He Called Me Gold Digger I Left Him

Chapter 4

I couldn't calm down no matter how hard I tried.

Harris's tone sounded like he was throwing in the towel. "That's enough, okay? I can let this slide. Stop smashing stuff, you'll hurt yourself."

I didn't say a word.

I grabbed whatever was on the table and hurled it across the room at random, glass shattering with a loud crash.

Harris had no choice but to step back out the door. "When you've cooled off, I've got a surprise for you."

I slammed the door shut.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed limply onto the couch.

Harris had it all wrong. He was the one who'd messed up.

I'd never do anything to hurt myself. Worst case, I'd just clean up the mess while I cried, that's all.

I ripped out the security camera. I picked up every shard of broken glass off the floor and tossed them into the trash.

I dragged out the stack of crumpled old delivery boxes from the balcony.

I tore the photo of us kissing off the photo wall.

I threw away the matching couple rings we'd made together by hand.

Then went the rest of the junk: the free promotional thermos, keychains, plush merch we'd collected over the years.

There was a bottle of Hermes perfume sitting on the table.

He'd bought it for me during our sophomore year summer break, using the salary from his two-month internship.

Back then, I'd been stressing nonstop about making ends meet for the two of us, stressing myself sick because we could never scrape together enough for our apartment down payment fund.

But he'd just grinned and said it didn't matter if he blew all his cash anyway.

He said he was counting on me to take care of him.

Turns out the second my back was turned, he was throwing around tens of thousands like it was nothing at bars.

We were always from two different worlds at the end of the day.

Ten years of a relationship leaves a whole lot of traces scattered everywhere.

I cried so hard I passed out, then woke up mid-dream.

On and off, I kept sorting through everything until the early hours of the next morning. Half the rental apartment was empty by the time I was done.

I took a shower, then put on some makeup to cover the dark circles under my puffy eyes.

I had zero appetite, but I forced myself to choke down a couple bites of bread.

I headed to the hospital to visit my mom.

She was recovering well from her surgery, and the doctor said she could be discharged the next day.

I curled up in her arms for a little while, feeling the warmth of her palm brushing gently across my cheek.

My mind finally settled down a bit.

I told her I was going to work in New York City, then bought two plane tickets.

Harris had been blowing up my phone with messages nonstop. I didn't reply to a single one.

Until a strange number called.

I picked up, and it was Audrey's voice on the other end.

"Hey, I heard from Harris you're mad at him?"

I was just about to hang up when she kept talking, "Wanna know what surprise Harris's got planned for you?"

I snapped, "Not interested."

A sharp scoff came through the line, followed by a short pause. "Let's be real here, isn't the whole point of being a gold digger to climb the social ladder and land a big win? Harris's gonna propose to you the day after tomorrow. He's practically laying out a red carpet of olive branches for you. Just take the win while you can, yeah?"

I couldn't hold back the curse that slipped out. "You're insane."

She just gave a dismissive snicker. "Cut the holier-than-thou act. You don't want your perfect little catch to slip through your fingers, do you?"

I hung up hard.

Right then, I saw Audrey had just posted something new on her social media.

Found out your 10-year boyfriend is secretly super rich. Take the big win or refuse to forgive him?

She'd even set up a poll for her followers to vote on it.

She'd voted for "take the big win" herself.

And Harris had liked the post.

My blood ran cold for half a second. That's when I remembered the "surprise" Harris had mentioned before he left the day before.

I started scrolling back through our old chat logs.

At midnight yesterday, he'd said he would give me a proper explanation for everything.

I quoted that exact message and sent him a blunt question.

Juliana: What kind of explanation... are you gonna propose?

He took a few minutes to write back.

Harris: What if I am? Will you show up?

I typed back.

Juliana: Sure. I've got a surprise for you too.

That first part? Total lie.

I boarded the plane to New York City with my mom.

As for that surprise? I'd hired an on-demand delivery worker to drop it off for me.