Chapter 1
My boyfriend's female confidante was mad at him again.
All because, on our five-year anniversary, he only got me a gift and forgot hers.
She threw a tantrum, crying and cursing. To appease her, he blocked and deleted me, even changing our matching profile pics.
"She's just throwing a fuss, baby," he said to me. "Let me calm her down first, then we'll change the profile pics back."
I reminded him quietly, "This is the hundredth time you've said that."
He just laughed, kissed my lips, and promised, "I know. This time it'll be quick."
That night, she posted on social media: [Since you are so well-behaved, I'll grant you three days of freedom.]
Minutes later, I got an unblocked notification and a message from him. [Okay baby, we can change our profile pic back now.]
But before I could reply, a male account, with my face as its profile pic, texted him first: [What kind of couple profile pic needs three people?]
*****
Allen Wright glanced at the message from the stranger and let out a laugh.
He said, "Babe, looks like you finally learned how to mess with me."
He shook his phone, then stood up and pulled me into his arms.
He said, "It's my fault, baby. You never got upset the last 99 times, but now you finally know to be mad at me."
"I'm not mad," I said, pushing him away. "I'm really breaking up with you."
Allen burst out laughing. He pulled me into his arms.
He said, "Alright, baby, I get it. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. But you've let me off the hook 99 times already. I really should know better.
"I came back this time just to make things right with you."
He placed a gift box right in front of me.
When I opened it, twelve rubies were lined up perfectly inside.
Allen said, "Last year, you joked that you'd marry whoever got you a Sunrise Ruby.
"Babe, these twelve rubies represent each month of the year. Do you like how hard I worked for you this year?"
Then Allen suddenly got down on one knee, holding out a diamond ring.
At that moment, all the doors flew open and our friends set off confetti poppers.
"Happy 25th birthday, Eden!" one of them cheered.
"Say yes! Marry him!" everyone started chanting.
I was completely stunned by the whole setup.
These rubies came from Mongok, Ruzenland. The last time one was auctioned, it went for 30 million dollars.
I'd just said it offhand before, but he actually remembered all this time.
Colorful streamers fell on my hair as Allen took my hand and slid the ring onto my finger.
"Baby, I've been waiting for this day forever," Allen whispered.
Suddenly, Allen's phone rang. He picked up, and just like that, his smile disappeared.
I could hear Willow's anger blazing through the line.
She shouted, "Who gave you permission to propose? I only said you could have three days free. Not only did you forget my present, but now you're proposing to her?
"Did I agree to it? What am I to you?"
Allen just stood there, stunned.
He shot a look at our friends, almost on reflex.
One of our friends, who was mid-recording and about to share the video, froze and quickly put his phone down.
Allen glared at him, ripped the diamond ring off my finger, and stormed out.
"I swear, Willow, I wasn't trying to hide it from you," Allen replied to Willow.
"Hey, Allen!" Someone stepped in to block his way. "What about Eden?"
"Forget it. Let's get out of here," Allen snapped.
One guy shot me a look, shook his head, clicked his tongue, then shut the box of rubies and walked off with it.
He remarked, "Wow, I really thought Allen was finally gonna settle down this time. Guess she just isn't that lucky."
Another said, "Any bets on how Allen's gonna smooth things over with Willow? She's seriously mad this time."
Someone added, "Whatever else happens, these rubies would be compensated to Willow, right?"
That night, Willow posted an update on her feed.
She'd posted a photo of all twelve rubies tossed straight into the trash, with the caption: [Ugh, who wants something that's already been handled by someone else? No me. Hmph!]
Right after, she posted another update.
The photo showed twenty-four gorgeous blue sapphires, all lined up and sparkling inside a luxury velvet gift box.
Willow's slender fingers touched the box, her ring finger flaunting the lifetime-exclusive DR diamond ring.
She wrote: [Compared to rubies, sapphires just look so much less tacky. Since he gave me his only lifetime custom slot, I guess I'll forgive him.]
Allen liked her post, commenting: [Thanks for going easy on me, Willow.]
Their mutual friends went wild, hitting the like button.
In the past, I probably would've ended up crying and throwing a fit, demanding Allen give me an explanation.
But this time, I just hit like on her post and, without hesitation, deleted Willow from my contacts.
Along with her, I deleted all our mutual friends too.