When she was with me, she never spent a dime. But for Jason, she was generous.

All those years I scrimped and saved to give her everything—every penny ended up in Jason’s pocket.

Thinking back to his social media post, I felt like the biggest joke.

The truth was, Jason and Lily’s relationship had always been a thorn in my side.

Whenever it involved Jason, Lily would rush to him without hesitation. Her excuse was always the same: He grew up without parents in my house. He’s like my little brother. I can’t just ignore him.

But back then, I truly loved Lily. I wanted to marry her. So I endured it.

Until the moment I saw that diamond ring. That was when I couldn’t take it anymore.

I lowered my head, grabbed a glass of liquor, and splashed it on Lily.

Jason screamed and threw himself in front of her.

I couldn’t be bothered with the chaos behind me. I turned to leave.

But Lily grabbed my hand. “You threw a drink at me and think you can just walk away without apologizing?”

She shook her head, regaining some clarity. “Ethan?”

Her brows furrowed with displeasure.

“You’re checking up on me?”

Before I could answer, Jason stepped in.

“I asked Ethan to come pick you up. I know he doesn’t like you staying out so late.”

With just one line, Jason sparked laughter and mockery from the group of so-called friends.

They jeered that Lily hadn’t even married yet but was already expected to play the obedient housewife.

“The main wife hasn’t spoken, and yet the side chick’s already acting strict!”

“Yeah, Jason’s never cared about Lily partying before.”

I locked eyes with Lily and asked slowly, word by word:

“Who’s the main wife?”

Lily straightened up instantly, glanced at Jason’s diamond ring, and sneered:

“Whoever wears the diamond ring is the main one!”

Her words set off another round of laughter.

So it turned out everyone knew—everyone but me.

It felt as though I’d been stripped naked in public, humiliated beyond measure.

“Ethan, don’t listen to them. That ring—I bought it myself. Lily didn’t buy it for me.”

Jason tried to smooth things over. “She’s about to get married, they’re drunk and talking nonsense. Don’t take it seriously.”

I turned to Lily with a cold smile. “Is that true?”

She nodded but said nothing.

“Well, thank you then. A diamond ring bought with a freebie, and you gave the free gift to your best friend’s fiancé.”

I deliberately emphasized the words best friend.

To my surprise, Lily blushed and snapped at me.

“Ethan, what best friend? What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Jason doesn’t even have a girlfriend. Don’t slander him like that.”

Watching her desperately change the subject, my heart went completely cold.

The plain gold ring in my palm felt scorching hot.

“Take this back. Ethan doesn’t need anyone’s freebies!”

“Lily, we’re done. The engagement is off.”

“And you’d better return the $28,000 I gave you for the jewelry. Otherwise, I’ll call the police!”

Lily froze, finally sobering up.

Without looking back, I left the suffocating lounge.

“Lily, aren’t you going to chase after him?”

“Your man’s flying away!”

Their voices jeered behind me as Lily watched my figure fade into the distance, her heart aching.

But her feet stayed rooted to the ground.

She waved dismissively. “So what? He’ll come crawling back in less than three days.”

Her careless words stabbed into my chest like knives.

Lily and I had been together for eight years, since freshman year of college. After graduation, I gave up a high-paying job in New York City to move back with her to a small town and start a business.

Family and friends all warned me not to be a fool for love. I didn’t listen.

Now, karma had come.

The love I thought was so noble dealt me the most crushing blow.

When I got home, a string of credit card statements popped up.

Maybe to provoke me into surrender, Lily had maxed out the secondary credit card I’d given her.

One charge for $800, another for $1,200, and yet another for $300—venue after venue.

After her failed business venture earlier this year, Lily hadn’t looked for work.

But with marriage approaching, I had used all my savings to make the down payment on a house.

For convenience, I had given unemployed Lily a secondary card. Meanwhile, I cooked every meal, packed my lunch, and never dared to spend a cent on myself—just to save for our wedding.

But she had blown through more than a thousand dollars in one night.

Grinding my teeth, I immediately called the bank to freeze her card.

Moments later, Lily called me, her voice sharp with fury.

“Ethan, are you insane? The money in that account—isn’t it all the money I earned over the years?”

I laughed bitterly.

The past few years, she’d been busy with one failed project after another. Half the time, I was even the one buying her meals.

Four years in business, she had lost $75,000, and I had chipped in an extra ten.

She never earned a cent.

“Lily, if something’s wrong with your brain, you’d better get it checked.”

