2
This small, 400–square–foot apartment was where Damian and I had started.
After graduating, I stayed in the city to earn more money. All I could afford back then was a tiny, cramped room far from the city center.
It was Damian who said it was too far, too inconvenient for him to visit. It was Damian who said the place wasn’t fit for human habitation, that the thought of being
intimate with me there killed the mood. He was the one who suggested we rent a bigger place together.
So, I took on the burden of the high rent, finding another part–time job to fill the time I saved on commuting.
And now, not only did he want me to pay back his half of the rent for the past seven years, but he also felt like he’d been cheated, that he’d essentially paid to sleep
with me.
“Damian,” I asked, my voice trembling, “what have I been to you all these years?”
The tears welling in my eyes were for myself. For the seven years of my youth wasted on a man like this.
The hand holding the phone in front of me wavered for a second as a tear fell. He pursed his lips and pulled his hand back.
“I was just joking. It’s not a big..
He didn’t finish.
Chloe clicked her tongue, her face a mask of disdain. “And she says she’s not after your money. If it weren’t for you, Damian, could she afford a place like this? Dam- ian, you should just end the lease next month. You can’t keep letting outsiders take advantage of you. Or, you could have Sophia sign an IOU. That would be fair.”
If it weren’t illegal, I would have slapped both of them. But if I did, they would find a way to sue me for every penny I had. It was the favorite sick game of the rich
and bored.
Seven years. I had played along long enough.
1 was done.
“I’m not signing an IOU. If you want the money, you can sue me. We’ll see if the court agrees with you. And I’m not staying in this apartment anymore. Since Miss Chloe wants to stay the night, she should remember to pay Damian her share of the rent. Otherwise, she’ll be a gold digger too.”
I tried to leave, but Damian grabbed my arm. The playful expression was gone, replaced by an angry scowl. “Sophia, are you serious? Chloe and I were just kidding. I suggest you think carefully. If you leave here, you’ll never live in a place this nice again.”
I was so wrong. So unbelievably wrong. I shouldn’t have let him talk me out of breaking up with him when I first found out who he really was. I shouldn’t have belie ved his talk of an equal relationship, one not ruled by money, every time he accused me of being a gold digger.
I had only held onto the memory of him warming my cold feet with his stomach on the coldest winter nights, of his warm hands gently massaging my cramps
away.
We had been in love. We had been happy.
But our love could never be tainted by money, not even a little.
“Damian, let’s break up.”
Only when those words left my mouth did the smirk finally leave his face, replaced by a flicker of panic.
“Break up? Sophia, you’re breaking up with me? I don’t agree. What right do you have to dump me? There’s a limit to your tantrums.”
He always put himself on a pedestal, as if being with me was a gift he was bestowing upon me.
just looked at him calmly. “I’m not throwing a tantrum. Since you’re so convinced I’m a gold digger, after your money, you should find someone from your own
Have a tally ‘cquet‘ relationship”
Chapter 1
circle. Have a truly ‘equal‘ relationship.”
I didn’t want to say another word to him. I turned and went back to the bedroom to continue packing.
About thirty seconds later, I heard him roar. “Sophia, don’t you regret this.”
lignored his threats, and I didn’t care that he slammed the door on his way out with Chloe.
I had endured a love where I was treated like a thief for seven years.
I didn’t blame Damian for not being able to save my mother. He had no obligation to lend me the money.
08:13
But when I was at my most desperate, when I was on my knees with a signed IOU, begging him to save my mother, he had looked right through me, still thinking I
was a gold digger.
In that moment, my love for him, our seven years together, died.
