The Eighth Anniversary

In our eighth year together, Leo Jones was the first to forget our anniversary. The rented apartment leaked drafts, the pork rib soup I'd heated sat cooling on the table, and when he pushed the door open, he carried the scent of an unfamiliar perfume. "Daisy, let's break up." His voice was calm, like he was just talking about what he ate today, without a hint of hesitation. The fingers holding the spoon suddenly clenched tight, knuckles white; even when the soup spilled onto my hand, I didn't feel the burn. "Why?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly; eight years of love—how could he say it so casually? Leo tugged at his tie, a look of pride on his face I'd never seen before. "I've fallen for someone else. Vivian can offer me a better future. With her, I won't have to squeeze onto buses or live in some rented apartment anymore." Vivian, Vivian Smith—he once said she was the only daughter of the Smith Group. My heart just sank to the bottom. So those nights he'd come home late and his half-hearted replies were all because of this. "We've been together for eight years. You said we'd save money together to buy a house." I still wanted to hold on to that last shred of hope. Leo sneered, his eyes full of contempt. "Save money? Save until when to stand your ground in this city? Daisy, you're way too naive—love doesn't put food on the table." He took two steps closer, his voice thick with condescending disgust. "But once I'm back on my feet, if you want, you can be my mistress." I stared at his face and suddenly felt he was a stranger—this wasn't the Leo Jones who used to slip my hands into his pockets on cold winter days. "Leo Jones, what makes you so confident to say that?" I laughed—laughed at myself for being so foolish, laughed at him for being so blind. He had no idea that just last month, the wife of Smith Group's chairman took my DNA test and tearfully acknowledged me as her lost daughter of twenty years. Nobody knows, Vivian Smith's supposed "only daughter's" status might not last much longer. Leo's face darkened, thinking I was just stubborn. "Daisy, don't be ungrateful. You're just an ordinary person with no background. You can't compare to Vivian at all." He glanced around the rented apartment we'd lived in for five years, his tone dripping with scorn. "I'll never live in this dump again. Once I become part of the Smith family, you won't even deserve to see me." I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms, the pain keeping me awake. "You haven't even stepped into the Smith family yet, so don't count your chickens before they hatch." "Maybe the one who ends up regretting this will be you, not me." Leo Jones paused for a moment, then burst out laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke ever. "Regret? Vivian and I are already talking wedding dates. She's about to introduce me to her parents. I'm about to make a huge leap up the social ladder. You're just jealous." His face twisted into a hateful sneer. "Daisy Scott, if you keep pestering me, I'll make you pay back every cent I've spent on you over these eight years—I've got all the receipts." A chill ran through me. So he'd been watching me all along, keeping track of every expense, waiting for today to settle the score. We'd been together for eight years, splitting rent fifty-fifty. I bought him clothes and shoes pricier than my own, and he actually had the nerve to say I owed him money. That night, Leo packed his things and walked out without a backward glance—didn't even take the scarf I knitted or drink a single sip of the soup I made. I sat alone in that empty room till dawn, slowly forcing myself to accept the reality. The next day, a friend called to say she'd seen Leo with Vivian Smith at a hotel downtown. On some crazy impulse, I raced there and caught them hugging in the hotel hallway as they stepped out. Leo Jones looked at me without a hint of panic; instead, he was completely confident. Vivian Smith linked her arm with his, her stomach slightly showing, and looked at me provocatively. "Miss Scott, I'm pregnant with Leo's child. You should stop bothering him." I looked at Leo; he avoided my gaze and said only, "I'm sorry, Daisy, but I really have no choice." No choice? You just couldn't refuse Vivian's money and status, could you? I nodded. "Fine, let's break up."