Chapter 5

As the car came to a stop, I couldn't shake off a bad feeling.

At the entrance of the new house, Jason covered my eyes.

Streamers fell from above, and Lila was practically bouncing with excitement. "Emily, check out how awesome I decorated the place."

Jason naturally leaned in closer. "This is incredible. Knowing you decorated this place makes living here feel so special."

As soon as I walked in, I saw pink floral wallpaper covering every wall and cartoon-shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It looked exactly like a kindergarten.

I was shaking uncontrollably. Looking at what was supposed to be a minimalist design, my eyes stung with disappointment. "So, this is the surprise?"

Jason didn't catch the sarcasm in my voice. He looked proud.

"No need to worry about decorating yourself. You can move in after the wedding. Aren't you going to thank Lila?" he said.

Lila giggled shyly. "Emily, I'll be staying late at work with Mr. Reed pretty often from now on."

"My room's right next to yours, so feel free to drop by and chat about work whenever you want," she added.

The sheer absurdity of it all made me burst out laughing. "Jason, have you lost your mind? You're actually moving your mistress into the house?"

Lila froze for a moment, then suddenly broke down, crying loudly. "Mr. Reed, did I mess up? I can change the deed back to Emily's name."

I couldn't believe it. "Wait, Lila's name is on the deed?"

Jason gave me that 'isn't it obvious?' look. "Come on, you already have your own apartment. I saw how hard it was for you to pay off the mortgage, so I put Lila's name on this one to cut down on taxes."

It felt like yesterday he was saying, "Of course, the house will only have my wife's name on it."

I spent months looking at places before finally settling on this one.

Even working out the renovation plans dragged on for three months.

But because I was short on cash, everything kept getting pushed back.

I told him we could use my money to get things started.

But he was totally against it. "No way. There's no way I'm letting my girlfriend pay for the renovations. Hang on a bit longer. I promise I'll make it perfect for you."

Back then, I was so touched by how much he wanted to handle everything himself that I actually cried.

But in the end, I was the one stuck paying off the mortgage all by myself.

Every month, as soon as my paycheck hit my account, most of it went straight to the mortgage.

When my coworkers asked me out for lunch, I'd say I was on a diet.

When the seasonal sales came around, I'd pretend I didn't even notice.

At night, I'd sit there with my calculator, trying to figure out when I'd finally pay off enough of the principal to catch my breath.

He said the company was tight on cash, so I should cover the mortgage for now and he'd pay me back with his year-end bonus.

But I still haven't seen a single cent.

And now, the deed has Lila Carter's name on it.

As I turned to open the door, our neighbor happened to walk by.

The neighbor couldn't stop praising Lila. "Moving in, huh? Young man, you really ought to thank your wife. She's so young, and she's really stuck it out with you through all the renovation headaches."

Jason's brows furrowed, but he didn't bother correcting him.

I looked around and saw Lila's stuff scattered all over the place.

The nausea in my stomach kept getting worse.

I didn't feel even a shred of attachment anymore.

"Jason, I'm breaking up with you," I said.