After two years of dating Darryl Griffin, I found a ring in his coat pocket. The very next day, he gave me two hundred dollar and told me to stay at a hotel for the night. Emphasizing that I shouldn't go home without letting him know. Excited by the thought of him preparing a surprise proposal party, I went to my parents’ house instead of the hotel and told them everything. But even late into the evening, I hadn't received any messages from him. Suspicious, I decided to return home quietly.  

When I opened the door, I saw Darryl slipping the ring onto the finger of a woman I didn’t recognize.  

The small crowd gathered around them clapped and murmured to each other.  

“I told you Darryl would choose Courtney. Sure, June’s younger and prettier, but her parents just sell buns for a living. They work their fingers to the bone and still barely make enough.”  

“And what does she do? Some sort of dream designer? Sounds fancy, but it’s really just a dead-end job. She barely lands two gigs a month and still relies on Darryl to support her.”

“Dating someone like June is fine, but Courtney’s marriage material. She earns over ten grand a month on her own and her dad’s a company manager. Marrying Courtney guarantees Darryl’s promotion down the line.”

Hearing this, I finally understood the kind of man I’d been with—a shallow opportunist who looked down on the less fortunate. What he didn’t know, though, was that if my family liquidated all our assets, this room wouldn’t be able to hold the cash.  

——

The room buzzed with chatter, but everyone’s attention was fixed on the couple kissing passionately by the floor-to-ceiling window. No one noticed me walk in.  

The decorations were in my favorite shades of blue and purple, but here I was, an uninvited outsider.  

Watching Darryl and Courtney locked in their heated embrace, I was seething. I stormed back to the entryway, grabbed a sneaker and hurled it at Darryl before flipping on the lights. The living room flooded with brightness.  

As if karma was on my side, the shoe struck both of them squarely in the face.  

“Hey, who do did that?”

“Ow! What was that?”

Darryl and Courtney both shouted, clutching their faces in shock.  

The crowd immediately parted, pointing at me with amused expressions as if enjoying a show.  

“June, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t I give you money to stay at a hotel tonight? Why did you come back?”

Darryl stormed toward me, yelling like a madman.

My gaze landed on the faint hickey on his neck and a sharp pain gripped my chest.  

“This is my home. Why shouldn’t I come back? Unless I’ve got it wrong, you’re still my boyfriend. Care to explain why you’re proposing to someone else here? Don’t tell me you’re just playing a game.”  

Darryl hesitated before responding.  

“June, I owe you an explanation. But this… this is the matter of the heart. I love her—it isn’t something I can control. I fell in love with Courtney at first sight and I have to marry her. I planned to tell you, but I hadn’t the time. But since you’re here, I want to make it clear. June Aldridge, let’s break up.”

“All right, let’s break up. But I just want to know—how did your taste get so bad? She’s not as tall as me, not as fair-skinned, not as pretty and definitely looks older. So tell me, what exactly made you choose her? What does she have that I don’t?”

I’d always believed in leaving people who didn’t love me anymore. There’s no point in giving them the chance to hurt you again. But after two years together, I couldn’t help but wonder what I lacked. If this relationship was going to end, I wanted to know why.  

“June, I’m the one who wronged you. And Courtney is my fiancée now so, you better show her some respect,” Darryl snapped, suddenly leaping to her defense.  

“Respect?” I scoffed coldly. “You’re proposing to her while we’re still together and then breaking up with me after the fact. That makes you a jerk. And her? She’s a homewrecker for getting involved with someone who’s already in a relationship. Anyone who does that doesn’t deserve respect.”

Courtney, clearly annoyed, stormed over to Darryl’s side and launched into a tirade.

“June, watch your mouth! Don’t you know that in a relationship, the one who’s not loved is the wrecker? Darryl has stopping from loving you for a long time ago. That makes you the homewrecker here! If he wasn’t so kind and worried about you not being able to handle the truth, he would’ve dumped you ages ago. You should be thankful he let you hang on for a few extra days as his girlfriend!”

She crossed her arms and sneered. “And you’ve got the nerve to ask why he didn’t choose you? Seriously, June, know your place! Marriage isn’t just about love, family background counts. Your parents are just some broke bakers selling buns on the street. They probably scrape by just to make ends meet. And you? Your income’s a joke. It’s not stable and you don’t even have a real job! Darryl deserves someone like me—my dad’s a corporate manager, my mom’s a teacher and I make over ten grand a month. Isn’t it obvious who he’d choose?”

Hearing this, my heart sank. I thought about my dad, who owned nine high-end restaurants and brought in millions annually, yet still enjoyed tinkering with new recipes for pastries and bread.

I looked at Darryl, needing to hear it from him directly. “Is that true? You looked down on me because of my family?”

Darryl hesitated but then nodded. “Courtney’s not wrong. Your parents sell buns—they’re probably just barely making enough to survive. And you? Instead of finding a stable career, you insist on being some…dream painter. What does even that? If you got order, you might make a few thousand bucks and if the next month, you got no clients, then you got nothing. Even if I’m working my ass off, I still could keep up afloat! I can’t keep living like that.”

Courtney clung to Darryl’s arm, her voice turning sickly sweet. “Baby, today’s a big day for us. Don’t waste your time arguing with her. Just get her out of here, all right?”

