After Five Years Apart, She Spent My Birthday With Him

She always said she was busy, so I learned to spend my birthdays alone, my Valentine's Days alone, and travel to see her by myself. Last month, on our anniversary, I took a day off in advance and traveled to her city to see her. Six months ago, for her birthday, I turned down a work trip my company assigned me and lost my bonus because of it. Last year, on my birthday, she said she was busy with work, so I spent it alone at home. A friend once teased me. "They say a woman never remembers the man who goes through everything to reach her. You keep giving like this, and one day you'll be the only one left hurting." But I said those words with absolute confidence. "She's not that kind of person." Only now did I realize she had been right all along. When I got home, a message came in from Sophia. "Just got out of a meeting. I bought you a cake and had it delivered." I opened the door and found the chestnut Basque cheesecake he'd packed from that very restaurant waiting inside. But she'd forgotten that I was allergic to chestnuts. She was treating me like a trash bin for whatever Arthur didn't need. I replied. "You don't know I'm allergic to chestnuts?" "I'm busy enough all day. Where would I find the time to remember little things like that?" Her reply came fast, and I could almost hear the impatience in his tone. She couldn't even be bothered to remember my allergies, but she remembered exactly what kind of cake Arthur loved and where to get it. Yet I still remembered when we'd first gotten together. I was late for one of our dates, and Sophia had ordered ahead. One of the dishes was braised chicken with chestnuts. I didn't know, and my allergy flared up soon after I took a bite. Sophia panicked instantly, staying by my side and taking care of me for two days straight. Her voice filled with guilt, she said. "Terry, it's all my fault. I'll never let you suffer like that again." But now, she acted as if my allergy were nothing but a minor inconvenience. I truly couldn't understand why Sophia treated me this way. She hadn't always been like this. We were deskmates in high school. We used to joke that we were a pair of love-hate enemies. After the SATs were over, Sophia suddenly asked me. "Terry, which city do you want to go to school in?" I snapped back at her. "None of your business. What, are you planning to follow me?" But Sophia went quiet. A long time passed before she said, "And if I said yes? I don't want to just be your classmate. Wherever you go, I'll go. I want to stay with you, always. Can I?" I froze completely, and after a long while I said yes. After that we went to New York together. Even though we were on opposite ends of the city, every week she drove all the way over to see me, never complaining, just because she wanted to see me. She was already building her company in college, and by graduation it had started to take off. She couldn't bring herself to walk away from it. And for various reasons, I took a job back in our hometown. It was the first time we'd been apart since we met, and I believed with all my heart that two hours of separation would never be enough to break us apart. The day we parted, Sophia held me for a long time at the station. She told me, "Wait for me. I promise I'll have a future with you." But it turned out I was wrong. Her company kept growing, while the time he spent with me became less and less. Until now, when her heart had turned toward someone else, and the future he once promised me never arrived."Let's break up." I sent her that message. The next day, a friend went with me to the mall to cancel the order for the wedding ring we'd picked out. During our first year apart, Sophia had once told me, "Terry, within five years I'll marry you, no matter what." This year was supposed to be the fifth year. Yet he hadn't mentioned marriage even once since. I used to tell myself she was busy with work, that it was only natural she hadn't had time to think about these things.

If she wasn’t going to bring it up, then I'd be the one to propose. We'd been together for so long. A piece of paper and a proposal shouldn't have mattered more than everything we'd already built together. I'd reserved the ring, planning to propose on her birthday this year. And now, it no longer mattered. As I was going through the process of canceling the reservation, my friend suddenly asked. "Are you seriously still not getting it? You've had it reserved for so long. How can you just let it go all of a sudden?" Before I could answer, a familiar voice came from behind me. "You broke up with me yesterday, and today you're already in the mood to go shopping. Terry, you really know how to enjoy yourself." "When you're done with this tantrum, apologize. I'll pretend I never saw the breakup text you sent yesterday." Sophia said it to me with an edge of impatience. "Come on, Terry. Sophia is busy enough, don't act childish. Besides, if you're going to break up, you should do it cleanly. This brand's probably a little out of your budget, isn't it? Breaking up with her while still using her money? Isn't that a little... shameless?" Arthur said softly, standing beside him. I didn't answer him. I just turned the question back on Sophia. "Weren't you in a meeting? What are you doing here?" Sophia frowned, irritated. "Business trip. Can you keep those ridiculous thoughts out of your head for once?" I let out a mocking laugh. "A business trip that ends at a mall counter?" At that, Arthur spoke again. "Terry, Sophia's just tagging along to shop with me. Don't misunderstand her." "Go shopping with you? You just said this wasn't in my price range, but it's even less something someone who's only just started an internship could afford. Your mind isn't even on your work. All you think about is pleasing the boss. You certainly know how to use your position." My tone stayed flat. "Terry, how can you say that about me?" Arthur's voice was full of wounded innocence. "Are you done yet? Does putting other people down make you feel better? What makes you think you're any better? You're nothing but someone living off me." Sophia's voice turned cold with anger. I froze. Everything I'd meant to say suddenly died in my throat. I had never imagined that, in his eyes, I had become someone so worthless. The words had barely left her mouth when Sophia pointed at the most expensive watch in front of her, bought it without hesitation, and placed it in Arthur's hands. Then she looked at me and said. "It doesn't matter who she is. What matters is that I'm willing to let him spend my money, and you don't deserve it." My friend beside me finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted at her, "Sophia, have you got no shame saying things like that? When did he ever use that card you gave him? He bought that wedding ring with the money he saved himself!" "You think being successful makes you so impressive? If she had been in it for money, why didn't he dump you back when you started your company with nothing? It's not like there weren't rich guys chasing Terry!" Sophia scoffed. "That's because he knew I'd be even richer later. As for that rich girl, if Terry hadn't gone out of his way to flirt with her, why would she have looked at Terry at all? She was already weighing her options and keeping a backup plan. Clever, wasn't she?” "That's enough. You don't need to say any more." I cut them off. I took my friend by the arm and turned to leave. I pretended not to care, but my tears fell onto the polished floor beneath my feet. Sophia was still shouting my name behind me, but I didn't look back, not even once. Even after we got home, my friend wouldn't stop cursing Sophia. Tell me, what did you ever see in a woman like that? Back when she was starting her company, you were worried she didn't have enough money, so every month, after covering your basic expenses, you sent her everything you had left. You were even scared of bruising her ego, so you told her it came from her father. And now look. You never spent a single cent of her money, and she still calls you a gold digger." "And when you graduated, you had better opportunities in New York, but you said her father wasn't doing well and you were worried she'd be too busy with work to take care of her, so you chose a job back in your hometown. She's only come home a handful of times over the years. You're the one who's been taking care of everything for her!" "Now that her career's taken off, she still hasn't talked about closing the distance between us. Instead, he goes and cheats!” “Flirting with another man right in front of you, spending everything she earns on someone else!" As my best friend continued cursing Sophia, my tears fell uncontrollably. Every word was true. But I had convinced myself that as long as she truly loved me, none of that mattered. And now, I stared at the notification on my phone. Arthur had posted a new photo of himself wearing the ring Sophia bought for him, beaming like sunshine. It wasn't long before Sophia showed up in the comments.

