Chapter 2His Luck Ran Out

I blinked, certain I’d misheard him. Why would he suddenly curse at me?

Ryan let out a short, bitter laugh and started his tirade.

“I bring you to a hundred-dollar-a-plate restaurant for my birthday, and this is what you give me?” he asked, his voice rising. “So what if you folded them by hand? I don’t feel the love. I just feel insulted. Like you’re just trying to get by with some cheap gesture.”

He held up the jar, his face a mask of disgust. “Look at what Tessa got me. Look at what my friends got me. This thing isn't even garbage.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that was loud enough for everyone to hear. “Spending a few bucks on craft paper to get a fancy meal… this is the first time I’ve dated a girl who’s so… calculated.”

And with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the jar into a nearby trash can.

I bit down on my lip, a sour, bitter taste filling my mouth. The man who had been my intimate partner just hours ago was now a stranger, his words sharper than any knife.

I knew, in that instant, that this was over.

“Ryan, if my gift is that embarrassing to you, then I’ll take it back.”

I walked to the trash can, fished out the jar, and used a napkin to wipe away the grime, piece by piece.

“Hey, Ry, maybe you should just keep it,” Tessa chimed in, her tone dripping with fake sympathy. “The poor girl probably stayed up all night folding those. You can take it home and worship it like a family heirloom.”

She was pretending to help, but her eyes were dancing with glee.

“You want it? You can take it home and worship it,” Ryan shot back. He then turned to me and held out his hand. “Give it here. I’ll accept your… cheap gift.”

He paused, then added, “But Paige, I think you owe me a real present. Either that, or you can Venmo me for your share of dinner. Everyone goes dutch these days. Even if we’re a couple, you can’t just take advantage of me like this.”

Cheap?

Take advantage of him?

Suddenly, I knew I couldn’t just let this go. At the very least, I no longer had any reason to protect his ego.

“Ryan, I put my heart into preparing this gift for you. And you call it cheap, throwing it in the trash without even opening it,” I said, my voice steady and clear. “You knew my stomach has been acting up and I can’t eat spicy food, yet you ordered every single dish with extra chili. I haven’t had a single bite. And you have the audacity to say I’m taking advantage of you?”

I took a breath. “Fine. Let’s tally it up. Let’s calculate everything we’ve spent on each other over the past year and see who’s really been taking advantage of whom.”

Throughout our relationship, I had always been the one to yield, to smooth things over. Even when we fought, I never embarrassed him in front of others.

Now, being confronted so publicly, Ryan’s face flushed with anger. He lashed out.

“What was I supposed to do? Unfold every single star to see if you wrote some cheesy love note inside?” he sneered. “Or were you going to tell me you hid a Maybach key in there?”

He took a step closer. “Paige, get real. We’re about to graduate. You’ve said it yourself, you’re going back to your small town to take over the family business. I’m different. I just signed with a top firm. My future is bright. Unlike yours, which is… back in the middle of nowhere.”