Chapter 1

My coworker invited me to an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet. It was $78 per person.

I took a picture and shared it with my boyfriend, but he completely lost his mind.

"A $78 buffet? Are you eating food or gold?!"

"Greedy women rot in hell for gluttony! Aren't you afraid of getting your tongue ripped out?!"

To get a free meal, my boyfriend rushed to the restaurant and tried to force me to fake food poisoning with him.

Watching him roll around on the floor, howling like a dog, I took a step back and shook my head.

"Sorry, I don't know this man."

To meet our project deadline, our entire team worked overtime for three days straight. We barely managed to finish the tasks assigned by the higher-ups.

After logging off, my coworker invited me out to celebrate.

So, we made a reservation at a Japanese buffet restaurant we had been wanting to try for a long time.

They had a limited-time special for $78 per person, which included unlimited fresh salmon and scampi. It was an absolute steal.

Right after we sat down and ordered, I habitually snapped a photo and sent it to my boyfriend, Zach. 【Look! Maya and I are having a buffet today. The vibe here is amazing.】

Usually, Zach replied within seconds, but this time, he went silent for over ten minutes.

By the time Maya and I had already started eating, he finally replied. 【I just looked that place up online. That buffet is almost eighty bucks. You are being way too wasteful.】

I took a photo of the gorgeous sashimi platter on our table and sent it to him.

【The seafood here is super fresh. $78 is a bargain for this quality, okay?】

But starting from that message, Zach began bombarding my Snapchat.

【$78 is cheap to you?! They are selling you a bunch of cheap frozen fish and shrimp for nearly a hundred dollars. Are you eating food or gold?!】

【Women are just greedy. You only make like $3,500 a month after tax, and you’re stuffing all of it into your mouth! You don’t know the first thing about running a household. If you’re like this now, what about when we have kids? Do you expect me to pay for everything myself?】

【I'm telling you, if you want to marry into the Miller family, you have to get rid of this horrible habit!】

【Always eating, always wasting. People like you rot in hell for gluttony!】

…

And the last message: 【Stay there. I’m coming right now.】

Seeing the disgusted expression on my face, Maya asked with concern, "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine."

I sighed. "But I have a really bad feeling about this."

Sure enough, before we could even finish our food, Zach stormed into the restaurant.

Instead of calling me to ask where we were sitting, he started shouting at the top of his lungs in the lobby, "Chloe! Chloe, get out here right now!"

And that wasn't even the worst of it. When nobody answered him in the lobby, he started opening the private dining rooms one by one. Ignoring the curses of the other customers, he finally slammed open our door.

"Chloe, are you deaf?! I called your name so many times, and you didn't even bother to answer!"

My face was already pale with embarrassment. His dramatic, embarrassing behavior, combined with his abusive texts on Snapchat, had pushed me to my absolute limit.

But clearly, I still didn't know the real Zach.

He grabbed my wrist. "Are you guys almost done? Come on, let's go while the lobby is crowded."

"What are you doing?!"

I yanked my hand back. I watched in sheer disbelief as Zach stuffed a sweet shrimp into his mouth from our table. "Might as well eat some. Let's stuff our faces first and then run."

I looked at him, completely horrified. "Zach, are you seriously trying to force me to dine and dash?"

"Duh!" Zach mumbled, his mouth stuffed with salmon. "Who in their right mind pays this much for a buffet? We have to run!"

My chest tightened with pure anger. Seeing the tension, Maya quickly tried to defuse the situation.

"Chloe has been working so hard overtime. It’s just an occasional treat. Besides, you have to pay and leave a card on file before you even get seated at this place. Running now is pointless."

"What?!"

Zach spat the food out of his mouth, spraying crumbs everywhere. "You already paid?! Chloe, how can you be so damn wasteful!"

"Your monthly salary is only $3,500. $78 takes you nearly half a day of hard work to earn back! Have you even done the math?!"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I snapped back, "I spent my own money. Since when is it any of your business?"