You Lost Me First

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My mind was blank.

There was a time I told Nigel everything.

Now, I didn't want to tell him anything at all.

I turned to leave. But he grabbed my arm.

"What's wrong with you? It's only been a few days. Why are you acting like this?"

Before I could answer, Olivia stepped in between us.

"Nigel, can you help me with something?"

He didn't even look at me. "Sure. What's going on?"

She lowered her head, voice small and shaky. "I paid the down payment on my new apartment last week. But I don't have money left for renovations. The contractor's pushing to start. I've asked around, and no one can lend me anything. I really don't know what to do. Could you maybe… help?"

"Of course."

He didn't hesitate.

He pulled out his phone and made a call on the spot. His tone was firm. "List the house on South Bay. I don't care about the price. Sell it today, even if we lose money. The sooner the better."

Olivia dabbed at her eyes, as if she was holding back tears. "You can't do that. That place is in such a good neighborhood. Property values are rising. Selling now would be such a waste. And that was supposed to be your future home with Melissa. She won't agree to this."

She glanced at me, eyes flickering.

Nigel's voice turned cold. "What does it matter if she agrees? It's not her house."

Then he looked straight at me. "Olivia's all alone in this city. We should help her.

"We can rent after we get married. I'm already marrying you. That should be enough."

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

In his mind, I was a woman who couldn't live without him, someone who had to marry him no matter what.

He made it sound like marrying me was some kind of sacrifice.

Did he forget he was the one who pursued me in the first place?

What hurt even more was that he was selling our future home for Olivia.

I remembered another day clearly.

My mother was in critical condition. The doctor said that if we couldn't pay, they would stop the medication.

I cried so hard that I could barely speak. I begged Nigel to lend me 50 thousand and told him I would sign an IOU.

He said, "That house is all I have. I'm not selling it. Not a chance."

Now, Olivia just needed money to redo her floors and kitchen, and he was ready to dump the place without blinking. He even said losing money didn't matter.

So that was the difference.

My mother's life wasn't worth as much as Olivia's renovation.

My face felt numb. My voice came out steady. "It's your house. Sell it if you want."

He frowned, looking as if he wanted to argue, but he didn't.

I turned again. But he caught my wrist.

"I've been tied up wrapping up projects," he said quietly. "This Saturday, I'll go visit your mom. She always wanted to see us get married. We can talk about the wedding and start planning."

Something twisted in my chest.

He hadn't visited her once throughout her hospital stay.

When my mother asked about him, he was either busy helping Olivia move, or driving her to buy furniture, or picking out appliances with her.

Now, she was gone.

And he said he would go see her.

I took a slow breath and looked at him. "There's no need."

I didn't look back. I just walked faster until he was behind me, and the street swallowed me up.

When I got back to my empty studio apartment, my phone rang.

It was a friend. She said a headhunting firm had reached out. They wanted me and were offering triple my current salary. She asked if I would consider it.

"Yes," I said.

I didn't hesitate.