I was supposed to bring her some documents.
I took a deep breath. “Forgot.
Old me would have been groveling for
forgiveness, promising to rush right over.
く
But not anymore.
Silence on the other end of the phone, like
she was stunned.
Finally, she muttered, “Forgot? You’re such a
moron.”
“Fine! Just have dinner ready when I get
home.”
And with that, she hung up.
I stared at the screen, a wave of bitterness
washing over me, tears welling up in my eyes.
A second later, I was on a flight booking app.
One–way ticket to Europe in a week.
<
Five years ago, back in my small hometown,
I’d stumbled upon Tiffany after she’d been
kidnapped and thrown off a cliff. She was
badly hurt and had lost her memory.
I spent every dime I had to save her. After
calling the cops, they told me they couldn’t
find any record of her. They asked me to take
care of her in the meantime, and that
“meantime” stretched into five years.
Once Tiffany recovered, she was a completely
different person. Smart as a whip, and with a
face that could stop traffic.
Folks in town joked, “Danny, looks like you
found yourself a wife!”
I was never good with words, but in my heart,
I was happy.
Being an orphan who was raised by the
neighborhood, Tiffany’s arrival changed
everything. I got used to having her around…
So, I dropped out of school and worked four
jobs to send Tiffany to college, to give her the
best of everything. In five years, I had molded
her into this amazing woman.
Tiffany wasn’t a slacker, either. She was a
star student and treated me like gold.
She’d secretly take on jobs to help with the
bills, buying me clothes I couldn’t afford, and
every winter night, she’d wait for me after
work, no matter how cold it was…
After five years of this, her family finally
found her.
<
That’s when I realized why the cops couldn’t
trace her. She was a big–shot socialite, raised
in a protective bubble where nobody knew her
real identity.
The day we left my hometown, Tiffany held
my hand, her eyes sparkling. “Danny, come
with me.”
“Now it’s my turn to take care of you.”
:.
I opened the door to find the living room
dimly lit.
Tiffany was sitting on the couch, wearing
some expensive little black dress, her face
like a thundercloud. She slowly turned to me,
her voice icy, “Where were you? I told you to
^
I just stood there, staring at her, turned on
the lights, and nonchalantly answered her
question, “Mr. Sutton needed to ask me
something. I went back to the mansion.” After
saying that, I went into the kitchen and
started making dinner.
Seeing my cold attitude, Tiffany exploded,
rushing into the kitchen, “Danny! What the
hell is wrong with you?”
“What kind of tone is that to use with me?”
I don’t know when it started, but her words
always felt like knives. Last time, I just
brushed it off as stress from her new job.
But now I knew: When you don’t love
someone, there’s no need to be nice.
A wave of sadness washed over me. I took a
breath, put down the knife, and turned to
Tiffany. “What tone do you want me to use?”
“Tiffany, I don’t owe you anything.”
Hearing that, her hands clenched at her sides,
her eyes burning into me. She let out a short
laugh, “Don’t owe me?”
“Danny, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t live
in this fancy house or drive that nice car.”
“Don’t forget, you were just a poor orphan
from some small town!”
The people you know best are the ones who
know exactly where to stick the knife.
く
My heart was already shattered, but I fought
back the tears.
Finally, Tiffany seemed to realize what she’d
said. Her anger faded, and she was about to
speak when her phone rang.
I saw “Luke” flash across the screen.
Compared to the rage she aimed at me, the
way she spoke to him was like honey.
“Honey, don’t worry. I’m coming to pick you
- up. Just stay in the car.”
Tiffany rushed out of the kitchen, without
even a glance at me. The second the door
slammed shut, I collapsed on the cold floor.
Tears streamed down my face.
Г
Sobbing, I clutched my chest, whispering,
“Tiffany… When you said those words, were
you thinking of me, Danny, or him, Luke?”
That night, Tiffany didn’t come home. The
next day, I saw her picture splashed across
the internet, being escorted into Luke’s
mansion.
