallowed a thousand questions that tugged at my throat.

He stretched out his hands and helped me up. I saw that there's been a replacement for my bangle.

“Y…your… bangle,” I stuttered.

“Oh, Lizzy got it. She changed the other one,” he answered casually, as if it meant nothing.

"Get dressed, I'll take you out for dinner.”

“Okay,” was all I could say.

“I got you a dress.”

I forced a smile and took the gift box from him. No amount of gifts would erase what he had done to me. I had already made up my mind to leave the relationship. I'll tell him tonight.

I took out the cloth from the gift box. It was a beautiful black dress.

But… this was the gown Lizzy had worn for dinner on the day of the party.