He Humiliated Me with Gifts, I Cut Him Off

Adrian Carter was determined to break Evelyn Hart of her jealous habit. Every single time she got jealous, he’d buy his female assistant a brand-new gift. First there were sparkling jewels, then fancy luxury cars, and finally whole villas. At first, she’d fly into hysterics over every gift. Now? She was just completely numb. Finally, the moment came for Adrian's 99th gift to Sophia. He stared at Evelyn, who stood there shaking like a leaf, her face drained of every last bit of color, and his voice dripped with cold disdain. "Evelyn, I hate it when women get so jealous and catty over me. If you can never learn to be more generous, then I’ll just keep spoiling her, that’s on you." But this time, Evelyn didn’t snap at him like she always did, and she didn’t demand money from him to soothe her hurt either. Later that same day, she stopped by his company to pick up some of her things. What she walked in on was Adrian throwing Sophia a private birthday celebration right there in his office. His entire office was crammed full of gifts he’d bought for Sophia. There were so many they couldn’t fit, nowhere left to stack them inside. Just outside the doorway, a few movers were hauling in more crates while gossiping under their breath. "Easy, easy! These are all this season’s brand-new designer pieces Mr. Carter got for Secretary Sophia! If we scratch any of these, we can never pay for them!" "How many times is this month already? Mr. Carter blows millions on her every single time..." It felt like someone had sliced a raw, gaping wound straight through her heart. Every single time she'd asked him for money to cover her grandma's ongoing medical bills, he'd complained and haggled with her nonstop. But when it came to dropping insane amounts of cash on these crazy expensive luxuries for Sophia, he didn't even blink. She was just about to slip away quietly when Adrian frowned and called her name, stopping her in her tracks. "You really stalk me all the way to my office now? It's Sophia's birthday today, and you show up looking like this? Are you seriously just here to ruin everyone's day?" It had been days since they'd seen each other, and his gaze raked slowly over her from head to toe, judgment clear in every line of his face. She was wearing all black, and her shoes were still caked in the thick mud you only get from hiking mountain trails. But Sophia was decked out in head-to-toe current-season Chanel haute couture, hung off Adrian's arm, and looked at Evelyn with pure, cutting mockery in her eyes. Evelyn just spoke in a flat, calm voice, "Adrian, I’m not jealous. I’m just here to grab something and leave." When Adrian stared at her deathly pale face, a flicker of unreadable panic darted through his eyes, but the next second, he let out a sharp, mocking snort. "Before, you always threw your jealousy right in my face. Got a new trick now, huh? Trying to play the cool-to-catch game to reel me in?" Evelyn didn’t even rise to his jab. She just reached past him for the paperweight on his desk, an heirloom left by her grandma. "I already said, I’m not jealous, and I’m not playing games. From now on, I won’t ask you for a single penny. How much you spend on her is none of my business anymore." Adrian’s breath caught in his throat, and hot, sharp anger bloomed in his chest right after. "How many times do I have to say it? Spending money on Sophia is for work! You always throw a fit over such stupid little things! Is this because I called you out on your lie to scam me for medical bills last time? Look at you, so mature and put-together now, aren't you?" Lying? Evelyn let out a cold, bitter laugh. The 'lie' he was talking about? It was back when her grandma was critically ill, and Evelyn desperately needed the money for life-saving surgery. Sophia Bennett had twisted his arm into cutting Evelyn’s monthly allowance all the way down to forty dollars. Her grandma’s surgery needed seventy thousand dollars. But every time Evelyn begged him for the money, he just wrote it off as her trying to start a fight with Sophia out of jealousy. "Evelyn, I told you a thousand times, Sophia's just like a little sister to me. And you promised you’d get over this jealousy. As for the money? You’ll get it when you learn to behave." That was what he’d said back when her grandma was fighting for her life in the ICU, when Evelyn held her phone on video call, bowing her head to the floor over and over, knocking her forehead against the ground, begging him for just seventy thousand dollars to save her grandma. Sophia, who'd picked up the video call, snickered with a snort. "Looks like Miss Hart has gotten so desperate to throw a jealous fit that she's started acting now. But Mr. Carter taking me to an auction any minute now, so we don't have time to play your little games." Evelyn pulled herself out of the memory, and Adrian's deep voice rumbled in her ears. "Fine, today's Sophia's birthday and our victory celebration. Just go home first. When I'm done here, I'll go with you to the hospital to see your grandma." See her grandma? Adrian had no idea. Her grandma had been dead for seven whole days already. She'd died on the very day Evelyn had begged him over and over to send the surgery money, while he was off gallivanting abroad with Sophia! That day, her grandma died alone in that freezing cold hospital room. Evelyn broke so completely she passed out from crying more than once. And all the while, a video of Adrian and Sophia releasing sky lanterns was trending all over the internet. Evelyn let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Don't bother, Adrian. You can keep that fake act of yours." The second those words left her mouth, Adrian's face drained of all color. Sophia didn't waste a second, jumping in to stir the pot even more. "What do we do, Adrian? Is she mad again because you bought me all these things?" Adrian snorted coldly. "Don't worry. Today's your birthday, I can spoil you as much as I want. That platinum Birkin bag you fell for last month? I'll buy it for you right now." Sophia immediately threw herself giddily into his arms. Evelyn couldn't stand another second of their gross, lovey-dovey display. She turned on her heel and walked out. She didn’t have enough money to buy a grave marker for her grandmother, so the only thing she could do was leave her grandmother’s urn and portrait at the funeral home for temporary safekeeping. When that was done, she clasped her hands together briefly in thanks to the attendant standing beside her. "Sir, could you watch over these for me for a month? I’ll earn enough by then to cover the plot and headstone, and I’ll bring my grandmother home for burial." In one month, she'd leave to work as an animal protection volunteer in the remote nation of Africa.