Jackson's POV

“So what about now? You lied to me about Dwayne again. That’s just the part I know about. How many more things don’t I know? Like all those business trips you’ve been taking this past half-year,” I questioned her.

“Think whatever you want. My conscience is clear,” Penelope shot back, her face cold.

“Clear? If the situation were reversed, would you be okay with it?” I pressed.

But she closed her eyes, signaling she was done with the conversation. “I’m tired.”

“I’m a man, I know exactly what someone like Dwayne has in mind. I don’t want to see you put yourself in that situation again.”

“You’re the one with the dirty mind. Not everyone is like you.” She then sat up and glared at me. “If it weren’t for Dwayne, would I be moving up at work this fast? It’s just one dinner. Are you going to drag this out forever?”

“If it weren’t for your incompetence, do you think I’d have to work this hard in this company?” Her voice rose as she grew more agitated. “If you were more capable, would I have to swallow my pride and humiliate myself in front of others? If you don’t have the ability, that’s one thing. But I didn’t have parents pulling strings for me. I had to earn everything on my own. Do you have any idea how exhausted I am? And you dare to act high and mighty when you don’t even make more than I? I just want to sleep. Stop bothering me.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but her phone rang. She glanced at the screen, then hung up quickly and headed toward the bathroom with the phone in hand.

“Was that Dwayne?” I asked.

“Wrong number,” she muttered before disappearing into the bathroom.

I sat in silence in the living room. Ten minutes later, she came out, and her expression had softened compared to when she was talking to me. When she caught me watching her, she glared at me before hurrying into the bedroom.

This time, I didn’t follow her. Instead, my thoughts drifted back over the years we’d spent together.

I grew up as an orphan and never attended school.

I met Penelope after she finished high school and started working odd jobs. Her family wasn’t well-off. Her mother was sick, and her father was disabled, so they couldn’t afford to send her to college.

After a month of knowing her, I had already fallen for her. I worked up the courage to pursue her, and we got together. Since then, I'd been paying for her tuition and living expenses, using the savings I had built up after years of working. I even helped cover her mother’s medical bills.

Those early days were sweet. She was gentle and affectionate. People at work often envied me, saying I was lucky to have landed a college girl for a girlfriend, that our kids would have a brighter future because of her. I believed it too, so I cherished our relationship all the more.

We had always planned to marry once she graduated. But things started to change during her senior-year internship.

Once she got into a big company, she saw more of the world’s glamour. And with me, she grew more impatient by the day. By the time she graduated, she was constantly nitpicking and criticizing me. It hadn’t even been a year since then, but I could barely remember what it felt like to hold her.

She was from a rural village. Everyone back home knew about me. They all say I was hardworking, dependable, kindhearted, and willing to support her. I knew she hadn’t broken up with me yet, partly because of that. She didn't want people gossiping, calling her ungrateful.

But deep down, I knew her heart wasn’t with me anymore. It was with Dwayne. He was older, but he had money. Even though he was divorced, his wealth put him miles ahead of me.

Breaking up was only a matter of time. The truth was, I just couldn't swallow it.

Sometimes I wondered if maybe I was being paranoid. After all, I hadn’t caught her in anything concrete. I’d never worked in a big company, so maybe I just didn't understand how things worked. Maybe she really had no choice but to entertain clients like that.

As my anger cooled, I made a decision. I would hold on. I would try to protect what we had.

I didn’t sleep that night. At six in the morning, someone knocked on the door.

Jackson's POV

I got up to answer the door. But standing there was none other than Dwayne.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped.

Yet he ignored me, leaning forward to call inside. “Penelope, you awake yet?”

I moved to shut the door, but he had already stepped in, blocking the entrance. “I’m here for Penelope, not you.”

“What are you doing here?” Penelope appeared, still in her pajamas.

With a smug smile, Dwayne brought his hand from behind his back, revealing a gift. “I meant to give this to you yesterday, but we were having such a good time at dinner that I forgot. Remember how I ruined your stockings last time? These are the same kind. You’ll love them.”

Stockings? My stomach turned. She had never once worn stockings around me. And yet here he was, openly admitting he had torn hers before, standing right in front of me, while handing her a new pair.

I caught the faint blush on her face, the shy smile that went with it.

“Do you have any shame at all? You, an other man, visiting here?” The fury I had held back all night finally exploded. I had spent hours convincing myself to hold on to this relationship, but now, seeing this, I couldn’t hold it in.

“An other man?” Dwayne scoffed. “Get your facts straight. In love, the one who isn’t wanted is the other man. Penelope, since you don’t want to say it, I will.”

He locked eyes with me and spat, “She’s way out of your league. You don’t deserve her.”

I had swallowed enough. At this point, my blood boiled over, and my fist connected with his face, sending him stumbling back a few steps.

Before I could follow through, Penelope’s hand cracked across my cheek. Her eyes burned with anger as she barked, “What the hell are you doing?”

She hit me to protect him. That fire inside me roared into an inferno.

“I’ll kill you!” I roared and charged at him, vision red with rage.

We went at it, but Dwayne was taller, stronger, and clearly spent time at the gym. And with Penelope pulling at me, it was two against one. I couldn’t get the upper hand.

