Chapter 3
My throat ached as I stared at the endless messages filling my chat box.
[Lily, weren't you preparing to propose last week? Did you two break up after things blew up?]
[Did Alex paint that to stir up attention and go viral?]
I turned off my phone and curled up on the couch.
At daybreak, Alex stumbled in reeking of alcohol.
Emily greeted me with a bright smile.
"Ma'am, I'm just going to make Alex some hangover soup and then I'll leave." she said.
With that, she walked into the kitchen like she owned the place.
My nails dug into my palm. No wonder a few condoms had gone missing from the bedroom last week.
Alex swayed to his feet and melted into my arms all clingy and drunk.
I lowered my eyes, unlocked my phone, pulled up today's screenshot from the livestream, and bit my lip as I demanded an answer. "Why did you paint that?"
Alex gave a dazed laugh and tilted his head up to kiss my cheek.
He said, "Don't be so old-fashioned. Big-name artists overseas paint stuff like that all the time. It'll boost my profile fast.
"Once I make a little more money, then I can marry you."
I looked toward the busy figure in the kitchen and shoved Alex away in disgust.
He lost his balance and hit the floor with a pained groan.
Hearing the noise, Emily rushed out in a panic and threw herself in front of Alex, shoving my shoulder hard.
"What gives you the right to hit him?" she asked.
I let out a cold laugh, yanked off Emily's apron, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash.
"And what gives you the right to walk into my home? What gives you the right to get in the middle of my business with my boyfriend?" I shot back.
Emily's eyes filled with tears as she crouched by Alex's feet and whined about how much it hurt.
A thin line of blood had appeared on her neck.
Alex's eyes darkened. He suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Lily, apologize to her."
His grip was so hard it felt like he might crush my wrist, but it still didn't come close to the pain in my heart.
I lifted my chin stubbornly and shouted through clenched teeth. "She was the one in the wrong. Does being young mean she gets to wreck someone else's relationship?
"She's shameless, and you're just as rotten."
A sharp slap cracked through the room, and my cheek burned.
I stared in despair at Alex's hand still hanging in the air and let out a soft, bitter laugh.
Pain flashed through Alex's eyes, and I stepped back to put distance between us.
That only seemed to set him off again, and the next words out of his mouth cut deep.
He shouted, "I'm selfish? And you're some saint? You've clung to me like a leech all these years because I finally made something of myself.
"What have you even done for me in these ten years? If I hadn't busted my ass painting and making money, you'd still be sleeping under a bridge."
The blood in my whole body turned cold, and tears slipped down my face in bitter disbelief.
So this was what I was to Alex. A parasite living off him.
A brutal pain twisted through my lower belly, and something warm started spreading.
I frowned in agony and collapsed to the floor.
Emily threw herself into Alex's arms, looking fragile and wronged, her eyes rimmed red.
"It hurts..." she murmured.
He scooped her up and hurried past me without a second glance.
Blood ran down my thighs and hit the floor as I stared at Alex's cold, retreating back.
I broke down sobbing.
The baby was gone.
I lay on the freezing operating table while the procedure cleared out what was left inside me.
For ten years, I had loved Alex with everything I had.
When he couldn't afford paint or brushes, I worked side jobs from morning to night.
When he needed a shot at fame, I knelt outside the door of a famous art figure with his paintings in my arms until I got him a spot in an exhibition.
Alex, I was damn near ready to cut out my whole heart and lay it in your hands.
My tears fell like beads off a broken string and soaked into the pillow.
I'm done waiting for your proposal.