On my birthday, my girlfriend, the undisputed queen bee of Manhattan's elite, bailed on me again. This time, to hand out flyers for a foot massage parlor. "You're loaded," I said, barely containing my anger. "Do you really have to play this 'poor girl' game?" Jennifer's voice turned to ice. "I told you, I'm buying a gift for Leo with my own hard-earned money. And speaking of which, you need to get down to the spa right now, Asher. I signed you up for a shift. We're still a few hundred bucks short for his new laptop." I nearly ground my teeth to dust. "I'm done playing this game, Jennifer. We're over. The engagement is off." 1 I hung up, but Jennifer's calls kept coming, one after another, like a death knell. I finally blocked her number out of sheer frustration. My friend stared at me, his eyes wide. "Dude, Jennifer actually called you, and you hung up on her?" Everyone in our circle knew I was Jennifer's lapdog. I'd chased her for over a decade, and she only agreed to marry me because our families insisted on a merger. For years, she was the center of my universe, but I could never melt her frozen heart. I was tired. I raised my glass with a smile. "Here's to my birthday, and to being single again!" The words landed like a lead weight. The private room fell silent, everyone frozen in place. Suddenly, the door swung open. "Asher, you snake! You scored a free night in the VIP suite and didn't even invite us?" Jennifer breezed in, dragging a slightly awkward-looking Leo with her. In a room full of designer clothes and old money, Jennifer's twenty-dollar fast-fashion t-shirt and Leo's generic sneakers stuck out like a sore thumb. But instantly, the entire room shifted gears. Conversations about yachts and Michelin-starred restaurants morphed into debates over the best takeout deals, everyone playing along with Jennifer’s charade. My eyes immediately locked onto the Omega watch on Leo's wrist. The same one I'd bought with the money I'd earned driving for Uber after my day job and pulling all-nighters on freelance projects. Leo noticed my gaze and asked with faux innocence, "Hey, Asher, you're not mad, are you? That Jennifer used the money you worked so hard for to buy me this watch?" I scoffed and looked at Jennifer. She didn't say a word to shut down his obvious provocation. Instead, she soothed him. "Don't worry about it, Leo. The gifts I give you are bought with my money. No one else has a right to be upset." It was clear who Manhattan's queen bee favored. My so-called friends immediately fell in line. "Yeah, Leo, don't sweat it. Jennifer can spoil whoever she wants." "You've got great style, man!" "We're all Jennifer's friends, so we're your friends. Anything you need, just ask." A wave of bitterness washed over me. Some of the people fawning over him were my childhood friends, guys I’d known for twenty years. But two decades of friendship meant nothing against the queen bee's affection for her pet project. Just then, the waiter wheeled in the massive custom cake I'd ordered. I was about to blow out the candles, a small act of catharsis, when I heard Leo's ridiculously exaggerated gasp behind me. "Whoa! I've never seen a cake this big! Asher, can I make a wish and blow out the candles? Can I cut it?" I gritted my teeth, blew out the candles in one sharp breath, and took the knife from the waiter. "No." Leo’s smile froze on his face. He clearly hadn't expected me to refuse him. "Asher, you're being so cheap! It's just a cake! What's the big deal if Leo cuts it?" "Yeah, man, you won't even do that for Jennifer's friend?" "Don't worry, Leo. Next time, we'll all chip in and get you an even bigger one!" Even my best friend called me stingy. And Leo, the cause of it all, just stood there looking innocent. "It's fine if Asher doesn't want to. It's no big deal." "Of course it's a big deal if Leo wants it!" Jennifer strode over and snatched the knife from my hand. She moved so fast that the tip of the blade sliced my cheek. A sharp, stinging pain, followed by beads of blood. Someone bumped into me, and I stumbled back. The crowd swarmed around Leo, cheering him on as he prepared to cut the cake. I was pushed to the periphery. It was my goddamn birthday. My fists clenched. The anger boiled over. I pushed through the crowd and, with all my strength, flipped the entire cake onto the floor. My eyes were burning as I stared at Jennifer. "I'm done with this act!" She lunged to cover my mouth, but the words were already out. "If you and Leo want to play at being poor—" She clamped her hand over my mouth, her eyes darting nervously to Leo. When she saw that his expression hadn't changed, that he apparently hadn't heard, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she dragged me into a corner. "Asher," she hissed, her voice a low threat, "if you say one more word, we are done. Don't think this engagement gives you a free pass to do whatever you want." The coldness in her eyes pierced me to the bone. The years of love I'd given her felt like a pathetic joke. I nodded forcefully. Only then did she release me. I gasped for