Tamara's POV

I’d heard those same words from Louie more times than I could count.

In the past, I would’ve argued with him, yelling, crying, refusing to back down.

But now? I felt numb. I just nodded mechanically, letting him think I understood, then reached for a face mask and started applying it like it was just any other night.

Louie hadn’t expected me to react so calmly. Something about my silence seemed to unsettle him.

He leaned in, trying to explain, “Tamara, I’ve known Lindsay longer than I’ve known you. But I really only see her as a sister.”

Then he added, like it should settle everything, “Besides, I’m marrying you. What more do you want?”

I stared at him, stunned, like I was seeing him clearly for the first time.

That tone, that arrogance, as if marrying me was some sort of favor he was granting.

A storm of emotions churned inside me as I looked at the man I had once loved.

Then I heard myself speak, calm and steady. “Let’s not get married. Let’s just break up.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt lighter, freer.

“What did you just say?” Louie froze, eyes wide with disbelief. He looked like he couldn’t believe I was the one saying it.

In the six years we’d been together, every fight had followed the same pattern—him throwing things, yelling, storming off, and me trying to fix everything with apologies.

But no matter how bad things got, we’d never said the word breakup.

Until now.

“Tamara, are you seriously doing this right now?” he snapped. “We’re about to get married. You’re pregnant. Can’t you just grow up and stop acting like a child?”

His irritation was obvious. He thought I was bluffing, just throwing a tantrum like always. He was so sure I’d never really leave.

“I’m not—” I began, but didn’t get the chance to finish as his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and answered immediately.

“Louie, the wind is so strong up here... and I just feel so lost,” came Lindsay’s soft, breathy voice through the speaker.

I was sitting right beside him, so I heard every word.

He stood up as he spoke into the phone, already grabbing his coat. “Lindsay, don’t cry. Just tell me where you are. I’m coming to you now.”

He walked to the door, then turned to me and said coldly, “I don’t have the energy to deal with your drama every day. Think about what you want—marriage or breakup.”

And just like that, he slammed the door behind him.

I stood there, staring at the closed door, feeling like the punchline of some cruel joke.

He’d never once comforted me, his girlfriend.

But for another woman’s bad mood, he was willing to rush to her side in the middle of the night.

That night, Louie didn’t come home at all.

The next morning, I started packing.

I left behind only the essentials. Everything else that reminded me of him, I tossed.

Matching couple outfits, our necklaces, our Polaroid camera, the plush toys we won together at the mall, anything that held a memory of Louie went into a giant garbage bag.

And as I packed, I realized something painful.

Most of the things I owned were connected to him.

By the time I was done, I’d filled four huge sacks with things to throw away.

And the things I planned to take with me? Just two storage bins.

It took me five full days to clear out the apartment.

But I was determined. I didn’t want a single thing linked to him in my life anymore.

Not in my home. Not in my heart.

He didn’t come back once during those five days.

No texts. No calls. Nothing.

But I knew where he was, thanks to Lindsay’s constant TikTok updates.

She posted everything—Louie taking her to an amusement park, peeling shrimp for her at dinner, playing cutesy kissing games.

Every time she posted something new, the algorithm shoved it in my face, no matter how many times I hit “Not Interested.”

Tamara's POV

I packed the last of my things into two suitcases and started browsing apartment listings online.

After some searching, I found a place I liked in Downtown Street. I messaged the landlord and scheduled a viewing for the next day. If all went well, I could move in immediately.

That night, Louie finally came home.

The moment he saw the suitcases sitting by the door, his expression darkened.

“Tamara… are you really leaving?” he asked, a hint of guilt in his voice, like he finally realized how out of line he’d been disappearing for days.

I nodded.

My calm seemed to catch him off guard. For the first time, a flicker of panic appeared on his face.

He stepped closer and carefully wrapped his arms around me, his voice soft and coaxing. “Don’t be mad, okay? Lindsay’s just like a sister to me. If it makes you uncomfortable, once she’s feeling better, I’ll stop seeing her.”

I looked up, and that’s when I saw it. A bright red lipstick mark on his collar.

My stomach turned.

I pulled away from his embrace and said coldly, “Don’t bother. I hope you two are happy together.”

He stumbled a bit from the push, then dropped the act entirely. “Tamara, how long are you going to keep this up?”

Normally, all it took was for Louie to soften his tone just a little, and I’d be the one trying to fix things.

This time, he was actually giving me a promise, but I stayed cold. And that annoyed him.

“Just give me a straight answer. Are you still marrying me or not?” he demanded.

I stared at him, silent. My mind flashed with memories—how he always made excuses for her, how she’d flaunt their closeness like a challenge to me.

But in the end, I didn’t bring up the flirtatious photos I’d seen of the two of them.

Even if I did, he’d just come up with a dozen reasons to deny it. I was too tired to argue.

So, I turned around and walked back to the bedroom without a word.

Frustrated, Louie followed me and started yelling again.

“Tamara, can you stop being so heartless? Lindsay’s like my sister—her boyfriend treated her like crap. What was I supposed to do, just ignore her?”

Bringing up what had happened a few days ago, he continued, “Also, I went to the county clerk's office right after I calmed her down. I waited for you for two hours, and you never showed up! I honestly don’t know what your problem is!”

