The Proposal I Didn't Get, and the Wealth He Never Saw Coming

After two years of dating Darryl Griffin, I found a ring in his coat pocket. The very next day, he gave me two hundred dollar and told me to stay at a hotel for the night. Emphasizing that I shouldn't go home without letting him know. Excited by the thought of him preparing a surprise proposal party, I went to my parents’ house instead of the hotel and told them everything. But even late into the evening, I hadn't received any messages from him. Suspicious, I decided to return home quietly.  

When I opened the door, I saw Darryl slipping the ring onto the finger of a woman I didn’t recognize.  

The small crowd gathered around them clapped and murmured to each other.  

“I told you Darryl would choose Courtney. Sure, June’s younger and prettier, but her parents just sell buns for a living. They work their fingers to the bone and still barely make enough.”  

“And what does she do? Some sort of dream designer? Sounds fancy, but it’s really just a dead-end job. She barely lands two gigs a month and still relies on Darryl to support her.”

“Dating someone like June is fine, but Courtney’s marriage material. She earns over ten grand a month on her own and her dad’s a company manager. Marrying Courtney guarantees Darryl’s promotion down the line.”

Hearing this, I finally understood the kind of man I’d been with—a shallow opportunist who looked down on the less fortunate. What he didn’t know, though, was that if my family liquidated all our assets, this room wouldn’t be able to hold the cash.  

——

The room buzzed with chatter, but everyone’s attention was fixed on the couple kissing passionately by the floor-to-ceiling window. No one noticed me walk in.  

The decorations were in my favorite shades of blue and purple, but here I was, an uninvited outsider.  

Watching Darryl and Courtney locked in their heated embrace, I was seething. I stormed back to the entryway, grabbed a sneaker and hurled it at Darryl before flipping on the lights. The living room flooded with brightness.  

As if karma was on my side, the shoe struck both of them squarely in the face.  

“Hey, who do did that?”

“Ow! What was that?”

Darryl and Courtney both shouted, clutching their faces in shock.  

The crowd immediately parted, pointing at me with amused expressions as if enjoying a show.  

“June, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t I give you money to stay at a hotel tonight? Why did you come back?”

Darryl stormed toward me, yelling like a madman.

My gaze landed on the faint hickey on his neck and a sharp pain gripped my chest.  

“This is my home. Why shouldn’t I come back? Unless I’ve got it wrong, you’re still my boyfriend. Care to explain why you’re proposing to someone else here? Don’t tell me you’re just playing a game.”  

Darryl hesitated before responding.  

“June, I owe you an explanation. But this… this is the matter of the heart. I love her—it isn’t something I can control. I fell in love with Courtney at first sight and I have to marry her. I planned to tell you, but I hadn’t the time. But since you’re here, I want to make it clear. June Aldridge, let’s break up.”

“All right, let’s break up. But I just want to know—how did your taste get so bad? She’s not as tall as me, not as fair-skinned, not as pretty and definitely looks older. So tell me, what exactly made you choose her? What does she have that I don’t?”

I’d always believed in leaving people who didn’t love me anymore. There’s no point in giving them the chance to hurt you again. But after two years together, I couldn’t help but wonder what I lacked. If this relationship was going to end, I wanted to know why.  

“June, I’m the one who wronged you. And Courtney is my fiancée now so, you better show her some respect,” Darryl snapped, suddenly leaping to her defense.  

“Respect?” I scoffed coldly. “You’re proposing to her while we’re still together and then breaking up with me after the fact. That makes you a jerk. And her? She’s a homewrecker for getting involved with someone who’s already in a relationship. Anyone who does that doesn’t deserve respect.”