“In these past four years, have you ever made a single dollar?”

I hung up and blocked her number.

That day, I packed all her belongings and left them outside the door.

After that, Lily disappeared for several days.

But Jason’s social media posts kept changing locations, and in every photo, I could spot Lily’s figure.

I couldn’t help wondering—where was she getting the money to spend like this?

Her friends left comments below:

Jason and Lily are the perfect match. No other man compares!

That’s right—congratulations to Jason and Lily on their wedding in advance!

Lily, will you be handing out wedding favors soon?

Though Lily didn’t reply, she posted one photo herself—a shot of Jason’s back.

I pretended not to see it. When I checked again, the post had already been deleted.

The next day, when I arrived at the Miller Group lobby, I found a crowd gathered.

The sound of loud weeping stopped me in my tracks.

Pushing through the people, I froze when I saw her.

“Mrs. Miller? What are you doing here?”

The woman who had been crying on the floor suddenly stood up and pointed at me.

“It’s him! He made my daughter buy him a $28,000 diamond ring, then broke up with her!”

Her accusation drew every eye to me.

I was stunned.

“Isn’t this guy the secretary to the CEO of Miller Group? He looks so proper—how could he do something like that?”

“In this economy, what kind of man refuses to buy jewelry, then forces a woman to buy him such an expensive ring? Vicious!”

“What a gold-digger!”

The crowd, ignorant of the truth, piled on with accusations.

The next second, it felt like they were about to drag me out and drown me.

“Ethan, Mrs. Miller isn’t here to make a scene. She just wants you to return the money and the ring.”

“Ethan, I just want to ask you—why did you suddenly break off the engagement with Lily?”

Truth be told, over the years Mrs. Miller had treated me well. She often brought us fresh organic produce from a farm, and sometimes even slipped me some pocket money. Whenever she had something good to eat, she would send it over. Once, she even traveled overnight just so I could have fresh eggs.

“Mrs. Miller, I gave Lily $28,000 for the wedding jewelry set.”

“To this day, I haven’t seen the jewelry. The diamond ring you mentioned wasn’t bought for me. As for who it was for—you should ask her.”

Looking at her weary face, I couldn’t bring myself to say harsh words about her causing a scene at my office. I didn’t have the heart to tell her outright about Lily and Jason either. So I chose my words carefully, hoping she would leave.

“That can’t be. Lily told me when she asked for the money that it was to buy you an engagement ring.”

“She even sent me photos!”

Mrs. Miller pulled up the photos of Lily buying the ring and handed me her phone.

I studied them closely, then chuckled.

“That’s not my hand. My wrist bone has a mole.”

I raised my wrist to show the small dark mole. Everyone saw instantly that the ring wasn’t for me.

Mrs. Miller froze, comparing the photo again and again in disbelief.

“Mrs. Miller, some things you really should ask Lily about.”

I patted her shoulder and turned to leave, but she grabbed my wrist with surprising strength.

“You’re not going anywhere. We need to clear this up right now.”

“I’ll call Lily.”

She dialed five times in a row, but no one answered.

Meanwhile, Lily was still out somewhere, likely drinking with Jason.

I sighed, pulled out my phone, and showed her Jason’s social media feed.

“Mrs. Miller, she’s with Jason. The diamond ring was for him—and it was bought with my money.”

The entire room gasped. After all, gossip was everyone’s favorite.

Mrs. Miller glanced at the post, scrolling with a frown, her brows knitting tighter.

“Ethan, if you don’t want to marry Lily, just say so. Don’t make up lies to ruin her and Jason’s reputation. They grew up together—how could they do something inappropriate?”

Confused, I took my phone back and saw Jason had deleted all his posts. Posts that had been there yesterday were gone overnight.

“The money for the ring was from me, and I also gave Lily $30,000 in wedding funds. If you’re not marrying her, then you should at least return that.”

Her words struck me like thunder.

Thirty thousand? I hadn’t seen even thirty.

“Mrs. Miller, I never received any $30,000 wedding funds!”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Impossible. I transferred it to the account Lily gave me.”

“Here, look—the receipt is still here.”

Suspicious, I checked it. The account name was mine. But I had never received that money.

“Mom!”

I turned and saw Lily, whom I hadn’t seen for days.

“Mom, it’s just a ring and $30,000. I’ll earn it back. If a man doesn’t want to marry me, what can I do? I can’t force him.”

Pulling her mother close, her few light words sealed the accusation that I had taken both the diamond ring and the wedding funds.