Chapter 1 My best friend Chloe was a terrible driver and constantly scraped her car, so she bought the parking space right between mine and my fiancé’s. They both got off work earlier than I did, so every time I came home, Chloe’s car would be parked crookedly, spilling over the line into my spot. Because of this, I was forced to park in an uncovered overflow lot a mile away. I would then have to walk all the way back. Chloe often felt bad about it and would frequently come over to our place to cook for me as an apology. That was, until the day the city issued a severe flash flood warning. Once again, I couldn't pull into my spot. I had no choice but to trudge a mile back home through the torrential, pouring rain. When I finally got inside, I saw my fiancé, Ethan, and Chloe discussing what to have for dinner. They noticed me standing there, looking like a drowned rat. Chloe stuck her tongue out playfully and said sheepishly, "I'm so sorry, Mia. I was just so scared of scratching Ethan's car. I'll make sure to park better next time." Ethan immediately grabbed a dry towel for me. "Just park a little closer to my side next time, Chloe. If you scratch it, you scratch it. Let's not make things difficult for Mia." Every single time, before I could even say a word, they were already apologizing and admitting fault. Suddenly, I just felt incredibly exhausted by it all. I gave a noncommittal hum and walked into the bathroom. Peeling off my soaking, sticky clothes, I sank into the bathtub. During the half hour I soaked, I could hear their laughter and chatter from the living room. The hot water felt amazing, and the tub was the perfect size for just one person. In that moment, everything clicked. A parking space I couldn't squeeze into. I wasn't going to squeeze anymore. A relationship with no room left for me. I was walking away from that, too. ... When I stepped out of the bathroom, my phone screen was lit up. The property manager had just texted me: "Ms. Vance, your parking space is in a prime location. Are you absolutely sure you want to sell it?" I stared at that line of text for a few seconds before typing back one word. "Yes." He replied almost instantly: "Great. I've had people asking about it for a while. If the price is right, we can sign the paperwork tomorrow." Looking at the message, I suddenly let out a long exhale. The frustration that had been building up inside me for a year finally found its release. This past year, I had swallowed so much resentment over that parking space. Chloe always claimed she was a bad driver, always terrified of scratching Ethan's car, so her tires repeatedly crossed the line into my spot. When I got home from working late, the only thing waiting for me in the garage was a gap too narrow to squeeze into. I would call her, and she wouldn't answer. Eventually, Ethan would pick up. His voice would be hushed, like he was afraid of waking someone up: "Just park outside for now. She didn't do it on purpose. I'll remind her next time." I remembered those exact words to this day. After that, every time she took my spot, he had a perfectly packaged excuse ready for her. She didn't do it on purpose. She already apologized. She gets nervous, she's scared to park. The whole world was terrified of Chloe feeling bad. I was the only one who wasn't allowed to be upset. I dried my hair and walked out. A dinner of four dishes and a soup was already set on the table, and they were already eating. Chloe was sitting next to Ethan, looking down as she picked the bones out of her fish. Ethan casually placed a piece of ribs on her plate and slid a napkin over to her hand. The movements were so fluid, as if he had done it a thousand times. Chloe saw me first. She looked up and smiled: "Mia, you're done washing up! I was worried the food would get cold." Ethan looked up too: "Come eat." I stood exactly where I was. The cold air from the AC hit the wet hair at the nape of my neck, making me shiver. I only said one sentence: "I'm cold." Chloe had the remote in her hand; she had just lowered the temperature. She glanced at Ethan first before turning to explain to me: "I'm sorry, I just finished cooking and I was a little hot." Before she even finished her sentence, her eyes welled up with tears: "Are you still mad at me? I really didn't park crookedly on purpose." Ethan frowned: "Mia, she's been working all day, and she still went out of her way to cook for us. Can you not give her an attitude the second you walk out?" I looked at him, my voice completely flat: "I only said I was cold." He froze for a second, but then put some food on my plate, talking to me like he was coaxing an unreasonable child: "Just eat first. Don't overthink things." I sat down and picked up my fork. The shrimp was my favorite garlic butter recipe, but swallowing it felt like swallowing glass. This was supposed to be my