It took me a moment to place the voice on the other end. Then it clicked.

He was a vice president I had worked with on a previous project. His company was massive, with its headquarters in Millbrook. He had tried to recruit me several times after we wrapped up that project together, but I had turned him down every time.

Back then, I had stayed because of Kyle. I felt sorry for him, carrying the weight of the company on his own. There was already plenty of internal pushback against him, and if I left, his position would only get worse.

So I said no, again and again.

Still, Kyle never appreciated any of it. He did not even think twice about it. He downplayed my contributions at every opportunity and criticized my abilities in front of the whole office.

Yet if I were truly as incompetent as he made me out to be, the company would never have made it this far. Partners would not have been lining up to work with us.

At the end of the day, it was never about my capabilities. He simply did not care. And now, I was done believing him.

The silence stretched on, and the man on the phone asked again.

I steadied myself and answered calmly. "Yes. I accept."

We exchanged a few more words, settled on a start date, and I hung up. Then I hailed a cab and went home.

I pushed open the front door and went straight upstairs to pack. I was moving out. If I was going to end things, there was no point dragging it out.

Packing did not take long.

Looking down at the worn-out clothes and pants so faded they had turned white, it hit me just how lean these years had really been.

When we first moved in together, I had spent every dollar I had to renovate the house so he would have a place worth coming home to. I ate nothing but plain bread for 3 months just to make ends meet.

I had redesigned the entire interior to match his taste. I had spent 2 months studying color psychology so I could pick out custom furniture for him, all so he could walk through the door after work and feel at ease.

I still remembered the way his eyes had lit up when he came home and saw the finished house for the first time.

He made me a promise. "I'm going to live here for the rest of my life. No one touches this house."

His version of "the rest of my life" turned out to be painfully short. It was over before it ever really began.

Anya visited the house once and tossed out a casual remark. "The decor is so dated."

Kyle immediately called a designer to have everything redone.

When I questioned it, he snapped at me for being narrow-minded and not understanding modern aesthetics. He thought Anya obviously knew better than I did.

Then he picked up a hammer and smashed the porch swing I had spent an entire month building for him by hand.

Standing in the wreckage, I should have seen him for who he really was right then. But I had been too naive. I genuinely believed I was the one who was out of touch, that I just could not keep up with the times. So I stood by and let the two of them destroy nearly a year of my work.

Looking back now, I could not believe how foolish I had been.

Once everything was packed, I dragged my suitcase downstairs.

I stood in the empty living room and looked around the house I had lived in for nine years. Then I set the key on the coffee table, pulled my suitcase to the door, and walked out.

I took a cab straight to the apartment I had prepared as a wedding gift for Kyle.

I had handpicked this place myself. I had spent weeks negotiating with the real estate agent to get the price down, and I had carved out time to furnish and decorate it personally, all so Kyle would be happy with it when he finally saw it.

The deed had only just come through. I had been about to transfer it into Kyle's name as a symbol of our marriage. But before I could even get the words out, Anya sent me a video of their engagement ceremony.

The venue was extravagant. The guest list was overflowing, and both sets of parents were there. It was as grand and official as an engagement could get.

Kyle stood in a tailored suit, smiling as he slipped a ring onto Anya's finger.

So this was his "business trip."

I let out a hollow laugh. At least I had not said anything about the apartment yet. If I had, I truly would have had nothing left.

I got out of the cab and headed upstairs, pulling out my key to unlock the door. But no matter how much I turned it, the lock would not budge. Then the key snapped in half.

I stared at the broken piece jammed inside the lock and called a locksmith.

Once the locksmith got the door open, he glanced past me into the apartment. His brow furrowed. He gave me a long look, clearly wanting to say something but holding back.

Then he frowned and asked, "You sure this place is yours?"

I nodded.

He shook his head. "You young people really ought to keep up with the cleaning."

He gave me one last pointed look and left. I had no idea what he meant until I stepped inside.

The apartment was buried in garbage. Clothes were thrown across every surface. The custom dining table I had painstakingly picked out was covered in leftover takeout containers.

When I got closer, I could see mold growing inside them. Flies circled overhead, and the stench hit me so hard it felt like it was bouncing off the inside of my skull.

On the wall hung a large, prominently displayed couple's portrait. Kyle and Anya smiled back at me from the frame.

I clenched my fists and reached for my phone to call Kyle, but he called me first.

"Sally, did you go to the apartment?"

I bit back my anger. "Yes."

Kyle paused for a beat, then continued in that careless tone of his.

"Well, since you already know, I might as well just tell you. I lent the apartment to Anya a while back. You know how it is. She just got back to the country, she doesn't know anyone, and she needed a place to stay.

