He Gave Her My Engagement Gift, I Left Him

After the ninth time I tried to settle the wedding finances with my boyfriend, his childhood sweetheart showed up again to borrow money. The amount was exactly eighty-eight thousand. She had borrowed it nine times, and our wedding had been postponed nine times. This time, I did not give in. I looked straight at him and said, "Are you going to marry me or not?" Victor Vale fell silent for a long moment, then went to get the money back. So, I forgave him again. Until the night before the wedding, when his childhood sweetheart posted an update. Chloe: I love my eighty-eight-thousand diamond ring. My childhood sweetheart spoils me the most. I froze, then took out the cash Victor had brought back and checked it carefully. The next second, the counterfeit bills slipped from my hand and scattered across the floor. That was when I knew our relationship had truly come to an end. Shame surged through me. Without hesitation, I sent Victor a message. Natalie: We're breaking up. The wedding is off. His call came immediately. The moment I answered, Natalie Rhodes's voice burst through the line. "Natalie, are you obsessed with money? Have some shame. You're refusing to marry unless everything is paid up? You're nothing but a gold digger." Laughter followed in the background. "Chloe's the good one. Victor should just marry her." "Exactly. Chloe isn't shallow. She wouldn't say a word even if there was no money." They were Victor and Chloe's childhood friends. Their mockery was nothing new. Chloe was even worse. She told my relatives that my mother was selling her daughter. Online, she twisted the story and branded me a gold digger chasing money for marriage. Strangers doxxed me and harassed me for half a year. Many nights, I broke down in tears. Yet every time, Victor and his friends took Chloe's side. They said she was young and straightforward, that I should not take it personally. I had endured it again and again, and I was the only one who ended up hurt. This time, I did not get angry. I simply said, "Then congratulations." The line fell silent. I hung up and began packing. What I did not expect was that less than half an hour later, Victor, who usually came home past midnight, walked in. He was holding a bouquet of carnations, smiling as if nothing had happened. "Natalie, these are for you." I stared at the flowers, my eyes burning red. I hated carnations. They were my father's mistress's favorite. When I was in elementary school, she used to bring them to provoke my mother, driving her into fits of self-harm. I had told Victor this more times than I could count, yet he still bought them. Because he needed to please two women at once, and carnations were Chloe's favorite. The thorns pierced my palm as I gripped the stems, and blood began to seep out. I let out a soft laugh. Victor relaxed and lifted his glass for a drink. "We should break up." The glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. "You're breaking up with me over eighty-eight thousand?" Disbelief filled his voice. In the past, I would have questioned him. I would have argued. Why had Chloe asked for money nine times in a single year? Why was it always eighty-eight thousand? Why had he said nothing when they called me a gold digger? But now, I had nothing left to say. My cat padded over and tried to rub against me. Afraid it might step on the broken glass, I bent down to pick it up. Victor strode over in anger and grabbed my hand. I jerked away on instinct, lost my balance, and my palm came down hard on the shattered glass.