home, but they were talking about people and politics at their company that I knew nothing about. When they laughed, their banter was completely seamless. I occasionally looked up, feeling entirely like a third wheel who had crashed their dinner date. Chloe was a master at knowing exactly where the boundaries were, and how to push them. She kept a pair of her slippers by the front door, claiming it was just "convenient." Her face wash sat on the bathroom counter—just a "habit." There was always her favorite brand of yogurt in the fridge. Ethan said he just picked it up "since he was already at the store." In this house, she acted more like the woman of the house than I did. Chapter 2 My phone buzzed again. The property manager asked: "Ms. Vance, there's an interested buyer who wants to meet and sign the contract tomorrow around noon. Does that work for you?" I replied: "That works." Chloe was still smiling at me: "Mia, next time you're going to be late, let me know in advance so I can save some food for you." I looked up at her: "You don't need to do that anymore." Her smile froze. I pushed my bowl away: "I'm full." Ethan's tone dropped: "What is your problem now?" I didn't explain. I used to always worry that I wasn't communicating clearly enough. Later I realized, it wasn't that he didn't understand. It was just that he didn't care. Before I closed my bedroom door, I heard Chloe ask softly: "Ethan, did I make her mad again?" Ethan murmured back, comforting her: "Just ignore her. She's been under a lot of stress at work lately." I stood leaning against the door for a long time. The light in the living room was warm, and their laughter felt so close. But in that moment, I understood for the very first time. There had been no place for me in this house for a long time. Early the next morning, our three-person group chat pinged. Chloe sent a string of messages: "Mia, do you hate me?" "Are you really mad at me over the parking spot?" Followed by several crying emojis. Ethan replied to her almost immediately: "Don't overthink it, she's just been busy with work." "The parking thing was an accident anyway, stop stressing yourself out over nothing." Sitting on the subway, looking at those messages, I suddenly found the whole situation hilarious. It was my parking spot. I was the one who had to park blocks away and walk home every day. I was the one squeezed out of my own space. Yet, somehow, word by word, they painted me as the petty, irritable one. I didn't reply. At noon, I took my lunch break to go to the leasing office and sign the contract. The manager still tried to persuade me: "This really is a prime spot. Are you absolutely sure you want to let it go?" I picked up the pen without hesitation: "I'm sure." The moment the ink hit the paper, my chest actually felt lighter. I was done standing in a dark parking garage, waiting for someone to grant me a scrap of consideration. After work, I drove into my building's underground garage. From a distance, I could see that white car. The front bumper was over the line, the back end angled sharply. It was parked with the exact same unapologetic arrogance. I sat in the driver's seat and watched it for a few seconds, suddenly letting out a laugh. So, whether I sold that spot or not, it made absolutely no difference to her. She was always going to park like that. I parked in a visitor spot and went upstairs. Before I even put my key in the lock, the sound of laughter drifted through the door. Chloe sounded ecstatic: "Thank god you reacted so fast, otherwise if she really sold it to someone else, where would I park?" Ethan was laughing too: "Didn't I tell you? Just buy it first, worry about the rest later." My hand froze on the key. So the buyer the property manager mentioned... was Ethan. The apartment fell quiet for a second. Chloe asked in a small voice: "If Mia finds out, will she be mad?" Ethan sounded utterly unbothered: "She's just throwing a little fit. Give it a couple of days, coax her a little, and she'll be fine." "What if she still won't let me park there?" "The spot is in my name now. It's not her call to make." In that moment, I lost even the strength to turn the key. When I signed those papers yesterday, I thought I was finally extracting myself from this mess. Turns out, the second I sold my spot, he bought it right back, just so he could keep giving it to her. Chapter 3 I pushed the door open, walked straight into the bedroom, and dragged my suitcase out. Ethan followed me in, his face darkening: "Mia, what kind of stunt are you pulling now?" I started throwing my clothes into the suitcase one by one: "I'm moving out." "Over a parking space?!" I didn't stop packing. He slammed his hand down on the suitcase, his voice rising with anger: "Before you sold that spot, why didn't you discuss it with me?" I looked up at him: "It was my parking space. Why