Chapter 3

I was so angry I laughed.

"You're holding my things hostage and refusing to give them back, and you're asking me what I did wrong?"

He shook his head, all disappointment in me. "See? You're still nitpicking over what's yours and what's mine."

"We live together. Living together means I trust you a hundred percent, that I've handed my whole life over to you."

"And you? You're my fiancée. The second you have a little spare cash, you don't think about buying me a new computer. You only think about buying things for yourself."

"Do you have any idea how much I look forward to it every time you say a package came, hoping it's a gift for me? Do you know how much it hurts to be disappointed over and over, to keep talking myself back down every single time?"

I explained, "That isn't mine. I bought it for someone else."

He didn't believe a word of it and just kept going.

"Don't give me your excuses."

"I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't cheat. You're the only one in my heart!"

"Last week a female coworker said she wanted to drop something off at my place, and I turned her down flat. I told her my girlfriend was home, so it wasn't appropriate for her to come."

"I never even wanted to bring any of this up. I figured a man just quietly does his part. But the more I gave in, the more brazen you got."

Listening to him accuse me, I felt like the whole world had been turned upside down.

I had never once stopped him from spending time with his female coworkers. He'd decided that all on his own and pinned the blame on me.

And this full set of Apple products wasn't something I'd bought for myself in the first place.

Even if it had been, so what?

I looked at him. "So you won't give it back?"

He raised his eyebrows, pleased with himself, and leaned in close. "That's right. I won't."

I nodded.

Fine. Forget it, then.

Mr. Lawrence had disliked Cary for a long time anyway. The only reason he hadn't cut him loose was that Cary was my boyfriend.

Since that was how things stood, there was no reason to keep sparing his feelings.

Seeing me go quiet, he assumed I'd caved, and waved a hand. "All right, hurry up and go buy groceries. I want jumbo shrimp tonight."

As he said it, he sent me fifty over his phone.

"There. Happy now? Don't say I never give you money. Use this for groceries first, and get yourself a bubble tea with what's left."

I let out a small laugh. "Sure. And with what's left over I can put down a mortgage deposit too, right?"

He didn't catch the sarcasm at all. He just reached over, picked up the tablet off the table, tore it open, and started playing with it.

Of course, he didn't notice the engraving on the back, the one Mr. Lawrence had put there for his daughter.

And I didn't bother to remind him.

As it happened, these few days were right when next month's rent was due.

But my dad hadn't been pushing for it, so naturally Cary was in no hurry.

That was always how he handled rent. As long as my dad didn't chase him for it, he would never pay on his own.

"That landlord's a real fool." Cary didn't even look up. "Last month I stalled him ten days. This month I'm planning on fifteen. As long as he doesn't come asking, I don't pay."

He looked at me, smug. "Take notes. Ten days a month, and over a year that's a whole month's rent I don't have to pay. It's called making smart use of the rules."

Watching that self-satisfied look on his face, I found the whole thing beyond ironic.

Back when we were dating we were both broke students, and I always assumed he was just frugal, saving up for our future.

I never imagined he was this kind of selfish, penny-pinching man.

Come the weekend, his parents and his sister descended on us, loaded down with bags.