Shaking his head and sighing heavily, he added, “Anyway, I already spoke to someone. Next Monday is a good day. We’ll register our marriage and give the baby a proper name.”

His words hit me like a slap.

I hadn’t started showing yet, as I was just two months pregnant at the time of the accident. So there was no way for him to know.

But I knew. I remembered every second of that night.

I remembered the car accident.

I remembered calling him three times.

And I remembered him ignoring every single one of them—too busy to pick up, too busy to care. And because of that, I lost the baby.

Now he stood there, acting like he was doing me a favor by offering to marry me, for the child he didn’t even bother to check on.

My eyes burned with tears. I glared at him and icily said, “There’s no baby anymore. We’re done. Don’t ever contact me again.”

His eyes widened in shock. “What did you say? You got rid of the baby?”

Louie looked like the wind had been knocked out of him.

“Do you even realize what you’re saying?” he snapped, his voice rising in disbelief. “I told you to get rid of it, and you were the one who said it was fate. You said we were at the right age to get married. I agreed to all of this because of you.”

“For years, you kept pushing me to propose. You were even willing to use a baby to trap me into marriage. And now that you finally got what you wanted, you're telling me you got rid of the baby? Are you fucking kidding me, Tamara?!” he snapped.

His words cut deep. Every sentence was like a slap to the face.

The worst part? He wasn’t wrong about how desperate I’d been.

I really had chased after him all these years like a fool.

I’d spent so long dreaming of marrying him, building a family, and living a quiet, happy life together.

At first, I tried hinting that I wanted a romantic proposal. Something meaningful.

But Louie never cared enough to even pretend.

Tamara's POV

Eventually, I lowered my expectations. I told Louie that I’d be happy just to have a proposal—nothing fancy, just some commitment. But he never made a move.

Two more years passed, and it became clear: he had no intention of marrying me.

So I started bringing it up myself, gently at first. But every time, he brushed it off, saying we were still young, that he wanted to enjoy life for a few more years.

The more he resisted the idea of marriage, the more insecure I felt. And the more insecure I felt, the more I clung to the idea of marrying him, like a safety net I desperately needed.

At one point, I even asked him, “If I got pregnant, would you marry me?”

I never expected it to actually happen, especially since we were always careful. But somehow, I still got pregnant.

At first, he didn’t want the baby. But when I refused to get an abortion, he finally gave in and agreed to get married.

I was over the moon. I thought my years of devotion had finally paid off—that our love had reached its happy ending.

So when the car accident happened, my first instinct wasn’t pain or fear. It was to protect the baby. Our baby. I couldn’t let anything happen to it.

But when the doctor told me I’d lost the baby, I didn’t feel the heartbreak I thought I would. In fact, I felt strangely relieved.

I’d spent so many years obsessing over the idea of building a home with Louie that I trapped myself in a cage of my own making.

Letting go of that obsession felt like breaking free. For the first time in years, I could breathe.

I had failed my child. I had let myself down. But I had never wronged Louie, not once in all these years. Even now, walking away, I could say with a clear conscience. I gave him everything I had.

“Still giving me the silent treatment?” he snapped. “Let me remind you, my patience has a bottom. Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean I’ll keep putting up with this crap! If you keep pushing me, I’ll pretend that kid doesn’t even exist!”

When I didn’t respond, he just kept going, unfiltered and cruel. That was always his way. Whenever he got angry, he knew exactly how to twist the knife.

In the past, his words would’ve shattered me. I’d cry silently, swallow the pain, and wait for things to go back to normal.

But not anymore.

I didn’t love him anymore. He couldn’t hurt me like that again.

Just as he was about to say more, his phone buzzed.

He glanced at it, then his expression shifted ever so slightly.

“Next Monday. county clerk's office. Morning. Be there,” he said coldly. “If you don’t show up, don’t even think about using the kid to tie me down.”

And with that, he turned and walked out without even looking back.

I stared at the door long after he left, bitterness slowly spreading through me.

What made him think I’d still love him after everything?

That night, I barely slept.

The next morning, I went to see the apartment on Downtown Street.

It was perfect.

The landlord told me he had originally bought the place for his son’s wedding, but since his son had decided to settle overseas, he was renting it out instead. He also asked me to take good care of it.

I agreed right away. We signed the lease on the spot, and I paid three months' rent upfront.

Then I called a moving service to bring over my things.

By evening, I had finished unpacking. I was just about to take a shower when my phone rang. It was an unknown number.

Curious, I picked up.

“Baby, you smell so good…”

The voice was Louie’s.

And then, giggling followed, “Stop it! Louie, you’re so naughty!”

It was Lindsay. Her voice was breathy, flirtatious.

“Ohh… are you happy now? Still want to go up to the rooftop?” Louie teased in a tone I'd never heard before.

“Ah… Louie!”

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut.

I hung up immediately, disgusted, like I’d just swallowed a fly.

Brushing the thought off, I remembered my leave was over, and I was scheduled to return to work.

The first thing I heard when I got back to the office? Mr. Gilbert Fowler, the president of Fowler Corporation, was coming for an inspection.

I worked at a car manufacturing company, and they were the leading force in the entire auto industry.

It had taken me six months of effort to convince them to invest in us.