air. "Jennifer, we're already done. Whatever you and Leo do from now on has nothing to do with me." She stared at me for a second, then scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain. "Don't be so dramatic, Asher. You've been playing hard to get for twenty years. Can't you come up with something new? You were the one who was dying to marry me. You really think I'm going to believe you want to break up?" I saw the impatience in her eyes and just laughed. Before I could say anything else, Leo walked over, a worried frown on his face. "Jennifer, there's a problem with the New Peak proposal. The boss wants me to go back to the office and fix it now." He looked down at his clothes. "But my shirt got cake on it." When Jennifer looked at him, her expression softened with a warmth I'd never seen directed at me. She gently wiped a smudge of frosting from his cheek. "Don't worry, Leo. It's okay." Her eyes then flicked to me, her voice once again imperious. "Asher, you go back to the office and fix the New Peak proposal." "Why should I do his work? It's my birthday. I'm on vacation. It's his job, he can do it." Jennifer's face darkened. "You have thirty minutes to get back to the office." She scanned the room, her voice a whip crack. "Birthday's over. Everybody out." The room went silent. Thirty seconds later, I was alone in the trashed suite. I touched the cut on my cheek and winced. Being with Jennifer was like this. Getting close to her always meant getting hurt. This painful relationship should have ended a long time ago. Since we were broken up, there was no reason for me to stay at the family company, playing at being a low-level employee. The study abroad plans I'd postponed for years were finally back on the table. I leaned back on the sofa and submitted my resignation through the company portal. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable angry phone call from Jennifer, rejecting my resignation. But it never came. Instead, I opened my phone to see that Jennifer, from her desk in the executive suite, had approved it. She was even more ruthless than I'd imagined. I let out a bitter laugh. Well, if she wanted a clean break, so did I. I drove to the office to pack my things. To keep up the "poor" charade, my desk only held a cheap mug and a framed photo of me and Jennifer on our first day working in the trenches. At first, I thought we were genuinely experiencing what it was like for our employees. Jennifer was earning a pittance but still insisted on treating me to expensive dinners. We lived in a rundown rental, messing around like any other recent college grads—broke but happy. I thought that after twenty years, I had finally won her heart. I never imagined she was only there to get close to Leo. I tore the photo to shreds and threw it in the trash. As I packed my few belongings, a familiar, cloying voice called out. "Asher, you're really leaving?" It was Leo, his surprise as fake as his sneakers. I rolled my eyes and walked past him without a word. He darted in front of me and then, as if on cue, let out a yelp and crumpled to the floor. Jennifer came running, immediately fussing over him. Seeing that he was unharmed, she rounded on me. "Asher, why did you push Leo? Apologize to him right now!" Leo tugged on her sleeve, biting his lip. "Jennifer, don't be mad. Asher didn't mean to push me. He's just stressed about the New Peak proposal." At the mention of the proposal, her face went cold. "Where is it? Why haven't you submitted it yet?" "I resigned yesterday, Jennifer. Find someone else to do it," I said, my voice tight, and started to walk away. "Stop!" She grabbed my wrist. "Company proposals are confidential. How do we know you didn't steal it?" A crowd of coworkers gathered, and my face burned with humiliation. I emptied my bag onto the floor. "Then by all means, Team Leader, take your time and inspect everything. I don't want the bag or anything in it." I turned and left, ignoring her shouts and accusations. Back at the apartment we'd shared for over a year, I opened my laptop. I unfollowed her on every platform, changed the desktop background from our photo, and deleted a terabyte's worth of pictures of us. After packing a few essentials into my smallest suitcase, I was ready to go. There was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Jennifer, who was always forgetting her keys, I opened it. It was Leo. He slipped past me before I could react. His eyes scanned the matching pajamas on the clothes rack, the two worn-out indentations on the old sofa. He saw the wall covered in our photos, and his eyes turned red with jealousy. He strode over and started tearing them down. "Don't think she loves you, Asher," he sneered, kicking over our laundry rack. "What woman would let the man she loves suffer? She made you play this game with her, but she saved up to buy me anything I wanted." He kicked over our small folding table, his face a mask of triumph. I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. "You knew she was faking it?" He looked at me like I was an idiot. "She's been on the cover