Chapter 3She Got the Job, I Got the Truth

I laughed so hard my eyes nearly watered.

If I really cared this much about money, why hadn't I just gone home and let my parents arrange a marriage for me back then? Instead, I'd fought with them and walked away, choosing to struggle through hard times by her side.

Megan denied every bit of what I'd given up over the years, twisting it into me mooching off her instead.

She'd forgotten that back when we had nothing, I'd never once thought about leaving her. I'd never so much as lifted a finger before I met her, and I still took on three jobs just to lighten her load. I lost almost twenty pounds in a single month and ended up with a serious stomach condition.

Seeing me laugh like that rattled her.

"What's so funny? Have you lost your mind?"

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and looked at her seriously.

"Megan, I don't care what you think of me anymore. But I am never staying by your side again. Just picturing the two of your faces together makes me sick."

Her face flushed red with anger.

"Don't act so high and mighty! If it weren't for me all these years, you'd have starved to death!"

I didn't want to argue with her any further. I turned and walked away.

Too restless to sit with it, I went up to the rooftop and lit a cigarette. I'd barely taken a drag when someone clapped me on the shoulder from behind.

I turned around. It was a coworker of mine. He bummed a cigarette off me without a second thought, took a drag, and blew out a smoke ring.

"You're upset because of Dr. Louis, huh? Honestly, I've wanted to say something for a while now. Just never found the right moment."

I gave a helpless laugh.

"Say what?"

His answer nearly made me drop the cigarette in my hand.

"Just give up on her already. I've known for a while that she's been mixed up with Drew Statham. You didn't know? The whole reason he came to work at this hospital was for her."

I stared at him, unable to believe it.

"What are you talking about? Didn't the two of them only get together after he started working here?"

My coworker scoffed.

"You've all been played. The truth is those two knew each other long before that. I have a friend who went to the same school as Drew. The two of them were already sneaking around together back in high school. His parents looked down on her back then and tore them apart, but somehow, after all these years, the spark came back to life."

He didn't seem to notice my face growing worse and worse. He just kept talking, oblivious.

My whole body was shaking. I could barely stop myself from passing out.

So it hadn't been some sudden moment of weakness. It had been planned from the start.

Even back when I was suffering right alongside Megan, she'd already been in contact with Drew.

I used to think our love had been ruined because money opened her eyes to a flashier world. But the truth was that there had been three people in this relationship from the very beginning.

How pathetic.

My coworker noticed something was off and asked, out of what he thought was kindness, "You alright? Don't take it too hard. Drew's family background isn't something the rest of us can compete with. It makes sense Dr. Louis would choose him."

I made up some excuse about not feeling well and left.

I ran into a bathroom stall and buried my face in my hands, sobbing.

Why? Why did the truth have to hurt this much?

Right as I was drowning in my own grief, Drew's voice suddenly drifted over from the next stall.

"Don't worry, babe. The restaurant we're going to tonight is the same one we loved back in high school. I know you can't keep anything down since you got pregnant, so I made sure to book it special."

That one line shattered the last shred of hope I'd been holding onto. The rumor was true after all.

Thinking back on everything I'd sacrificed over the years, I felt like nothing more than a clown.

Right then, Megan's saccharine, coaxing voice came through on the other end of the call.

"You're always the one who treats me best! If you hadn't been sneaking me out for extra meals every few days back then, I never would've made it through those poor years."

It hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I had been the only one actually suffering. While I'd been scrimping and working myself to the bone for her sake, she'd been out enjoying lavish meals with Drew the whole time.

No wonder she hadn't lost weight during those months when we could barely afford a single piece of meat. If anything, she'd put on weight.

I felt like I'd been shot through with a thousand arrows, the pain unbearable.

'Megan, you really are ruthless.'