Chapter 2

My name is Ethan.

I was with Chloe for three years, and I gave her my absolute everything.

When she complained our apartment was too cramped, I stretched my budget to the limit to rent a spacious two-bedroom place in a nice neighborhood.

When she complained about her long commute on the subway, I took the money I’d been saving for two years and bought her a white Toyota Corolla.

When she said she wanted to apply for grad school, I paid five thousand dollars upfront for her GRE prep courses without a second thought.

The entire time, she believed I was just a regular, run-of-the-mill software engineer, making a decent living but barely scraping by in this expensive city.

She didn't know that the food delivery app she ordered from every single day ran on code I wrote back in my junior year of college.

She didn't know that the core recommendation algorithm of the viral short-video app she scrolled through every night was designed by me.

And she certainly didn't know that the massive glass tech tower downtown—the one right next to her office—was entirely mine.

I had only wanted to live a normal, quiet life, hoping to find someone who loved me for who I was, not my net worth.

Clearly, I was being naive.

The day after Chloe broke up with me, her new boyfriend came over to help her pack.

I stood by the doorway, watching him.

His name was Tyler. He was a DoorDash delivery driver. Apparently, they met when he delivered her boba tea one afternoon.

He was six feet tall and admittedly looked more athletic and energetic than I did.

"Sorry about this, man," Tyler said with a smug, victorious grin. "But hey, you can't force chemistry, right?"

I smiled back.

"Take good care of her."

Tyler blinked, caught off guard by how incredibly calm I was.

He had no idea that the night before, I had already made a dozen phone calls.

My first call was to our landlord: "I'm terminating the lease on the two-bedroom apartment immediately. Keep the deposit."

My second call was to a used car dealer: "Come pick up the white Toyota Corolla. Sell it at market value."

My third call was to the GRE prep center: "Cancel the enrollment for Chloe. The reason? She won’t be needing it anymore. Refund the money to my card."

My fourth call was to my personal assistant, Justin: "Look into a DoorDash driver named Tyler. Contact his regional dispatch manager. Starting tomorrow, assign him only the absolute furthest delivery routes. Make sure he's paid the bare minimum per trip. And put a tracking monitor on all his active delivery zones."

On the other end of the line, Justin paused for a second. "Sir, how far do you want to push this?"

I looked out the window. Chloe was busy loading her heavy suitcases onto the back of Tyler’s beat-up scooter.

"Just enough so she can see with her own eyes exactly how much the man of her dreams actually makes in a month."

*Chloe, you thought my gifts were cheap?*

*You thought he could give you the thrilling life you always wanted?*

*Fine. Let’s see what your life looks like without me.*