Chapter 3His Luck Ran Out

I understood.

The graduation breakup.

It all made sense now—why Ryan had been picking at me all night. He’d landed a big job, decided I wasn’t good enough for him anymore, and was engineering a way out. And in his mind, my "hometown" was synonymous with "the middle of nowhere."

Looking at Tessa’s smug expression, I had a feeling she had something to do with him getting that job offer.

“And what if I told you,” I said, my voice quiet but firm, “that there really is a Maybach key in there?”

Every head at the table swiveled toward me.

The silence lasted for three seconds.

Then, the entire room exploded with laughter.

“A Maybach key? You mean like a lighter or a kid’s toy? Hahaha!”

“Dude, Ryan, you better open that jar! I want to witness you becoming a Maybach man! Hahaha.”

“Ry, your taste in women is something else. She’s a world-class daydreamer, hahaha!”

Amid the cacophony of ridicule, Ryan looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

“Alright, Paige, that’s enough,” he said, his voice tight with humiliation. “I won’t ask you for another gift. Just go home. Don’t embarrass yourself any further.”

Of course, I was leaving.

But I had a few more things to say first.

“Ryan, you say my gifts are cheap? The watch you’re wearing right now, the electric razor you use, the cologne you spray, the Converse on your feet—which one of those didn’t I give you?” I demanded. “Since you think they’re so cheap, give them all back.”

His eyes flickered for a moment before he hardened his expression again. “You’re the one who wanted to give them to me. It’s not like I asked.”

He was right. I had given them to him willingly. It was my first serious relationship, and gifts were my love language. Anything he ever mentioned wanting, anything he didn't have, I wanted to buy for him.

Thinking back on our year together, it was a one-way street. I was always giving; the gifts he gave me could be counted on one hand. The most significant one was the silver necklace I was wearing.

I still remembered what he said when he put it on me.

“Paige, I know silver isn’t gold. But trust me, once I graduate and land a great job, I’ll make real money. I’ll buy you a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, I’ll have you dripping in gold.”

And now, he’d landed that great job. And the first thing he did was humiliate me in public to force a breakup.

The promises of men. A cruel joke.

It was laughable, really.