…the engagement ring you’ve been hinting at for the last six months in my pocket. I was laid off from the firm on Tuesday. I spent the last of my savings trying to keep tonight perfect because I didn’t want to ruin Valentine’s Day. When I saw the total, I panicked. I just needed to know you had my back when things got tight. Now I know.”
The words blurred together as the restaurant around me faded into a dull roar. The waitress gave me a sympathetic, tight-lipped smile before stepping away to give me privacy.
I sat there, staring at the crumpled receipt paper he’d written the note on. Suddenly, his behavior all evening made agonizing sense. He hadn’t been distant because he was bored; he was suffocating under the weight of a secret he was too proud to share. When he asked me to split the bill, his voice hadn’t been demanding—it had been desperate. And I had crossed my arms, scoffed, and told him that if he invited me to a luxury steakhouse, he needed to act like a gentleman.
I grabbed my purse and sprinted out of the restaurant, ignoring the confused glances of the host stand. The crisp February air hit my lungs like glass. I dialed his number with shaking fingers, but it went straight to voicemail.
I hailed a cab, giving the driver his address. The entire ride, I rehearsed my apology. I would tell him I didn’t know. I would tell him that of course I had his back, that the money didn’t matter, that I was just caught off guard.
When I got to his apartment building, his car was already gone from the driveway. I used my spare key to let myself in. The apartment was dead silent. His keys weren’t on the console. His daily jacket was missing from the hook.
Sitting perfectly centered on the kitchen island was a small, velvet black box.
My chest tightened as I walked over and slowly opened it. Inside was the exact princess-cut diamond we had looked at in a jewelry store window last winter. Tucked under the ring cushion was a much shorter, much more final note.
“You deserve the luxury you expect. I just can’t afford it anymore. Goodbye.”
