Chapter 3

3.

Vivienne froze. Then she let out a condescending snort.

"Nate, are you really trying to play hard to get with me?"

I looked her dead in the eye. "I'm dead serious."

She stared at me, searching for the usual signs of weakness. When she didn't find any, she scowled.

"You want to end a marriage over a cake? Seriously? This is how we've always been. I'm honest when I don't like something."

She was right. It was always me apologizing, always me reflecting on my faults.

Her constant negativity had driven me to see a therapist last year.

The doctor told me I needed to surround myself with people who brought me peace, not someone who tore me down.

I had loved Vivienne more than I loved myself. But she used that love as a weapon.

I looked at her calmly. "Vivienne, you don't value me. There's no point in being together anymore."

She still didn't believe me, but she actually tried to apologize for once.

"Fine. I shouldn't have mocked the cake. I'm sorry. Happy?"

I just looked at her. I felt nothing.

Vivienne took my silence as acceptance and went into the bathroom to shower.

I checked my phone. I had two new messages from Jasper.

It was a photo of Vivienne, half-dressed, draped over him in the back of a car.

"Vivi says you can't satisfy her," the text read. "Want me to give you some pointers, buddy?"

My chat history with Jasper was full of these little humiliations. He loved to gloat.

I looked at the photo, and a wave of nausea hit me.

Vivienne came out of the shower and climbed into bed next to me. She was asleep within minutes.

I noticed a few fresh hickeys on her neck.

Whenever I tried to leave a mark on her, she would push me away and call me a dog.

She told me it was "trashy" and "embarrassing."

I guess it was only trashy when it was me doing it.

I couldn't sleep. I got up, washed my face, and headed to my office.

The first thing I did was hand in my resignation letter.

My boss didn't even try to talk me out of it. He just sighed.

"Nate, I always felt you were wasting your potential here. You deserve a much bigger stage."

I was stunned. Between Marcus and my boss, I realized I wasn't the "worthless loser" Vivienne made me out to be.

My future was finally starting to look bright.