Chapter 1

A friend of mine was getting married, and I said I wanted to give three thousand dollars as a wedding gift.

Cliff Dickerson shot it down at once, because "we still need to save up for a house."

In the end he tossed me a hundred bucks and told me to stick it in a card and go through the motions. Holding that single bill, I felt something in me go cold.

I never gave that gift. I shoved the hundred right back at him.

A week later his childhood sweetheart got engaged, and he posted a screenshot of the transfer on social media.

Fifty thousand dollars, with a note: "Just a little something. If it's not enough, let me know."

I brought him the screenshot and asked him about it. Cliff frowned. "Her parents did a lot for me. You don't understand how these debts work."

I didn't argue.

I just took him off my supplementary card and cancelled the trip tickets I'd already booked.

He came home that night, noticed something was off, and leaned against the doorway. "What's your problem?"

I said, "Who you spend your money on is your business."

"But Cliff, who I spend my money on is my business too. And that's not your call anymore."

...

Cliff leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, perfectly relaxed.

He seemed to think I was just throwing a little tantrum.

"Knock it off, Amanda Fox."

"All this over a hundred bucks? Seriously?"

I didn't look at him. I focused on pulling my clothes out of the closet one by one, folding each piece, laying them into the suitcase.

My movements weren't fast, but they were steady.

Not a trace of hesitation.

The ease finally slid off Cliff's face.

He walked over and slapped a hand down on my suitcase.

"You're serious?"

I looked up and met his eyes, calm.

"Yes."

The calm in my eyes stung him. His voice shot up.

"I stopped you from giving three grand, and now this? Amanda, we've been together five years! Are five years of us really worth less than saving face in front of your friend?"

"Do you even know what it means to build a life together? We're about to buy a house. Every single cent has to count."

I laughed.

"Buy a house?"

"Cliff, the down payment on that house? Eight hundred thousand came from my parents, twenty thousand from yours."

"I make twice what you make. And every month, I'm the one carrying the mortgage."

"That salary of yours, after your daily expenses, whatever's left over. You know exactly how much that is."

My words tore through the front he'd been keeping up.

His face went red in an instant.

"So what? I'm the man. Isn't providing for the family my job?"

"You've gotten too big for your boots, haven't you? Now you look down on me."

"Your job?" I repeated the word. It struck me as absurd.

"Your job is to stop me from giving a gift to my best friend, then turn around and wire fifty thousand to your childhood sweetheart?"

He blew up on the spot.

"That's different, I already told you! Back then Cora's parents were good to my family. This was paying back a debt!"

"Can you be reasonable for once?"

I didn't want to argue about any of it anymore.

There was no point.

I pushed his hand off and kept sorting my things.

Makeup, skincare, books, laptop...

Every one of them stamped with the work I'd put in myself.

The things in this home that belonged to him were pitifully few.

Watching me clear out my traces one item at a time, the panic finally crept onto Cliff's face.

He wasn't the one handing down favors anymore. His tone went soft.

"I was wrong, Mandy, okay?"

"The hundred bucks, that was on me. I was just anxious to save money."

"That fifty thousand was the last time I'll ever repay the Fox family, I swear!"

He reached for my hand.

I turned aside and dodged him.

"You don't get it, Cliff."

"This isn't about a hundred versus fifty thousand."

"It's about who matters more to you. Me, or her."

The answer was already clear.

For the sake of saving money, he could let my best friend be humiliated at her own wedding.

But for his childhood sweetheart's engagement, he could hand over fifty thousand without blinking.

Even thoughtfully adding a note to let him know if it wasn't enough.

How very fitting.

I zipped the suitcase shut with one crisp sound.

"We're done."

I said it, then grabbed the case and headed for the door.

Cliff came apart completely. He threw his arms around me from behind and held on for dear life.

"Don't go, Amanda!"

"You're the one I love! There's really nothing between me and Cora!"

His breath hit the back of my neck, faintly shaking.

Once, I might have softened.

Now all I felt was disgust.

I wrenched myself free of his arms, hard enough that he stumbled.

"Don't touch me."

My voice was cold, without a degree of warmth in it.

He froze where he stood, staring at me.

I gave him nothing more. I opened the door and walked out without looking back.

The moment the door shut, I heard something inside shatter against the floor.

It didn't matter.

This place I'd once thought would be where I'd spend the rest of my life had, as of today, nothing to do with me.