After My Boyfriend Took My Salary

Chapter 3

In the past, whenever I got angry, I'd shut myself in the bedroom, wait until I'd cooled off, then find Colton myself and admit I was wrong.

But the old me was gone now.

I moved to step around him, but he pulled me into his arms, his voice going soft. "Okay, okay, you lost all the dishes. I won't blame you. Buy new stuff tomorrow, and I'll write you a list."

He produced half a blueberry cake, clearly someone's leftovers. "This is from Jules. She thinks of you whenever she has something nice, yet you lost her favorites. Don't you feel bad?" Colton's tone stayed gentle as he patted my head.

He seemed to think half a cake would actually move me.

I looked at him. "I'm allergic to blueberries."

He'd known that the whole time.

"I'm not asking you to finish it. Just accept the gesture, take one bite, and I'll snap a photo to show her."

Colton tried to feed it to me. In an instant, a hot knot of anger rose in my chest.

I shoved him back hard. "I told you I'm not eating it!" My voice cracked, and the half-cake dropped to the floor.

Colton's eyes hardened and went dark. "What else do you want? I've been trying to make it up to you."

I ignored him with a cold laugh. "Well, you don't have to try that anymore."

His eyes landed on the bedroom, where I'd packed three big suitcases, sheets and duvet covers crammed in on top.

We bought them all with my money, from the furniture down to the coffee mugs, so of course I was taking all of them. The apartment, too, was going on the market.

For a split second, Colton paled. Then he told himself I was only throwing a fit.

"Seriously? Over a bag of chips?"

"It's not just about it."

It was a long string of things, and every one of them had chipped away at what I'd felt for him.

Colton trailed after me, still demanding answers. "What has gotten into you?"

Without responding, I went to the living room for some water.

When I opened the fridge, I froze. Every bottle of my mineral water was gone, replaced by milk and creamy drinks I couldn't touch.

My stomach was sensitive, and I always stuck to plain bottled water, with maybe a little juice now and then.

Julie was the exact opposite.

I let out a cold laugh as I shut the fridge. This was my apartment, and yet somehow, every last thing in it revolved around Julie.

That went right down to the color of our bedsheets, all of them pink, the exact shade Julie loved.

I went back to the bedroom and called a moving company.

Colton still hadn't grasped how serious this was. He'd always assumed I could never really leave him. After all, the worst I'd ever done in a fit was storm out to the balcony.

Because of Colton, I'd stayed here ever since graduation, away from my family.

At first, I never quite settled in. But over time, I got used to it. Now, looking around, I was simply sick of this city.

The movers told me they'd come first thing in the morning.

That night, Colton didn't come in to talk me around.

Conveniently, I filled out my onboarding paperwork online before I let myself sleep.