of Forbes, Asher. Everyone knows who she is." His expression hardened. "Jennifer is mine. Don't fight me for her, or I'll make sure you lose everything." I laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not interested in your trash." I glanced at the wrecked apartment, feeling nothing but a desire to leave. I picked up my suitcase and headed down the stairs. Two steps down, I was shoved hard from behind. I stumbled, and the world became a blur of motion as I tumbled down the staircase. I looked up to see Leo at the top of the stairs, a cruel smile on his face. Then, his expression changed. He deliberately tripped and fell, landing next to me. Seconds later, Jennifer appeared. She gently helped Leo to his feet, checking him for injuries before her eyes finally fell on my bleeding forehead. Her expression softened, and she started to help me up. But then Leo started to cry. "Jennifer, I'm not a homewrecker. I don't want to come between you and Asher." At his words, she instantly dropped me and rushed to his side, cooing and comforting him. Then she turned to me, her eyes filled with murderous rage. "Asher, what is your problem? Why do you keep bullying Leo? Do you really think I can't do anything to you, or your family?" She helped Leo to his feet. "Leo, don't listen to his jealous ramblings. Let's go to the hospital." Leo didn't move. His voice was choked with tears. "Jennifer… Asher said you're the queen bee of Manhattan. Is that true?" Jennifer flinched. She forced a calm she didn't feel. "What? Of course not. Don't listen to him." "He also said I'm only with you for your money. That I'm not good enough for you, and that he's the one who's in your league." His voice broke. "I'm sorry, Asher… Jennifer, I think… I think I'm really in love with you." Jennifer's whole body trembled. Her grip on his hand tightened. "Leo," she whispered, "I love you too." She glanced at me as if I were a roadblock to their happiness. "Asher is just paranoid. He's just saying that to upset you." Leo's tear-filled eyes brightened. "Really?" "Have I ever lied to you?" After soothing him, she turned her icy gaze back to me, her jaw clenched. "Asher!" The veins in her neck bulged, her eyes were bloodshot. Her voice was a low growl. "There's a limit to how jealous you can be!" She looked down at me on the floor, then helped Leo step over my body and walk away. I pushed myself up, my whole body aching, and dragged my injured leg out to the street to hail a cab to the hospital. In the emergency room, as a doctor cleaned the gash on my forehead, I saw a group of nurses whispering by the door. "That's the queen bee's fiancé. He must have pissed her off." "She's in the room across the hall with her new boy-toy, getting him a full check-up. She's so worried about him." "I bet the boy-toy is the future king of Manhattan." They giggled and then flocked into the room across the hall. After my wound was stitched and dressed, I lay in a hospital bed, booked a one-way ticket to Paris for that night, and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I sensed a presence. Jennifer was standing by my bed, her face dark. "Leo wants to break up with me," she said, her voice tight. "Are you happy now?" Her fists were clenched, her eyes blazing. She grabbed my shirt and dragged me out of the bed. I hit the floor hard, the pain in my head exploding. "You're going to go to Leo and tell him you made it all up. Tell him I'm not some rich girl, that you lied about everything." Seeing her so frantic, I couldn't help but laugh. She was being played just as much as I had been. My laughter seemed to push her over the edge. She started dragging me out of the room. "Jennifer, let go of me! I didn't tell him any of that! He knew who you were from the beginning!" She stopped, her eyes like chips of ice. "Still trying to slander him, even now?" She dragged me to Leo's bedside and threw me to the floor. I caught a glimpse of the smug, triumphant look in Leo's eyes before he arranged his face into a mask of wounded innocence for Jennifer. She gently stroked his hair. "Asher," she said, her voice dangerously calm, "tell me why you made up this story to trick Leo." I just smiled, a sad, tired smile. My flight was in a few hours. I didn't want any more drama. I looked at Leo. "You're right. I made it all up. Jennifer is just a regular intern." I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped my lips. Seeing that Jennifer had calmed down, I said, "Can I go now?" She seemed to snap out of a trance, a flicker of something I couldn't identify—panic?—in her eyes. I left the hospital and went straight to the airport. At the gate, my phone buzzed with messages from a new number. It was Jennifer. "Asher, where are you?" "I booked a suite at the Plaza. Let me make it up to you for your birthday." "Leo is timid. He'd be scared if he knew who I really was. If you help me keep this secret, I'll honor our engagement. We can get married next month, just like we planned." I snapped my SIM card in half and boarded the plane.
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