After years of dating, we finally bought a house together. That weekend, we were supposed to have a housewarming party. I went over early to decorate and cook. When I opened the door, I found a girl in cartoon pajamas curled up barefoot on our sofa, hugging my pillow and scrolling through her phone. She glanced up at me and pointed casually toward the kitchen. "Are you the caterer? The dining room is that way. And Jake likes his food on the bland side, so go easy on the salt." My boyfriend, Jake, walked in right behind me. The girl leaped up and ran to him, and he playfully flicked her on the forehead. "Troublemaker. Ordering people around again?" He turned to me with a smile. "This is Chloe, our neighbor's daughter. We grew up together. She's like a little sister to me." At dinner, I ladled some mushroom and clam chowder into his bowl. Chloe immediately snatched it away and took a big gulp. "Mm, not bad. But Jake, you're allergic to shellfish. I'll take care of these clams for you!" She slurped down the soup, then used her own chopsticks to pile his plate high with food. Later, the conversation turned to home decor. She draped herself over his mom's arm, pouting. "Auntie, you promised you'd save a room for my art studio! Now it's full of someone else's stuff." Jake's mom just chuckled and patted her head. "Silly girl, you're the one who decided to go study abroad." I looked around at the home I had so carefully decorated, a home this girl seemed to know better than I did, and I put down my fork. "It seems this family already has a designated lady of the house." "Jake," I said, my voice steady, "why don't you just marry her instead?" Then, to the stunned silence of the entire table, I stood up and walked out. 1 I had gotten up at the crack of dawn, my arms loaded with groceries for the party. There were curtains to hang, floors to mop, and his favorite dishes to prepare—the ones that took hours. When I walked in, she was there, barefoot on the sofa in her pajamas, clutching my Hello Kitty pillow. She barely looked up. “Oh, you’re the help? Just leave the food in the dining room. And Jake doesn’t like a lot of salt.” I was still processing when Jake walked in, carrying a bag of fruit. The girl shot up like a rocket. “Jakey!” she squealed, running circles around him. “Where’s my present?” He just smiled, pulled a small, elegant box from his pocket, and handed it to her. So that’s who the necklace he’d stood in line for an hour to buy was for. He finally glanced at me, then flicked her forehead. “Troublemaker. Bossing people around again? This is my girlfriend, Sarah.” Then, to me, “This is Chloe. Our families have known each other forever. She’s like a sister.” Chloe was admiring her new necklace, preening. She shot me a dismissive look. “So, Jakey, is your girlfriend’s cooking any good? You know how picky I am.” Jake just ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, Sarah’s an amazing cook. You’ll see.” Something about the exchange made my stomach churn. Jake must have noticed my expression because he leaned in and took my hand. “Hey, it’s just how we are. Our families are really close. It's a tradition. They’ve helped us out a lot over the years.” I let it go. For now. Chloe, beaming, turned on the TV. “Great! My mom’s bringing over dumplings later. Your favorite, Jakey!” That’s when I found out that Chloe’s family had just moved into the new villa next door. A fact Jake had conveniently forgotten to mention when we were buying the place. But the house was full of people and laughter, so I swallowed my questions. At dinner, I served Jake a bowl of his favorite clam chowder. I’d simmered it for two hours. Just as he picked up his spoon, Chloe’s hand shot out and grabbed the bowl. “Not bad,” she said after a large mouthful. “But Jakey, did you forget you’re allergic to shellfish? Your girlfriend isn’t very attentive, is she?” she said with a wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of these for you.” She finished the soup in a few gulps and then, using her own chopsticks, piled his plate high with food. “Eat this, and this! I know exactly what you like.” I froze, my own fork hovering mid-air. I knew my own boyfriend’s allergies. We had traveled together countless times. He always said my cooking was the best, that I knew him better than he knew himself. I waited for Jake to say something, to correct her. But he just took the plate she offered him and gave me a helpless look. “She’s always been like this. A born worrier. Don’t mind her, Sarah.” A lump formed in my throat. Later, Chloe was complaining to Jake’s mom about the decor. “Auntie! You promised me a room for an art studio, but now it’s filled with someone else’s things! My ‘Starry Night’ replica would look perfect in here!” His mom just laughed. “You’re the one who wanted to go abroad, silly. But you’re right, it would look lovely in the living room.” Everyone at the table agreed. Chloe then proceeded to critique my choice of dinnerware (“not practical”) and