He Made Me Give Up My Dog, I Left Him

Chapter 2

"What are you doing here?"

Milo's brows snapped together.

He instinctively stepped forward, shielding Audrey behind him.

"This is my home. Why wouldn't I be here?" My voice remained calm.

Audrey peeked out from behind him, her arms wrapped around the massive Maine Coon.

"Ms. Morgan, don't get the wrong idea! Mr. Zachery just gave me a ride home and dropped the cat off here. I'm having him stay here for a few days."

Boarding the cat in the home where we were supposed to start our married life?

I fixed my gaze on Milo.

"Weren't you supposed to be out of town on a business trip?"

His eyes flickered away for a split second, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Plans changed. Something came up with the venue, so I came back early."

As he spoke, he shrugged off his coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door.

"Did you send Copper away?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's gone."

"Good." He let out a relieved breath and reached toward the cat in Audrey's arms.

"Milo, aren't you allergic to animal fur?" I stared at his outstretched hand.

His hand froze in midair.

"Audrey's cat is different. She gives him regular baths, so he's perfectly clean."

He pulled his hand back and gave his tie an irritated tug.

"Besides, I took an allergy pill beforehand. I'll be fine."

I stared at him, so bewildered by the absurdity of it that I could barely process what I was hearing.

"You took an allergy pill just so you could have this cat here? Copper lived with us for 6 years. I brushed him every single day, and you wouldn't even touch him once."

Milo's face darkened instantly.

"Nora, are you really going to start throwing a fit again? Copper's a dog. Dogs carry way more germs. Cats are different. They're clean animals."

He walked over to the couch and glanced at the empty coffee table.

"Where's Audrey's bubble tea? And her slippers?"

"I threw them out."

Milo whipped around, his eyes blazing.

"Are you out of your mind? Audrey's just a guest. Do you have to be so petty and unreasonable?"

"Oh, a guest needs her fingerprint added to our front door lock?" I shot back.

Milo froze, clearly caught off guard.

"I did that so she could stop by to pick up company documents whenever she needed to."

"And picking up documents required changing the lock code we set for our anniversary?"

Milo had no answer. My questions left him completely speechless.

He drew a slow, deep breath, forcing down his anger.

"Nora, we're about to get married. Can't you stop being so petty and try to be reasonable? Audrey just moved to this city. She's all alone, and things have been hard for her. What's wrong with me, as her boss, looking out for her? If you're going to keep comparing a damn dog to my coworker, I don't know what else to say to you."

He always did this.

He shifted every bit of the blame onto me, making himself out to be the reasonable, righteous one.

I looked at him, and a wave of bone-deep exhaustion washed over me.

"Milo, let's break up."

The entire room fell silent.

Audrey sucked in a sharp breath and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Milo stared at me for a full 10 seconds.

Then he let out a sharp, mocking scoff.

"Nora, have you had enough of your little tantrum? You're seriously throwing around the word 'breakup' just because you sent the dog away? Do you think marriage is some kind of game?"

He stepped toward me, looking down at me.

"I already told you I'm allergic to dog hair. If you really loved me, you wouldn't keep harping on this stupid issue. I'm going to pretend this never happened. You need to calm down."

With that, he turned to Audrey.

"Audrey, go rest in the guest room for now. Take the cat with you."

Audrey shot me a timid glance.

"Mr. Zachery, that doesn't seem right... Ms. Morgan will be upset."

"I call the shots here." Milo's voice was cold and final, leaving no room for argument.

He grabbed Audrey by the arm and marched straight into the guest room.

The door clicked shut right in front of me.

I stood in the living room, listening to soft meows and low, murmured voices drifting through the closed bedroom door.

This was the man I'd loved for 6 whole years.

He was so sure I'd never leave him.

So convinced I was just throwing another petty tantrum.

I didn't bang on the door. I didn't scream or make a scene.

I simply turned on my heel, walked into the master bedroom, pulled out my rolling suitcase, and packed the documents I'd already gathered along with a few clothes.