I Investigated My Ex for Billion-Dollar Tax Fraud

"Malani, do you have to go this far? I've gone public with our relationship, posted about it online, what more do you want?" Amias's voice carried a note of frustration as he accused me of being unreasonable.

Mentioning social media made me want to laugh. After we started dating, Amias didn't want to announce our relationship. He claimed he didn’t want us to become the center of gossip. Yet, on Valentine's Day, he uploaded a picture of himself alone, captioned: "Single and loving it."

My roommates were outraged when they saw it and vowed to stand up for me. As I calmed them down, I texted Amias demanding an explanation. His reply was blunt: "I told you, going public is a hassle. If you keep pushing this, maybe we should just break up."

So, I backed down. I was naive back then, thinking that as long as we loved each other, everything else was unimportant. Whether public or private, did it really matter if our hearts were united? But then Amias started posting photos of himself with Lana, his childhood friend. They were wearing matching Victorian-style outfits and taking cozy travel photos in the Alps. Everyone thought they were a couple, and Amias never corrected them.

I finally hit my limit and confronted him for the first time. Amias, absorbed in his video game, let me yell and vent, unfazed, saying, "If you keep this up, we’re done."

That time, I was silent for a long while before I said, "Then let's break up."