【You deserve the best.】 Arthur replied right away. "Mm-hm! I want to be with you forever, Ms. Delgado." Only then did I notice that the couple's profile picture she and I had used for five years had been changed at some point, replaced with a matching set of pink rabbit avatars belonging to her and Arthur. Back when our long-distance relationship had just begun, Sophia had found a pair of couple photos and insisted we use them together. She'd said, "This way it's like we're together." And now, I was the only one still using the other half of our broken matching set. My tears fell onto the phone, but the words on the screen stayed sharp and impossible to ignore. Seeing this, my friend sighed. "I'm not blaming you. I just think you deserve better." "Since you've decided to break up, and there's not much room for growth in your current job anyway. Why not come work at our company? The pay's a lot better than what you've got now." "I'd love to. Thanks, buddy" I nodded hard, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill again. Since our relationship was already over, it was time for me to leave. The next day, once I'd finished packing, I went to Sophia's house. Her father was in poor health, and over the years I'd gone by every few days to look after her, so that Sophia could focus on work without worrying about anything at home. And now it was time for me to say goodbye to her too. The moment I pushed open the door, I saw two people I never expected—Sophia and Arthur. She was supposed to be back in New York, yet somehow here she was. When she saw me come in, Sophia shot me an impatient look and sneered. "Didn't you say you wanted to break up? What's with this act? Trying to win me back while pretending you don't have to worry about anything at home?" Arthur chimed in beside her, his voice gentle and sweet. "Terry, if you can't let Ms. Delgado go, you can just say so. No need to be so sneaky about it." John, Sophia's father, stood nearby and cut in, his voice filled with displeasure. "Sophia, that's enough out of you. And Arthur—you've got no right to speak here." I ignored Sophia and Arthur and turned to explain myself to John. "Sir, I came this time to say goodbye. I've changed jobs, and from now on…" Before I could finish, Sophia broke in. "Changed jobs? I never took you for someone with any ambition. Now you're suddenly pretending to care about your career?" John sighed. "Never mind. I've heard about what happened between you and Sophia." "Mom! What's that supposed to mean!" Sophia's voice sharpened with anger. "What do I mean? In these five years, how many times did you come home to see me? If Terry hadn't looked after me all the time, you might never have seen your father again!" John shouted back, giving no ground. "And as if that weren't enough, you've gotten involved with an intern. How could you do that to anyone?" Sophia gave a cold laugh, then said, "You think he actually wanted to do all that? All it took was a few little favors for him to win you over. He just knows he'll never find anyone better after leaving me!" Arthur spoke up beside her too. "Sir, there's a lot you don't know. Ms. Delgado is genuinely very busy, but Terry throws a fit over the smallest things all day long, just to feel important. Even we, as her employees, couldn't stand watching it." John cut in, his voice sharp with anger. "How can you stand there and say things like that?" Sophia continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What part of it is wrong? Even Terry himself admitted that he had no real skills. I'd been sick of that way of life for a long time." I froze. I'd said those words once, at a dinner with her friends. I wanted to make her look good in front of them. I never imagined she would twist it like this. "I'm out there grinding in New York while he sits at home with some cushy little job, doing nothing at all. Isn't that just him trying to live off me?" "You want to know why I like Arthur? He may only be an intern, but he's driven, he works hard, he's right there beside me solving every problem the company runs into. He's the one who deserves to be by my side." "And Terry? What can he do? Besides staying home and enjoying everything I have without a care, what else does he know how to do? And he uses a breakup to force me to give in, as if I actually care?" "What have I ever done wrong to him? Just being willing to call him my boyfriend was already more than enough. Am I supposed to be grateful and beg him not to leave? Do I need him?" She spoke quickly and coldly, as though she'd been holding all of it down for a very long time. John burst out. "You bastard!" I drew a slow breath. "There's no need for any of this. We've already broken up. There's nothing left to argue about, no right or wrong to settle." Sophia hadn't expected me to be so calm. She went on. "Fine, Don't ever come looking for me again!" I won’t. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll never cross paths again. Just then the doorbell rang.