My boyfriend and I had saved for three years to buy a house, and overnight, half the money vanished. I called to ask him about it, and he answered casually, “Mary saw a bag she liked, so I lent it to her first. Don’t worry, she’ll definitely pay it back.” The next second, his childhood friend Mary posted on Instagram showing off that limited edition bag along with a photo of them together, captioned: “Thank you, darling, for my birthday gift. Friendship forever!” I laughed, then transferred all the remaining $250,000 from our joint account to myself. And that very night, I moved out. William, since your friendship with Mary is so important, you two can be locked together forever. “Alice, are you done throwing your tantrum?” “This time when you move out, don’t come crawling back like a dog begging me to take you back.” William leaned against the bedroom doorframe, arms crossed, looking down at me as I stuffed the last piece of clothing into my suitcase. I didn’t look up, and I didn’t respond. “It’s just $250,000. Is it really worth all this drama?” “Don’t you know what Mary and I are to each other? We’re friends. It’s her birthday—what’s wrong with me getting her something?” “Besides, I told you I lent it to her, didn’t I? She’ll pay it back soon enough.” I finally stopped what I was doing, turned around, and looked at him calmly. Three years of savings for our wedding house. It was supposed to be “together,” but in reality, more than $400,000 of it was money I’d saved penny by penny. For this “future home,” I worked as a designer at the company during the day, took freelance jobs at night, and worked part-time on weekends. I gave up my favorite bubble tea and snacks. The last time I bought new clothes was during last year’s holidays. And William? He’d contributed less than $50,000 total, constantly depositing and withdrawing money for Mary. Today it was a housewarming gift for a friend, tomorrow it was emergency cash for someone’s startup, the day after that it was a funeral for a friend’s dog. Every single time, he said, “Honey, I’ll make it up when I get my bonus.” But I never saw a single one of those bonuses. Now, he’d spent $250,000 on a bag for Mary without batting an eye. He didn’t even bother to give me a heads-up beforehand. If I hadn’t checked the account balance when depositing money today, I might not have discovered it until the account was completely drained. I opened my phone and showed him Mary’s Instagram post. “Lent?” “William, you call this lending?” In the photo, Mary wore that limited edition bag, intimately resting her head on his shoulder. William glanced at it, and instead of showing any guilt, he frowned. “Are you jealous?” “You never cared before. Why are you making such a big deal out of it today?” I laughed—laughed so hard I almost cried. Yes, I’d let it slide before, time after time. I’d tolerated Mary using her “friend” status to have William abandon me with a high fever at 3 AM to go drinking with her. I’d tolerated Mary wearing William’s shirt and lying in our bed while I had to sleep on the couch. I’d tolerated Mary getting all touchy-feely with William right in front of me. And me, as his legitimate girlfriend—if I raised even the slightest objection, I was “petty,” “making a scene,” or “immature.” Over three years, I’d accumulated more than just that money. I’d accumulated disappointment after disappointment. Each time, I told myself William was just clueless, that he loved me, that he just didn’t know how to say no. But this time, I wasn’t going to lie to myself anymore. “William, let’s break up.” When I said those words, my heart didn’t hurt as much as I expected. More than anything, I felt relief. He froze for a moment, then laughed mockingly. “Break up?” “Do whatever you want. You’ll come crawling back in a few days anyway.” I forcefully pushed past him blocking the doorway. “Don’t worry. This time I won’t be coming back.” I grabbed my suitcase and headed straight for the door. As I passed him, I caught the familiar scent of women’s perfume on him. It was Mary’s favorite brand. I didn’t look back. I knew that this time, I’d truly let go.
Dragging my suitcase through the streets still wet from rain, cold wind blew down my collar, but I didn’t feel the slightest chill. I found a hotel and checked in, then pulled out my phone and called the company’s HR director. “John, hello, this is Alice from the design department.” “About the two-year assignment to the Singapore branch you mentioned before—is that still available?” On the other end, John was clearly surprised, but quickly gave me a positive answer. This overseas assignment was the company’s recognition of my abilities—double the salary and excellent for my résumé. But I’d been hesitant before. Because I didn’t want to be in a long-distance relationship with William. I was afraid our already fragile relationship couldn’t withstand the distance. Looking back now, how ridiculous. A relationship that required me to sacrifice my career to maintain it was worthless to begin with. “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll come to the office tomorrow to handle the paperwork.” After hanging up, I let out a long breath of relief. Then, without hesitation, I blocked and deleted William from all my contacts. The next day, as I was preparing to go to the office to handle the paperwork, a call came in from an unknown number. I answered, and William’s furious voice came through. “Alice, what the hell did you transfer all the money out for?” “Do you know how embarrassing it was yesterday at Mary’s birthday when my payment failed?” “Transfer the money back right now, do you hear me?” I didn’t say anything, just listened quietly. I heard Mary’s voice in the background. “It’s fine, let her throw her tantrum. Let’s see how long she can hold out.” “I know women best. Don’t you dare go soft and run after her—that’s exactly what she wants.” The next second came the sound of the call disconnecting. This time I wasn’t angry or sad. I suddenly saw clearly that I really didn’t belong in their circle. I blocked that number too.