The commotion drew out the neighbors, and people soon rushed in to break us apart.

“Penelope, why are you siding with an outsider against Jackson?” one of them shouted.

“Yeah, what’s going on here?”

“And who are you supposed to be?” someone else demanded of Dwayne.

“He threw the first punch,” Penelope said coldly, shooting me a glare before rushing to check on Dwayne.

Blood dripped from his nose, smeared at the corner of his mouth. Seeing that, Penelope’s face twisted in concern. “Are you hurt?”

But I was worse off than him, yet she didn't care at all. All her care, all her tenderness, was only for him.

Dwayne cast me a mocking look. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

The neighbors were whispering now, piecing together what was happening. Someone quietly asked me what this was all about, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. My face was burning with more than bruises.

Gently dabbing at the blood on his face, Penelope turned her cold eyes on me and demanded, “Apologize to Dwayne, or I’ll call the police.”

“You want me to apologize to him?” I stared at her in disbelief.

“Yes,” she said firmly. “Apologize to him.”

“Ah, damn it,” Dwayne suddenly groaned, clutching his wrist. “Penelope, I’m sorry. I broke the watch you gave me.”

I looked down and noticed the cracked glass on his wristwatch. I didn’t recognize the brand, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact that she had bought it for him.

All these years, she’d never bought me anything. Back in college, she promised that once she graduated and started earning, she’d buy me a watch. I thought she had just forgotten. Turned out she hadn’t. She just never intended to buy it for me.

“Don’t worry,” Penelope comforted him. “I’ll get you another one.”

“This one’s a Rolex Submariner,” Dwayne said with a smirk, deliberately glancing my way. “It costs over ten grand.”

Jackson's POV

“My salary has increased now. I can afford it,” Penelope said softly. Her gentle voice cut into me like a knife. She had spent her very first paycheck entirely on her family, and from then until now, not a single cent of her earnings had ever been spent on me.

Dwayne turned to me. “That won’t do. He has to pay for it.”

Penelope caught on immediately, glaring at me. “So an apology’s not enough anymore. You’ll need to compensate him, too. We still have the receipt for that watch. It's fifteen grand.”

In that moment, my heart completely died. “Fine. I’ll pay for the watch. But what about all the money I’ve spent on you all these years? How about you calculate that and pay me back?”

“You call yourself a man?” Dwayne sneered. “What about Penelope’s wasted youth. How do you plan to pay for that? Penelope, don’t waste your breath on him. Just call the cops and let him see who really owes what.”

And she did. She actually called the police.

The neighbors tried to talk her down, insisting it wasn’t worth involving the authorities over something like this. But soon enough, the officers showed up. Since I had thrown the first punch and damaged Dwayne’s watch, both were undeniable facts. According to the police, the only way to resolve it was through compensation. As for the money I had spent on Penelope through the years, that couldn’t be addressed legally.

They told me that if I compensated him quickly and secured their forgiveness, I could avoid facing further charges.

But Penelope pressed harder. “Pay up. Then kneel and apologize to Dwayne, and we won’t push this any further.”

Since this was the case, I asked for a phone call. Afterward, I waited quietly. What I didn’t expect was for Penelope’s parents to arrive so fast. Normally, coming in from their village would take at least two hours. Yet here they were in just thirty minutes.

I wanted them to see the truth, to witness what their daughter had become, and to judge for themselves whether she should be the one paying compensation.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, what brings you here?” Dwayne greeted them warmly, as if they were already close. Watching that, my heart sank even lower.

The four of them, Dwayne, Penelope, and her parents, huddled together, whispering.

Soon, Penelope’s mother came storming over, pointing a finger in my face. “You’re worse than an animal. Penelope wanted to break up with you, and you threatened to kill her. And today you actually raised your hand against her.”

Her words stabbed deep. My chest tightened with pain. “Search your conscience. Don’t you fear heaven’s punishment for saying something like that?”

“Bah!” She spat at me. “With Mr. Cohen here now, we’re not afraid of you anymore. Officers, you must make sure he’s punished properly.”

Dwayne looked at me with contempt. “We’ll do this Penelope’s way. Kneel, apologize, and transfer the money. Then I’ll drop it. Otherwise, you’ll rot in jail.”

I turned to Penelope. “You really want me to do this?”

“You’re still threatening my daughter?” her mother screeched. “Officers, look at his attitude! Scum like him deserves prison.”

“You’ll regret this,” I said at last, my voice suddenly calm, but cold.

Dwayne smirked. “What, some ‘every dog has its day’ nonsense? Guys like you, bottom feeders, can only live in those fantasy novels. I’ll give you ten seconds. If you don’t kneel and pay, get ready for jail.”

I stared him down and grimly said, “Give me your bank account number.”

He blinked in surprise, but then rattled it off.

When his phone buzzed with the deposit notification, Dwayne stared at the screen, checking it over and over. Then he shoved it toward Penelope. “Penelope, didn’t you say this loser handed over every cent of his wages to you? Looks like he’s been hiding plenty of money on the side. Guess he’s been up to more than you thought.”