Built Him Up and Left Him Behind

For five years, I quietly supported my boyfriend, helping him rise from a lawyer's assistant to a partner at a top-tier law firm.

At the annual awards ceremony, I was thrilled, ready to celebrate publicly and surprise him.

But then, he walked on stage with a female coworker, their behavior cozy and intimate.

"Cade owes his success to my brilliant strategies behind the scenes," Caitlyn boasted.

Cade smiled, echoing her words, "Absolutely, without Caitlyn, I wouldn't be where I am today."

The audience erupted in applause, congratulating them.

I stood at the back of the crowd, frozen.

Leaving the venue, I called my assistant. "Cut off all networking support for Cade Gilliam. End all cooperation. That shady case he took on? Stop smoothing things over. Let him face the consequences."

"Madam, are you sure? Once we pull the plug, it's hard to undo." My assistant hesitated. "You know the plaintiff is powerful. If this isn't handled, Mr. Gilliam could lose money or even go to jail. His career would be over."

I left the venue, staring at the honor wall where Cade Gilliam's smiling face beamed from the top. We had been together for five years, but he had always been vague about marrying me.

"I'm focused on my career right now. Once I'm settled, we'll tie the knot," he excused.

I heard those words over and over, but I trusted him, time and again, pouring everything into paving the way for him to become a partner at a top-tier law firm.

All I got was betrayal right to my face.

"Defend him again, and you're out too," I snapped, hanging up the phone.

Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"What's your deal?" Cade demanded, a bit out of breath.

His brows were knitted together as he continued, "Everyone was there, and you just walked out before I finished. What will people think of me?"

"Should I have stayed to watch you guys get all lovey-dovey?" I shook off his hand, glaring at him.

He crossed his arms, visibly annoyed. "Come on, don't be jealous at a time like this. Caitlyn helped me out big time. What's wrong with us going on stage together? If it hadn't been for her full support, I would still have been a nobody like you."

That was funny.

To protect his ego, I never told him I arranged for my assistant to set everything up through Caitlyn Farley.

Now she took all the credit, and I got nothing.

"If that's what you think, there's nothing left to say," I said, driving off.

Right when I arrived home, Caitlyn called me via voice chat.

Just as I was about to hang up, the loud voices of Cade's colleagues came through.

"Man, you should dump Mila and get with Caitlyn. She is way better than your deadbeat girlfriend," said one of them.

"Yeah. Mila is lazy, always slacking off somewhere. Watch out. She might cheat on you someday," another echoed.

Cade laughed, "If she weren't so sweet and good at keeping my bed warm, I'd have dumped her a long time ago."

I couldn't believe he was trashing me like that in public.

Caitlyn sent me a message: [See? You cling to him, but he is sick of you. If I were you, I'd disappear right now.]

My eyes stung with tears.

I blocked her and finally made up my mind to leave Cade for good.