William probably thought I wouldn’t last three days before coming back to apologize like before. This time, he was wrong. Three days later, I was already sitting in a taxi to the airport with all my overseas assignment paperwork completed. My phone buzzed frantically in my pocket, the screen flashing with calls from different unknown numbers. I knew it was him. I didn’t answer. Until a number I knew by heart called—my mom’s. On the other end, my mother’s voice was anxious with a hint of reproach. “Alice, what’s going on with you and William? He came to the house saying you won’t see him or take his calls.” “How can you run away from home like this? Can’t you two talk things out?” I closed my eyes. I could perfectly imagine the devoted, innocent look on William’s face in front of my parents right now. He knew me too well. He knew my family was my weak spot. “Mom, put him on the phone.” My voice was completely calm. A moment later, William’s voice came through, carrying a hint of suppressed anger and barely concealed panic. “Alice, what exactly do you want?” “Over $250,000—is it really worth all this? Do you know how worried your parents are about you?” He was always so skilled at turning things around. “William, we’ve already broken up.” “Where I am and where I’m going has nothing to do with you.” “Please leave my house and stop bothering my parents.” Silence for a few seconds on the other end, then he exploded in disbelieving rage. “Do you have someone else already? Found your next target that fast?” “I never thought you were so materialistic!” Ha! This was the man I’d loved for three years. “You think this is really about the money?” I laughed bitterly. “But whatever, think what you want!” “You deposited a total of $50,000 in that account, borrowed it back at least ten times, and never paid it back in the end.” “I won’t even ask you for the money for that bag. Consider it thrown to the dogs.” “Let’s part on good terms!” “You…” William’s breathing became labored. I knew I’d thoroughly enraged him this time. He was only holding back because my parents were there. Suddenly, someone else took the phone—it was Mary. “Alice, are you complaining that William doesn’t earn as much as you?” “You’re so materialistic…” I was too tired to listen to her nonsense and cut her off: “William, if you let her harass me or my family again, we’ll see each other in court.” “The transaction records from that $500,000 joint account are all very clear. I don’t mind letting a judge decide who that money should belong to.”
After hanging up, I thought William would leave me alone for a few days. But I still underestimated his shamelessness. As soon as I got off the plane, my phone started buzzing with notification after notification. My various social media accounts were flooded with messages from strangers. “Gold digger, took her boyfriend’s $250,000 and ran. This really destroys my faith in humanity.” “Looks all innocent, but turns out she’s a con artist. So manipulative.” “I heard she made her boyfriend work to earn money while she lived the high life.” “Women like this should be drowned!” I opened the post to look. William had written a tearful essay claiming to be a devoted victim whose feelings and finances I’d exploited. Our mutual friends were all liking and commenting below. “I always knew something was off about this Alice. Didn’t expect her to be this kind of person.” “Feel so bad for William, being deceived for so long.” “You never really know someone, do you?” In just half a day, I’d been doxxed completely—all my information, including my workplace and home address. He thought this would corner me with nowhere to go, forcing me to come back and beg him. I was shaking all over, a knot of anger stuck in my chest. Over these three years, I’d done my best for William’s friends—I paid for gatherings, sent gifts for holidays. I’d never wronged any of them. But now, not a single one stood up to say a word in my defense. This was the circle I’d once desperately tried to fit into for William’s sake. My phone rang again—an unknown Singapore number. “Alice, see that?” “This is what happens when you piss me off.” “Let me tell you, as long as you don’t come back and beg me, I’ll make sure you can’t survive in Singapore either.” I took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to curse him out. “William, thank you.” He froze, clearly not expecting this reaction. “Thank me for what?” “Thank you for letting me see completely what kind of scum you are.” “And thank you for letting me finally let go completely.” Whatever lingering memories I had of our past good times, whatever thoughts I’d held onto about how he’d once treated me well— In this moment, he’d crushed them all with his own hands. “Wait for my lawyer’s letter.” I said it and hung up.
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