Chapter 5
A few days later, I found out all the money in our shared account was gone.
Every cent.
The banking app showed the remaining balance like a joke: $5.20.
There had been twenty thousand dollars in that account.
Eighteen thousand of it was mine.
Mine from tutoring. From delivering food in the summer heat. From winter break side jobs. From climbing apartment stairs with aching legs and a backpack digging into my shoulders.
Nate had once told me we’d use it after graduation, that it would be the start of our future together.
He was my dream guy. The one I’d chased and waited for and spoiled. He spent money carelessly and never saved, but I’d always forgiven it because I loved him.
So I went to ask him.
“What did you use the money for? That was everything I saved.”
He raised an eyebrow, looking irritated before I’d even finished speaking. “Wow. You say you love me, but I spend a little money and suddenly you’re interrogating me?”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” I said quickly, my voice turning soft on instinct. “I just want to know why.”
“Olivia’s birthday is coming up. We got invited to her party. I bought her a gift.”
My chest went tight.
“A gift? Nate, we’re still students. Does it really need to be that expensive?”
He actually laughed.
“Do you even know who Olivia is? At her birthday parties, people give gifts worth ten grand like it’s nothing. You want me to embarrass myself?”
Then, seeing my face, he wrapped an arm around me and switched to that coaxing tone he used whenever he wanted me to give in.
“Baby, if I look bad, you look bad too. We’re together, aren’t we? The gift is from both of us.”
I still hesitated.
His face cooled instantly.
And that did it.
I was always afraid of his silent anger. Afraid of him going cold and punishing me with distance for days.
So I nodded.
I even tried to comfort myself.
Olivia had been kind to me. Buying her something nice wasn’t wrong.
Still, all I could think about was myself drenched in sweat, climbing six flights of stairs to deliver takeout, my back aching, my hands raw.
For the first time, I think I started to dislike Nate.
Before Olivia’s birthday party, she sent me a dress.
A champagne-colored mermaid gown with soft pink roses at the chest.
I stared at it for a long time before trying it on.
And somehow… it looked beautiful.
I’d always been a little soft around the edges, but I had very fair skin, and the dress seemed to highlight every good thing and soften everything else. For once, I looked in the mirror and didn’t immediately want to look away.
I turned in a circle, almost shyly, unable to stop admiring myself.
For a moment, I felt like a princess.
Then Nate, sprawled on the couch, glanced up and said, “Don’t get too excited. You’re just there to make Olivia look better.”
My happiness vanished so fast it almost made me dizzy.
Then he suddenly sat up straight, staring at me.
“Wait,” he said slowly. “She sent you the dress. You can’t outshine her anyway, so why would she bother comparing herself to you?”
I blinked. “What?”
He stared at me a second longer, then smiled to himself. “Nothing.”
But I didn’t care enough to press.
By then, I was already getting tired of him.