"The place was sitting empty anyway, so might as well let Anya move in and put some life into it. It makes it easier for us when we eventually move in too.

"Oh, and since you're already there, could you tidy up a bit for her? She's still young and a kid at heart. Don't hold it against her if the place is a little messy."

I glanced at the disaster zone of a floor, then up at the wall where a piece of hand-embroidered silk art had been slashed to ribbons. I said nothing.

My mother had made that piece. She had stayed up night after night for an entire year to finish it. And Anya had destroyed it like it was nothing.

I gritted my teeth. "You gave her the apartment without even asking me?"

Kyle sounded caught off guard for a second, then fired back.

"What are you throwing a fit about now?

"It's just an apartment. I only let her stay there because it's close to the office. It makes her commute easier so she can focus on contributing to the company.

"She's my junior from school. Letting her crash at the apartment for a while isn't going to kill anyone. Is this really worth getting this worked up over?

"And if you hadn't been so stubborn about refusing to let me bring Anya home with us in the first place, I never would've had to come up with this arrangement!"

My clenched fists trembled.

Kyle had once suggested bringing Anya to live with us in our house. I had put my foot down.

We had a massive fight over it, and Kyle left with Anya in tow.

I assumed he would rent her a place or put her up in a hotel. It never crossed my mind that he would hand her the apartment I had prepared for our wedding.

My parents had helped pay for that apartment. Half of the money had come from their retirement savings. And Kyle had just given it away like it meant nothing. He even let Anya change the locks.

How thoughtful of him.

When I did not respond, his voice dropped lower.

"Are you done? Look, everything I do is for our future. Anya's got an overseas education. Talent like that doesn't come around every day. If she stays with the company, our prospects are only going to get brighter."

"Once we're married, we're going to need money for everything. And you're the one who wants kids, remember? Even if you won't think about the future, I have to think about it for our children."

Kyle said it with absolute conviction, like everything he did was for the future. But I did not want to hear his excuses anymore.

No matter how he dressed it up, it was always about Anya. Maybe from the moment he personally brought her into the company, she had always been special to him. Or maybe his heart had been somewhere else all along.

It had just never been with me.

I exhaled slowly. "Kyle, let's break up."

The moment the words left my mouth, the weight I had been carrying in my chest finally lifted.

The line went silent.

After a long pause, Kyle's voice came back, barely restraining his anger. "Sally, what the hell is this now? Didn't I just explain everything to you?

"You want to break up over an apartment? We've been together for nine years. I was with you through your entire youth, and now you want to throw all of that away? Do you even have a heart?

"You stay right there. I'm coming back, and you're going to say this to my face."

He hung up without waiting for a response.

Beside him, Anya had overheard the whole thing. Seeing how furious he was, she blinked back tears and said in a small, guilty voice, "If I'd known this was going to cause a fight between you two, I never would've moved in. I would've slept on the street before I let that happen.

"When we get back, I'll apologize to her and beg her not to break up with you. This is all my fault. Every bit of it."

Kyle's expression softened instantly. He reached over and wiped the tears from her face.

"This isn't your fault. You don't owe her an apology. She's not actually going to go through with it. She's just blowing off steam.

"I'll say a few nice things to her when we get back and she'll calm down. Didn't you say you really liked that apartment? I'll have her transfer the deed to your name."

Anya's eyes lit up at that.

She hesitated, putting on a show of reluctance. "Are you sure? That's supposed to be your wedding home..."

Kyle shook his head. "It's fine. It's just a place. We're not short on apartments.

"Come on. Let's head back now and have her take care of the paperwork."

…

I stared at the screen as the call disconnected. The second half of what I had wanted to say was still lodged in my throat. "I mean it."

I laughed bitterly at myself.

All these years, he had always been like this. He never considered how I felt. Everything revolved around what he wanted.

I had gotten used to it a long time ago. I took the ruined silk embroidery off the wall and placed it carefully inside my suitcase, then called a cleaning service to take care of the apartment.

I threw every last one of Anya's belongings into the trash. Then I called a real estate agent and listed the apartment for sale.

If we were over, I had no use for a wedding home. It was a shame, though. It was a beautiful place, and I had poured so much of myself into it.

Fortunately, the location was prime and the market was hot.

It did not take long before a buyer came by to view it. They looked the place over once and made a decision on the spot. The paperwork was processed immediately.

Once everything was settled, I booked a plane ticket.

I handed the freshly cut keys to the buyer, grabbed my suitcase, and headed for the airport. I boarded the next flight to Millbrook.