Chapter 4

【You deserve the best.】

Arthur replied right away. "Mm-hm! I want to be with you forever, Ms. Delgado."

Only then did I notice that the couple's profile picture she and I had used for five years had been changed at some point, replaced with a matching set of pink rabbit avatars belonging to her and Arthur.

Back when our long-distance relationship had just begun, Sophia had found a pair of couple photos and insisted we use them together.

She'd said, "This way it's like we're together."

And now, I was the only one still using the other half of our broken matching set.

My tears fell onto the phone, but the words on the screen stayed sharp and impossible to ignore.

Seeing this, my friend sighed. "I'm not blaming you. I just think you deserve better."

"Since you've decided to break up, and there's not much room for growth in your current job anyway. Why not come work at our company? The pay's a lot better than what you've got now."

"I'd love to. Thanks, buddy" I nodded hard, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill again.

Since our relationship was already over, it was time for me to leave.

The next day, once I'd finished packing, I went to Sophia's house.

Her father was in poor health, and over the years I'd gone by every few days to look after her, so that Sophia could focus on work without worrying about anything at home.

And now it was time for me to say goodbye to her too.

The moment I pushed open the door, I saw two people I never expected—Sophia and Arthur.

She was supposed to be back in New York, yet somehow here she was.

When she saw me come in, Sophia shot me an impatient look and sneered.

"Didn't you say you wanted to break up? What's with this act? Trying to win me back while pretending you don't have to worry about anything at home?"

Arthur chimed in beside her, his voice gentle and sweet.

"Terry, if you can't let Ms. Delgado go, you can just say so. No need to be so sneaky about it."

John, Sophia's father, stood nearby and cut in, his voice filled with displeasure.

"Sophia, that's enough out of you. And Arthur—you've got no right to speak here."

I ignored Sophia and Arthur and turned to explain myself to John.

"Sir, I came this time to say goodbye. I've changed jobs, and from now on…"

Before I could finish, Sophia broke in.

"Changed jobs? I never took you for someone with any ambition. Now you're suddenly pretending to care about your career?"

John sighed. "Never mind. I've heard about what happened between you and Sophia."

"Mom! What's that supposed to mean!" Sophia's voice sharpened with anger.

"What do I mean? In these five years, how many times did you come home to see me? If Terry hadn't looked after me all the time, you might never have seen your father again!" John shouted back, giving no ground.

"And as if that weren't enough, you've gotten involved with an intern. How could you do that to anyone?"

Sophia gave a cold laugh, then said, "You think he actually wanted to do all that? All it took was a few little favors for him to win you over. He just knows he'll never find anyone better after leaving me!"

Arthur spoke up beside her too. "Sir, there's a lot you don't know. Ms. Delgado is genuinely very busy, but Terry throws a fit over the smallest things all day long, just to feel important. Even we, as her employees, couldn't stand watching it."

John cut in, his voice sharp with anger. "How can you stand there and say things like that?"

Sophia continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What part of it is wrong? Even Terry himself admitted that he had no real skills. I'd been sick of that way of life for a long time."

I froze. I'd said those words once, at a dinner with her friends. I wanted to make her look good in front of them. I never imagined she would twist it like this.

"I'm out there grinding in New York while he sits at home with some cushy little job, doing nothing at all. Isn't that just him trying to live off me?"

"You want to know why I like Arthur? He may only be an intern, but he's driven, he works hard, he's right there beside me solving every problem the company runs into. He's the one who deserves to be by my side."

"And Terry? What can he do? Besides staying home and enjoying everything I have without a care, what else does he know how to do? And he uses a breakup to force me to give in, as if I actually care?"

"What have I ever done wrong to him? Just being willing to call him my boyfriend was already more than enough. Am I supposed to be grateful and beg him not to leave? Do I need him?"

She spoke quickly and coldly, as though she'd been holding all of it down for a very long time.

John burst out. "You bastard!"

I drew a slow breath. "There's no need for any of this. We've already broken up. There's nothing left to argue about, no right or wrong to settle."

Sophia hadn't expected me to be so calm. She went on. "Fine, Don't ever come looking for me again!"

I won’t. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll never cross paths again.

Just then the doorbell rang.