Chapter 2

Matthew froze, looking completely innocent. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Did you forget how you just kicked me into the wishing fountain?"

Only then did Matthew realize that the Santa Claus he'd kicked was me.

But he didn't feel guilty at all. Instead, he said impatiently, "How was I supposed to know it was you, dressed like that?"

"So you fell in the water? What's the big deal? Do you have to give me that attitude?"

"I'm under so much pressure with my startup. Can't you be more understanding and stop messing up?"

Emily chimed in with her sweet, cloying voice, "Exactly, Mia. Matthew is doing all this for your future. As his girlfriend, shouldn't you be willing to make some sacrifices?"

She shook the necklace around her neck, and the diamond's glint hurt my eyes.

"Look, Matthew is so good to me. He said this is the Christmas gift he specially picked out for me."

I remembered that first winter when Matthew and I got together.

It was freezing cold, and we huddled in our unheated rental apartment.

He tucked my hands into his chest, breathing warm air on them to keep me warm.

He pointed at the tallest office building outside the window and said to me, "Mia, just wait. One day, I'll make you the lady of that place."

"I'll buy you the most beautiful necklace in the world and make you the happiest woman."

Back then, his eyes held stars, and they held me, too.

But now, his eyes only held desire and calculation.

I pulled myself back to the present and asked him calmly, "Matthew, when you kicked me into the water today, did you ever think that I might die?"

He looked like he'd heard the biggest joke ever.

"Die? In that 3-foot-deep pool? Besides, I didn't know it was you."

"Do you have to be so uptight about it?"

Emily giggled along with him.

"Mia, Matthew was just trying to make me happy."

"You're not jealous of me, are you? We're good friends."

Watching them play off each other made me want to throw up.

This was the man I'd loved for three years, the man I'd given up everything to support—a man who kicked me into icy water just to make another woman laugh, a man who treated me like an ATM and a maid without any guilt.

I must have been blind.

"Where's the bill? I'll go pay."

I stood up and said that to them.

Matthew looked satisfied, waving his hand like he was shooing away a fly.

"Hurry up. Don't waste more time."

Emily smugly lifted her chin at me.

I walked to the front desk, and the waiter handed me the bill.

"Miss, your total is three thousand six hundred and eighty dollars."

I took out my wallet. Inside were just a few hundred-dollar bills and all my bank cards.

I handed over a card.

"Use this one."

The waiter took the card and ran it through the POS machine, then handed it back to me apologetically.

"I'm sorry, miss. Your card has insufficient funds."

I tried another one.

"This one."

"Still not enough."

I tried all my cards, and the result was the same every time.

People in the dining room had started noticing the commotion, whispering about me.

Matthew walked over impatiently.

"Mia, what the hell are you doing? Why is it taking so long to pay?"

The waiter explained awkwardly.

"Sir, none of this lady's cards are going through."

Matthew's face instantly turned red in anger and embarrassment.

He snatched the cards from my hand and hissed in a low, angry voice.

"Didn't you say you had five thousand dollars in your account? Where's the money?"

"Didn't you use it to buy Emily that necklace?" I answered calmly.

He was shaking with rage, pointing his finger at my nose and cursing, "Shit! You're completely useless! You can't even pay for one meal. What good are you to me!"

His voice was loud, and everyone in the restaurant turned to look.

He snapped my cards and threw them on the floor.