Chapter 3

I couldn’t believe this man.

Who zoomed in on someone’s social media photos?

Everything was moved out anyway. I saw no reason to hide it anymore. “Yes. I kept it.”

“Ethan, I like that tumbler. I think it’s worth fifty-nine dollars. What are you going to do about it?”

Hearing my anger, he dropped the aggressive tone and turned gentle.

“Claire, we’re supposed to be saving up to get married. How can we do that if you spend fifty-nine dollars on a plastic cup just because you like it?”

“We need to be practical about our life together. You can’t be so materialistic.”

Materialistic?

Buying a fifty-nine-dollar tumbler made me materialistic?

I almost laughed from sheer anger.

Other supposed gold diggers demanded houses, cars, and jewelry. Apparently, my big demand was a fifty-nine-dollar cup.

“Ethan, I’m saying this one last time. I like the cup. I’m not returning it.”

“Claire Bennett, if you’re determined to keep it, you won’t get a single cent as a wedding gift from me! Think carefully!”

So that was his big threat. He wouldn’t give me my wedding gift.

Twenty-eight thousand eight hundred dollars was only three months of my salary. Did he really think I cared about that money?

“Ethan, let’s break up.” I was genuinely exhausted.

When we were students with no money, I could understand his stinginess.

Right after graduation, when our salaries were low and we had rent and bills to pay, I’d even thought his frugal habits made him a good partner to build a life with.

But we’d been working for three years now. He made over twenty thousand dollars a month, yet he was fighting me this hard over a fifty-nine-dollar cup.

I could already see our future. This wasn’t the kind of man I wanted.

The moment I mentioned breaking up, Ethan naturally decided it was because he’d threatened to withhold the wedding money.

He scoffed. “Claire, how did I never realize you cared so much about money?”

“I tested you by saying I wouldn’t give you a wedding gift, and now you want to dump me? What are you, merchandise? Have you put a price tag on yourself? No money, no marriage?”

“I told you, return the cup and I’ll marry you. You’ll get every cent of that twenty-eight thousand eight hundred dollars! You’d better think this through.”