You'll Miss Me When I'm Done

I took a good time in the bathroom for an hour and a half, putting on a face mask and doing my skincare routine before finally coming out.

I saw Peter still up, out on the balcony, smoking up on a lounge chair.

His gaze seemed empty, lost somewhere in the city lights. Bet he was missing his dear childhood friend again.

Well, I don't really care, so I just tossed the mask and went straight to bed.

I was already half-asleep when I felt someone sit at the edge of my bed. Peter whispered my name real soft, even leaning in to kiss me.

As soon as I caught a whiff of smoke, I frowned and pushed him away. I just rolled over and went right back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find him already off to work.

I finished my breakfast and called up the real estate agent from the second-hand housing center to talk about selling the house.

This place, well, I’d bought it outright with five years of my savings. It was supposed to be my pre-marriage asset.

Back then, Peter didn't have a dime and couldn't even afford rent.

So, he moved in with me instead.

Over the years, his company took off, and he never talked about moving out. When I asked him about it, he'd just grin and suggest something.

"Babe, we've made memories here. Why don’t we make this our forever home, hmm?"

I thought he was saving his money for something important related to his business.

That’s till I found out Josie came back to the States, had nowhere to stay, and my generous fiancé actually bought his "friend" a beach house!

It was worth 10 times this place!

Since I’m leaving, thought I might as well sell what’s mine.

The place is in a prime spot, so it didn't take long for interested buyers to reach out. Later, I made a big dinner, waiting for Peter to come home.

Figured it was time to put it all out there, give a proper goodbye, and end these eight years right.

But as soon as he sat down and I was about to speak, his phone rang.

"Peter! I'm in so much... so much pain!"

"Please, can you take me to the hospital?"

In an instant, Peter panicked, grabbing his coat and running to the garage.

"Babe, Josie fell and hurt her belly! It could be serious! I need to check on her now!"

I just sat there for a second then laughed at myself bitterly.

I could only finish off the dinner alone and had all his stuff packed up and sent to his office.

Peter didn't come home that night.

But Josie posted on Instagram sometime at night—a photo of my fiancé dozing off by her hospital bed.

[So grateful for my perfect guy. First word from the baby’s gonna be 'Daddy'!]

As soon as I saw that outrageous post, I blocked her, logged out, and deleted the app.

The next day, I wrapped up the sale with the buyer, changed the locks, and officially left the city behind.

Three days later, Peter took Josie home from the hospital.

On the way, they passed by a flower vendor, and Peter stopped, buying a big bouquet of bright red roses.

Josie laughed. "How did you know I love roses?"

Peter took a step back, saying, "Uh, they're not for you."

The smile on Josie's face froze.

Peter seemed to remember something and chuckled softly.

"It's for Hailey. She's been so quiet these past few days. I thought I'd give her something nice."

But when he got home with the flowers, the key wouldn't turn in the lock.

Frowning, he called out, "Babe? Hailey?"

Before long, the door opened.

Peter smiled, but that faded fast.

A stranger peeked out, sizing him up, "Who are you?"