Her friends chimed in as if they’d rehearsed this scene.

“Come on, June, don’t force it. No one likes a bitter ex.”

“Exactly. This is their engagement party. If it were me, I’d have left already. Why stick around and make a fool of yourself?”

Darryl added, “You hear that? We’re about to start our celebration. Just leave, June. You can get your things some other times.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but a faint scent of durian hit my nose. My eyes darted upward to see Courtney walking over with a box. She pulled out a piece of the fruit, took a bite and then held it up to Darryl’s mouth. Without hesitation, he took a bite, showing no sign of disgust.

The scene stopped me cold.

Durian had always been one of my favorite fruits, but in the two years we’d been together, I’d barely touched it because Darryl claimed he couldn’t stand the smell. He said just a whiff made him sick. I’d once brought a durian home without knowing this and before I even had the chance to open it, he’d demanded I throw it out. If I insisted on eating it, I’d have to do so elsewhere, brush my teeth and wait for the smell to completely disappear before coming back.

But now, Courtney was eating it in our living room and he didn’t just tolerate it—he joined her.

Courtney noticed me staring at the durian. Smirking, she waved it in front of my face. “What? You want some? You see, Darryl bought this just for me because he knows I love it and I am not sharing with you.”

Then, she stuffed the rest into her mouth, chewing dramatically like she was putting on a show.

I wasn’t angry at her. The realization that Darryl had never loved me was what cut deep. For two years, he’d never made exceptions for me—never prioritized me the way he clearly did for her.

“Everything’s been said, so just leave already!” Darryl snapped, grabbing my arm and trying to push me toward the door.

When Darryl’s hand grabbed my arm to shove me out, I instinctively pulled away. “This is my house! If anyone should leave, it’s you two.”

Darryl crossed his arms and laughed, as if I’d just told him a joke. “Your house? Don’t make me laugh, June. This place is rented. Your classmate’s cousin is the landlord. What does it have to do with you?”

I lifted my chin defiantly and shouted back, “I only set that up to avoid hurting your ego! I wanted you to live comfortably, not crammed in a single room like before. I bought this place myself and had my friend act like the landlord so you wouldn’t feel ashamed. Do you really think you’d find a place like this for just a thousand bucks a month?”

“I don’t have time for this!” Darryl snapped, his voice loud enough to rattle the walls. “If this place is really yours, then show me the deed. Prove it then I’ll leave. But if you can’t, then stop wasting my time.”

His words stung, hitting me square in my weak spot. I clenched my fists and replied through gritted teeth, “The deed is at my parents’ house.”

He scoffed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “How convenient. Well then, why don’t you go and get it? I’m done with all your nonsenses.”

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the door. His strength left me no room to resist and before I knew it, the door slammed shut behind me.

Rubbing the sore red marks on my arm, I let out a shaky breath and turned to leave.

It was late by the time I arrived at my parents’ house. The warm glow of the living room lights spilled onto the porch, where I could hear the faint hum of the TV. When I stepped inside, my mom looked up, surprised to see me.

“Honey,” she said cautiously, “didn’t you say your boyfriend was going to propose today? Why do you come alone?”

Hearing her words, my chest tightened and my eyes stung with unshed tears. When Darryl told me to go to the hotel, I didn't go. Instead, I went to my parents' house. With great joy and excitement I told them that Darryl was probably preparing a proposal party for me. I’d even promised to bring him by to meet them afterward.

But now, the memory of him kneeling with a ring for Courtney played on repeat in my mind and the tears I’d been holding back came rushing out. I collapsed onto the couch and buried my face in my mom’s shoulder.

“He proposed...but not to me,” I choked out. “We break up, Mom. I don’t want him anymore.”

I could feel her body stiffened. 

“What? How could that happen? You two always seemed fine. Oh, my poor baby,” she said softly, rubbing my back in soothing circles. “It’s okay. He’s just one man. If he doesn’t see your worth, he doesn’t deserve you. You’ll find someone better, I promise.”

Meanwhile, my dad shot up from his chair, his face flushed with anger. “Where is that little punk? Take me to him right now. I’ll make sure he never messes with you again.”

I shook my head, forcing a weak smile, “I don’t want that. What I really need now is some delicious food. Do we have them?”

Eating had always been my comfort, my way of patching up the cracks when things got too hard to bear.

My dad softened at my request, muttering under his breath before saying, “We’ve got some of your favorite crab meat buns in the fridge. I’ll heat them up for you.”

Hearing that made me tear up all over again.

Funny enough, those buns were part of what drove a wedge between Darryl and me in the first place.

We’d met during our junior year of college. He was hosting a campus event and his looks immediately caught my attention. Being the shameless romantic that I was, I chased after him for three months before he finally agreed to date me.

My parents didn’t oppose the relationship, but they had one condition: I couldn’t tell him about our family’s wealth until things were serious.

At the time, I was annoyed by their request. It felt elitist, especially since they owned a chain of high-end restaurants where the cheapest dish cost more than most people’s weekly groceries.

Darryl, on the other hand, came from humble beginnings. He was a small-town boy who paid his tuition through part-time jobs. To me, that only made him more admirable. 

I was very confident that he loved me, rich or poor.