Chapter 3Ended Up Back In My Ex’s Bed

One day, this guy named Brad Vaughn came up to me, looking all smug.

“I’m her fiancé. You need to back off.”

I stared at him, shocked.

“She never mentioned she was engaged.”

“Our families have an understanding. You’re not gonna be her boyfriend—ever.”

“What can you give her, really? Just more baggage?”

I didn’t buy it and argued back, but he just raised a brow.

“Let me show you what her life’s like.”

He dressed me up, convincing me to disguise myself, and took me to a mansion. Inside, she wore a gorgeous evening gown, hair up, mingling at a high-end gathering, all charm and poise. She moved through the room like a queen, flawless.

And me? I looked down at my jeans and sneakers, feeling out of place.

“See?” he said. “She’s up there. You’re down here, just a guy who took her out for cheap eats. She needs someone who can match her.”

I bit back the urge to argue, though I insisted, “But she likes me.”

Brad just laughed. “There are a bunch like you. Check her phone if you don’t believe me.”

“She’s got people in her contacts divided by groups. Us, her circle, are in one group. You and others like you? You’re in another.”

The next day, while she stepped away, I checked her phone.

Sure enough, I was just a coded name in her contacts, lumped in with seven or eight others.

When she came back, I asked, “You ever get bored with me?”

She just gave a little smile. “No. I love being with you. You’re a break from the whole ‘perfect’ routine.”

“And anyone else you feel that way with?”

She tilted her head thoughtfully. “There are a few.”

My heart sank.

“Do you see me in your future?”

“Of course! I want you by my side in the company. It’s like that new word everyone’s using—‘kept man.’ What do you think?”

She gave me a playful grin, but I felt gutted. This wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted a partner, an equal.

Finally, one evening after a sad movie, I had a moment of clarity.

“Let’s break up.”

She stared at me, shocked, then stubbornly agreed.

“Fine. But don’t regret it.”

When she texted me again, I blocked her. Just like that, three years passed, and I heard she moved abroad.