the fresh flowers I’d arranged (“the colors are all wrong”). I slowly put down my silverware. The clink of the spoon against the bowl seemed to echo in the sudden silence. Jake nudged my knee under the table. “What’s wrong, Sarah?” Before I could answer, Chloe was dangling a piece of shrimp in front of his face. “Open up, Jakey! This is so sweet!” That was it. I stood up so abruptly my chair scraped against the floor. “It seems this family already has a designated lady of the house,” I said, my voice shaking. “Jake, why don’t you just marry her instead?” He caught up with me on the lawn, grabbing my arm. “Sarah, don’t make a scene.” I shook him off, my eyes burning. His mother followed us out. “Jake, apologize to Sarah right now!” He took a deep breath. “Chloe doesn’t have any boundaries. I’m sorry on her behalf. But we’ve been together for so long. Are you really going to throw it all away over an outsider?” His voice softened, a note of panic creeping in. “We’re supposed to see your dad next week. Don’t you want me to come with you anymore?” That hit me where it hurt. After my mom died, my dad’s only wish was to see me settled and happy. He was an old man with a bad leg, and all he wanted was for his daughter to have a loving husband and, one day, a grandchild. I bit my lip, silent. His father came out and pressed an envelope into my hand. “Sarah, we’re sorry you were upset. Jake, you have that get-together with your friends tomorrow, right? Take Sarah with you. Have some fun.” “Of course,” Jake said, pulling me close. That night, he was desperate, clinging to me, whispering apologies over and over. We made love in every room of the three-story house, but the thorn in my heart only dug deeper. The next day, I dressed up for the party. All of Jake’s friends had brought their girlfriends. Except for Chloe, who was there alone. When they saw me, their eyes darted between the two of us. “Jakey! You’re finally here!” Chloe cried, ignoring me completely and pulling him down to sit next to her. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Jake?” one of his friends asked. Jake just laughed and put his arm around me. “This is Sarah, my girlfriend.” There was a collective, knowing “Ohhh.” Someone muttered, just loud enough for me to hear, “She’s definitely not Chloe’s type. Too… wholesome.” Jake just playfully punched the guy. “Shut up, man.” We started playing a drinking game, “Never Have I Ever.” After a few rounds, Chloe was flushed and giggling. It was Jake’s turn. “Never have I ever,” he said, thinking, “gone to a girl’s house at 2 AM.” A few of the guys cheered and took a drink. Chloe’s eyes lit up. “You’re so bad, Jakey! That was just to fix my computer!” Jake just smiled, not denying it. Another round. It was Chloe’s turn. She looked at me, a sly glint in her eye. “Never have I ever… slept with Jakey.” The table went silent. My hand froze. “Chloe!” Jake snapped. “What? It’s true!” she said innocently. “When you used to take naps at my house as a kid, you always slept next to me.” He was speechless. He shot me an awkward glance but said nothing. The game continued. Jake was drunk now, leaning back on the sofa, his eyes glazed over. It was Chloe’s turn again. She looked at him, her voice a soft, sweet whisper. “My first kiss… I gave it to Jakey when I was sixteen. Under the big oak tree in our neighborhood.” She paused, looking around the silent room, her eyes finally landing on my pale face. “He said… he said he would marry me when I grew up.” The words were like a bucket of ice water. The room was deathly quiet. I shot to my feet, staring at Jake. “Is what she said true?” The man who had been whispering words of love to me just last night looked from Chloe to me, a dopey, drunken grin on his face. “What’s true? Of course, Chloe was my first love. Cutest girl, softest lips…” The blood in my veins turned to ice. “What are you saying?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “So you still want to marry her?” My tone seemed to sober him up a little. He reached for my hand. “Sarah, don’t… don’t be mad. It was just kid stuff…” But before he could finish, his 6’2” frame slumped onto Chloe’s shoulder. “Chloe has always been the one for him,” a girl with short hair said suddenly. “When she found out about you two, she cried so hard she passed out. Jake drove three hours in the middle of the night just to comfort her.” “Yeah,” another guy added, “we all saw them kiss under that tree. We used to tease them about it all the time.” Chloe’s eyes filled with tears, as if the memories were too much to bear. “Stop it, you guys. It was all in the past. It doesn’t mean anything. Sarah, don’t be upset…” “She’s a nobody from the middle of nowhere,” a guy in a suit sneered. “She’s lucky to be with Jake at all. If you want to be with him, you need to learn to let things go.” Chloe was still crying. “Don’t be sad, Chloe,” another girl said. “Didn’t Jake say that if you were still single at thirty, he’d marry you?” My head was pounding. Jake