Chapter 3

But in the end, I stepped into the study.

……

"Is she mad at you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. It's because of me that you're suffering like this. But I'm not giving you up. I've loved you for five years. And besides, she doesn't even respect herself—she was just barely an adult when she—"

"Don't be silly. Nobody's asking you to leave. I'm the one who's sorry, for not being able to love you openly. Gabriella… she's been with me for eleven years. I only got the manager position because she resigned. If I break up with her…"

"I know. All I need is for you to love me. Besides, you already made me a promise."

Elisa sent a photo. The engagement ring.

I dropped into the chair.

That ring. I'd had it designed three years ago.

When I showed Robert the sketch, beaming, he looked away.

Work's too busy. Not enough savings. I want to give you something better.

He hid behind tenderness every time, putting me off again and again.

The ring I'd waited for all those years and never received.

Now it was on someone else's hand.

The last message in the chat was from Robert.

"Missing you. This home is suffocating. I'm coming to you now."

The home we once dreamed of had become his cage.

The years we'd clung to each other as teenagers were now proof of my looseness.

My eleven years, reduced to a joke.

"Sss—"

My stomach seized and I doubled over.

My stomach had been ruined for years.

To put Robert through college and grad school, I went from supermarket promoter to general manager of the sales division in a single year.

Three years after quitting, my body still hadn't recovered from what that cost.

Nothing to eat or drink since last night, and now it was three in the afternoon. The flare-up was no surprise.

Every ingredient in the house had gone into last night's birthday dinner. I rode out the worst of the cramping, then headed for the supermarket.

Walking the familiar route, I felt untethered.

Eleven years, and my favorite thing had always been going grocery shopping with Robert.

From small things like bowls and plates to big purchases like furniture, we'd filled our lives together piece by piece—the cramped ten-square-meter rental, the twenty-seven-square-meter apartment, and finally this ninety-six-square-meter home, paid in full.

We'd grown up the hard way and finally made it to the life we used to dream about.

Then, just like that, it was over.

But it was fine.

From now on, I'd take care of myself.

No matter what.

"Gabriella? What are you doing here? You look terrible!"

The older woman who stocked the produce section—she'd known me for years—looked flustered the moment she saw me.

"Didn't sleep well."

I forced a thin smile and started to leave, but she suddenly stepped into my path.

"You're here for meat? Today's batch isn't great. Tomorrow! Come back tomorrow."

Her smile was strained, and her fingers were locked around my arm.

I was still puzzling over it when a familiar voice drifted from the meat section.

"I'll make you chili pork tonight. Once you've eaten your fill… it's my turn."

I looked toward the voice.

Robert's eyes were soft as he spoke, and Elisa was swatting his arm with a coy little laugh.

Their happiness looked like something rehearsed a thousand times.

So the urgent work matter was taking Elisa grocery shopping.

I opened my mouth, but it was like a hand had closed around my throat—nothing came out.

The next second, someone in the crowd recognized them.

"Hey—isn't that the couple from that proposal yesterday?"

"Wow, taking his fiancée grocery shopping. Now that's a good man!"

"This is literally my dream life! Your person right beside you, just living it together. I'm dying, they're so cute!!"

"Perfect match!"

"Wait—I could swear the woman who used to shop here with him wasn't her."