Chapter 3

Rick James and I met at a business dinner over drinks.

I'd just started my career, and Rick was one of the company's clients.

All through the meal, my manager kept pushing me to raise a glass to him.

One swallow, and it went down the wrong way. My eyes went red on the spot.

Rick was cold as ever.

"There's no need to force the girl to drink."

"Keep this up, and there's nothing left for us to discuss."

His tone was ice, and yet to me it felt warmer than anything anyone had ever said.

Even later, when Rick stayed cold and his mother never stopped making my life hard,

I bore it in silence. I even took a strange comfort in it.

It was enough just to be beside him.

But when Sabina Fox appeared, I saw that he didn't have to be so cold after all.

I sat alone in the living room, watching the minutes crawl by.

Until the morning light came through the window and fell across my face.

Rick still hadn't come home.

The last small hope in my chest went out.

I stood up with a bitter smile.

This hopeless chase, it was time for it to end.

I got up, pulled myself together, and dragged my exhaustion to the office.

But the mood there was strange.

Coworkers clustered in little groups, murmuring about something.

The moment they saw me coming, they scattered.

I couldn't make sense of it.

At lunch, Edgar Chavez, who sat across from me, called me over in a low, uncomfortable voice.

"Dani, have you seen what's trending today?"

I looked at him, confused.

Edgar bit his lip, took out his phone, and played a video.

It was Sabina's street interview from the day before.

My face was there, nothing blurred, on full display from start to finish.

The headline was glaring, impossible to miss.

【Random Interview: The Gold Digger Right Beside You!】

Sabina's sharp, disrespectful jabs were being praised in the comments as cutting and right on the mark.

And I was being torn apart.

"Gold diggers are this shameless now?"

"She's so plain. Is her boyfriend blind or what?"

"Nothing worse than a woman who wants something for nothing!"

"What a piece of work. Are we men just supposed to get played like this?"

...

The video was climbing fast. It had already hit number one on the local trending list.

No wonder everyone in the office had been looking at me like that.

Edgar's voice was full of indignation.

"Dani, I don't think you're like that."

"But it's all over the office now. Everyone's talking about you behind your back."

I was shaking all over, my nails digging into my palms.

It wasn't until the pain hit that my head cleared.

Just then a few coworkers passed by, took one look at me, and sneered outright.

"All prim and proper, working so hard every day, and behind it all she's a gold digger."

"Right? Went and disgraced herself all over the internet."

"Having to work next to her is just sickening!"

...

Listening to them, I felt something burning in my chest like a fire.

I didn't bother with any of them. I just took out my phone and called Rick.

On the other end, his voice was calm as always.

"Daniela, are you calling to apologize?"

My voice came out cold as ice.

"Rick, haven't you seen what's trending?"

"Sabina posted yesterday's video and called me a gold digger!"

"Said I'm living off you, and now a whole lot of people are cursing me out."

"Tell Sabina to take the video down and apologize to me. Now."

There was a beat of silence on the line, and then Rick gave a soft laugh, and his voice came back cruel.

"Sabina isn't wrong, though."

"It's just a video. What's the big deal?"

"Sabina just got back to the country. She wants to be a content creator."

"This clip is doing well. Just play along."

I thought I'd misheard.

"Rick, are you out of your mind?"

"Why should I be cursed at for something I never did?"

Rick didn't pause.

"Back then, I took the drinks for you, and I signed with your company."

"Are you telling me you weren't leaning on me?"

"Dani, I don't care what they say about you."

His tone was almost careless.

"We're getting married anyway. I'll provide for you."

"After you left yesterday, Sabina's been upset the whole time."

"How about this. You apologize to her, and I'll talk her into deleting the video."

The last of the good memories I'd kept of Rick shattered in an instant.

I gripped the phone tight, and though my voice shook, it never wavered.

"Rick, let's break up."