lifted his head, a goofy grin on his face. “Yeah… marry Chloe…” Then he collapsed back into her arms. That was the final blow. I grabbed my purse and walked out. Behind me, I heard them muttering. “What a buzzkill.” “Outsiders just don’t get it.” “Don’t cry, Chloe. You know he only loves you.” The moment I got home, the sandalwood bracelet Jake had given me, the one he’d waited two hours in line at a temple to have blessed, snapped. The beads scattered across the floor, like the shattered pieces of my heart. I remembered my dad saying, “The Scotts are not good enough for you.” But he’d relented when he saw the bracelet. My dad, a tough old man with a soft spot for his daughter, had even secretly helped Jake’s fledgling business, pulling strings to help his “future son-in-law.” And now, this. In the picture on the wall, Jake was looking at me with so much love. Would he even remember what he’d done tonight? He didn’t come home. The next day, he burst through the door, his face a mask of fury. Chloe was trailing behind him, her eyes swollen from crying. He slammed his phone down in front of me. On the screen was a viral video: “The Truth About the ‘Girl Next Door’! Live from the Party!” It was all there. Chloe’s sweet confession about her first kiss, Jake’s drunken admission that he would marry her. The comments were brutal. [OMG! Not the girl next door, the homewrecker next door!] [Is the girlfriend blind? Why is she still with him?] [The guy’s a total scumbag!] [Give this Chloe an Oscar for her performance!] [Run, girl! Let these two losers have each other!] “Sarah! Are you happy now? Are you happy now that you’ve ruined her?” Jake roared, his eyes red. “She’s so scared she can’t even leave the house!” Chloe was sobbing. “Jakey… I’m so scared…” I looked at him. The same face, but a complete stranger. My heart, which had been slowly breaking, finally shattered. “So,” I said, my voice quiet, “you’re here to defend her. Without even asking me if I had anything to do with it?” “Shouldn’t I?” he yelled, pulling her behind him. “She’s just a kid! Why are you being so vicious?” I laughed, tears streaming down my face. “Jake,” I said softly, “we’re done.” “Done?” He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Sarah, who are you going to find besides me? With your dad’s situation…” Chloe, ever the victim, started crying again. “It’s all my fault, Sarah. Don’t blame Jakey…” I couldn't take another second of her crocodile tears. I lunged forward and slapped her, hard. CRACK! She shrieked. Jake shoved me, and I stumbled back, hitting the corner of the shoe cabinet. A sharp pain shot through my back, but it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. The doorbell rang, and his friends poured in, immediately surrounding me. “Chloe, are you okay?” “Man, your girlfriend has a temper!” “First, she trashes Chloe online, now she’s hitting her!” “Who does this country girl think she is?” Chloe hid in Jake’s arms, her sobs even more pathetic. But she still managed to tug on his sleeve and “defend” me. “It’s not Sarah’s fault. She just hates me. Let’s just drop it.” The other girls were all in my face. “You’re a horrible person!” “How could you bully someone as sweet as Chloe!” Jake looked exhausted, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sarah, you were in the wrong here,” he said, his voice tight with controlled anger. “Just apologize to Chloe.” I looked at the mob in my house, all of them looking at me with such contempt. It was laughable. In the chaos, someone shoved me, and the necklace I was wearing, the one my mother had left me, snapped. The locket, with a picture of my family inside, fell to the floor. CRUNCH. Chloe’s high heel came down right on top of it. The sound of shattering glass was sharp and final. The room went silent. I stared at the locket, at the picture of my mother’s smiling face, now crushed under Chloe’s shoe. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Chloe cried, stumbling back. I fell to my knees, my fingers trembling as I tried to piece the photo back together. But it was impossible. “Mom… Mom, I’m so sorry… I didn’t protect you…” The tears I had been holding back finally broke free. “Sarah…” Jake said, his voice softer now. He seemed to finally remember how much the necklace meant to me. He pushed Chloe aside and knelt to hold me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” “Don’t touch me!” I screamed, shoving him away. I scrambled to my feet, my heart feeling like it was about to explode. I stared at him, at his friends, and all the pain, the anger, the betrayal, it all came pouring out. I raised my hand, and with all the strength I had left, I slapped him. CRACK! He was stunned. I didn’t wait for his reaction. I pulled out my phone and made a call, my eyes locked on his shocked face. “Dad,” I said, my voice as cold as ice. “Pull every single dollar of our investment from the Scott family and from Jake’s company. Now.”
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