would I need to discuss it with you?" He choked on his words, his face growing even uglier: "We're getting married in two weeks, and you're insisting on drawing lines like this?" I stared right at him: "Did you buy that spot?" "Yeah, I bought it. So what?" He answered without hesitation, "You were selling it anyway, I wasn't going to let some stranger buy it. It's hard for Chloe to park, leaving it between us is the most convenient option for her." I asked softly: "Convenient for who?" He finally lost his patience: "Stop acting crazy. It's just a parking space. I'll just buy you another one, alright?" It's just a parking space. He made it sound like I was being incredibly petty. I zipped up the suitcase and looked at him with a cold smile: "Ethan, forget the wedding. I don't want to marry you anymore." The moment the words left my mouth, Ethan's face completely fell. "The wedding is in two weeks, and you're dropping this now?" In the living room, Chloe walked up to the bedroom door, her eyes already red: "Mia, please don't do this. This is all my fault." I turned to her: "Yes, it is your fault. Do you even know what you did wrong?" The color drained from her face. Ethan blocked the doorway, his tone turning icy: "If you walk out that door tonight, we are absolutely done. There's no coming back from this." I ignored him and looked down at my phone. Sitting in my inbox was an email from the International Division: "Confirmation of Overseas Assignment. Please reply by the end of the week to accept the offer." I had been staring at this email for three days. I had been hesitating, but now, there was no need. Right in front of them, I opened the email and typed two words. "I accept." The moment the email sent, my mom called. "Mia, have you lost your mind?! You're blowing everything up over a parking space?! The wedding is almost here, what are our friends and family going to think?!" Immediately after, my dad took the phone: "Mia, stop this nonsense. You're about to be a married woman, you can't be this selfish." They didn't even ask me why I was leaving before deciding I was the one in the wrong. I couldn't embarrass the families. I hung up the phone without a word. A little while later, the doorbell rang. Chloe stood outside, holding an insulated delivery bag: "Mia, I made you some soup." I didn't let her in: "Just say what you came to say." She kept her head down, tears falling on cue: "Why do you have to break up? If it's about the parking space, I promise I'll never park there again, okay? If you want that spot, I'll give it back to you." I almost laughed out loud: "Give it back? It was mine to begin with." She choked for a second, then forced a smile: "We've been friends for so long, there's no need to destroy everything over something this small." "Then why did you have Ethan buy it?" She cried even harder: "I didn't tell him to buy it! He did it because he felt bad for me. You've known since day one that I'm a terrible driver. You always used to be so understanding." I nodded: "Right. So I should be understanding about you stealing my fiancé too?" She went silent. I enunciated every single word: "All these years, you constantly taking my parking spot... was it really because you're a bad driver, or were you trying to send a message?" Her innocent facade finally cracked: "Do you really have to be this vicious?" I stared at her: "Are my words vicious, or are your actions?" She wiped her tears, deciding to drop the act completely: "I never tried to steal anything from you. Ethan and I work at the same company, we just naturally head in the same direction." I lost whatever patience I had left and gave a mocking smile. "Right, you're always the innocent one. Whether you were just 'heading in the same direction' or doing it on purpose, you know the truth." She had nothing left to say. Before leaving, she set the insulated bag on the ground, stared at me, and said: "Mia, you're going to regret this." Before I shut the door, I gave her one last reply: "I do regret it. I regret not seeing you both for what you are sooner." The next day at the office, people were gossiping in the breakroom about an upcoming partnership meeting. "I heard we're going over to Sterling Corp today." "Last time I was in their parking garage, I saw Manager Cross's car parked right next to a female coworker's." "The Chloe girl, right? They're always grabbing coffee together here too. Wait, isn't Ethan engaged to Mia?" Several pairs of eyes immediately darted toward me. I didn't explain a single thing. Right then, my boss walked out of his office and called me out: "Mia, head over to Sterling Corp this afternoon and finalize the specs for the new project." I said okay. In that moment, I suddenly felt incredibly pathetic. Even random bystanders saw the problem before I did. I was the only idiot who had been completely blind to it. Chapter 