Gold Behind Closed Hands

He said that and sent me a transfer of $1.88 on his phone.

The note with the transfer contained two words: "Gold Digger."

I had been with him for seven whole years and had not spent a dime of his money.

I even gave him gifts on holidays and anniversaries.

He took them like he was entitled to them, but he never got me anything in return.

He would mockingly ask if I thought it was a man's duty to buy gifts for his girlfriend.

That was how he looked at me: a gold digger.

After all, he was an heir with billions to his name.

I thought about the gifts he had bought for Nevaeh Smith.

I thought about my mom, who had suffered so much from her illness and died in pain because we could not afford her treatment.

I could not stand to be near him a second longer.

I got up to leave, but then there was noise at the door.

Nevaeh came in, taking off her coat to reveal a sexy outfit underneath.

However, when she saw me, she was startled and quickly put her coat back on. "Jess, why are you here?"

I turned to Caleb.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is our place, isn't it?

"Do you give out the password to just anyone and allow them to waltz in whenever they want?"

Nevaeh looked like I had accused her of the worst crime in the world.

She dashed over and plopped down next to Caleb, taking hold of his arm. "Caleb, I’m not just some stranger to you, right? I only forgot my house key and needed a place to crash for the night.

"And think about it, if you didn't agree to split the rent, Jess would be stuck paying it all by herself.

"Really, Jess is the one who's getting a good deal here."

I wondered how many times I had been talked about like this behind my back.

Caleb listened and did not think he was in the wrong. In fact, he agreed with Nevaeh. "Nevaeh's got a point. I've got my own place, and sharing the rent is just throwing money away.

"It's no different than paying someone to sleep with you."

With that, he whipped out his payment code and shoved it in my face.

"You don't want people to think you're just after money, do you?

"Give me back all the rent I've paid for the past seven years."

The tiny apartment, barely forty square meters, was our first home together.

After college, I stayed in the capital to make more money. Back then, I could only afford a tiny place, far from the city center.

Caleb complained that it was too far to come see me and that the place was so bad it ruined the mood to even be close. He wanted us to rent a bigger spot together. As such, I ended up paying higher rent and even got a part-time job to make ends meet.

Now, he wanted all that rent money from the past seven years. He even thought he had been paying to be with me and that he had been shortchanged.

"Caleb, what have I been to you these past seven years?" The tears welling up in my eyes were just for the time I felt I had wasted.

Seven years of my life, gone on. Wasted on someone like him.

The hand reaching out to me shook just as my tears started to fall.

He pressed his lips together and pulled his hand back.

"I was just teasing you. It’s no big deal..."

He did not get to finish his words.

Nevaeh tutted twice, her face twisted with scorn.

"You say you're not after Caleb's money, but without him, you couldn't even dream of living in such a nice place."