Chapter 2

Her eyes traveled down and landed on the gingerbread box in my hand. She rushed over and knocked it to the floor.

"I get sick just looking at your trash cookies!"

The necklace box fell alongside the cookies.

I knelt down, picked it up, and offered it to her, thinking of it as a final parting gift.

Under the dim hallway light, I noticed a gorgeous gold necklace already resting on Mila’s neck. It was brand new. I had never seen it before.

Mila looked incredibly smug, and I even caught a flash of shyness in her eyes as her hand gently touched the gold chain.

She scoffed, "What kind of cheap junk could you possibly buy with your pocket change? Throw it away."

To give myself one last reason to let go, I asked, "If my business succeeds, will you stay?"

She let out a harsh laugh.

"Spencer, wake up. How could you ever succeed?"

"With your stupid gingerbread? Dream on!"

With that, she spun around, grabbed her pre-packed suitcases, and headed for the door.

Since things had come to this, there was no point in begging a woman who despised me to stay.

On her way out, she kicked the fallen box of gingerbread aside. "Get out of my way, eyesore."

One of the movers picked it up.

"Wow, this gingerbread looks so beautiful. It must taste amazing. Why throw it away? Do you guys not want it?"

I smiled, happy that my handmade craft was appreciated, and was about to thank him.

But Mila cut in. "Take it if you want. He has tons of those trash cookies that he can't sell anyway."

I choked up, holding back my words.

I wanted to tell her that my gingerbread had just received hundreds of thousands of pre-orders.

I wanted to tell her that I succeeded, and we could buy a mansion in the suburbs.

But clearly, she no longer deserved to share this joy with me.