4 At 3:00 PM, I carried my files over to Sterling Corp. I had just finished signing in at the front desk when laughter drifted over from the breakroom area. I looked up and saw Ethan and Chloe walking out, shoulder to shoulder. They were each holding a coffee. Someone nearby teased: "Manager Cross, buying coffee for Chloe again?" Chloe laughed naturally: "He insisted! I couldn't stop him." Ethan didn't deny it. He looked up, saw me, and the smile instantly froze on his face. I took my visitor badge and walked right past them without a word. The meeting lasted an hour. I remained perfectly calm the entire time. Ethan looked up at me several times, but I never met his eyes. When the meeting ended, I shut my laptop and left, my expression entirely blank. As I walked out of the conference room, Ethan chased after me and cornered me in the elevator. "What was that attitude today?" "Just doing my job." "You saw Chloe and me earlier. Why didn't you say anything?" I turned to look at him: "If I asked, would you have told the truth?" He was stumped. When we got out of the elevator, he was still following me, lowering his voice: "The wedding is in exactly two weeks. Throwing a fit now isn't going to do anyone any good." I saw the flash of anger in his eyes and said flatly: "The only thing you care about is whether or not this wedding makes you look bad, isn't it?" He was silent for a few seconds before finally taking a step back: "I admit, Chloe and I have been close lately. But we are just coworkers. She's a bit clingy, and I couldn't exactly make things awkward for her." My heart couldn't even manage to ache anymore. I just suddenly saw everything with crystal clarity. "It breaks your heart to make her feel awkward, but what about me?" "I couldn't even park in my own spot in the garage, and you told me not to make things difficult for her. I felt like a stranger in my own home, and you told me I was overthinking things. I sold my own property just to get some peace, and you turned around, bought it, and gave it right back to her. Ethan, don't you realize how unbelievably hypocritical you are?" His jaw tightened. It took him a long time to say: "I'll be more careful with my boundaries from now on. Let me drive you home tonight, we need to really talk." I declined and turned to walk away. "Save it. We have nothing left to talk about." After that, he started bombing my phone with texts. "Did you eat yet?" "Let's go look at wedding dresses this week." "The wedding planner is pushing for the final itinerary, are you free tonight?" I muted his notifications. Fourteen days until the wedding. Exactly fourteen days until I was supposed to report for my overseas assignment. I flipped my desk calendar to that date, my chest feeling tight. That was supposed to be the most highly anticipated day of my entire life. Now, it was just the countdown to my departure. Over the next few days, I tied up every single loose end. I had a courier retrieve my passport and personal documents from his place. In the three-person group chat, Ethan was still pretending everything was normal: "Mia's been really busy lately. Should Chloe go check out the final wedding dress options for her?" Chloe replied instantly: "Sure! I have great taste, I promise she'll love it." I stared at the screen, and suddenly decided not to leave the group chat. I wanted to see exactly how far they were willing to go in managing my life for me. The night before I left, Ethan sent me a massive block of text. [I'll be downstairs to pick you up at 7 AM tomorrow.] [Leave everything else to me.] [As long as you stop being so difficult, we can have a good life together.] I didn't reply to a single message. The morning of the wedding, he arrived downstairs in his tuxedo, while I was already sitting in a cab headed to the airport. My phone was vibrating non-stop. I didn't answer a single call. Later, my real estate agent told me he had sprinted upstairs, pounded on my door for ages, and eventually kicked it, only to be dragged away by security. Inside the apartment, there was only an empty desk, and a piece of paper I had left for him. There was only one sentence written on it: "Ethan, we are completely over." Not long after, he sent one final text: "Mia, if you don't show up today, I'll have Chloe take your place." Looking at those words, I suddenly felt absolutely nothing. My parents were calling me back to back. My mom left a voicemail saying all the relatives had arrived. I ignored them. Ethan was frantically texting me, asking if I had lost my mind. I switched my phone to silent and looked up at the departure gate. The PA system announced final boarding. I powered off my phone, dropped it into my bag, and blocked every single one of them in my mind. Without a single backward glance, I walked onto the plane.
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