Seeing that I remained silent, Lawson sneered and continued with contempt, "How can you even claim you're not materialistic? If you weren't, why do you flaunt all these designer brands? You're broke, yet you're pretending to be some high-flying socialite."
"Your family might be just some smelly fishmongers, but here you are, acting like a big spender at school. Doesn't that make you sickening?
"Someone like you, wanting to stay with me? I must've been blind to agreeing with your confession and wasting so much time and effort. Just looking at you now makes me feel nauseated.
"The biggest regret of my life is agreeing to date you."
As I listened to Lawson's cruel words, my heart sank.
Regardless of whether the rumors were true, as my boyfriend, his first move should've been to stand by my side and uncover the truth, not to blindly side with gossip and join in the public shaming.
I thought, How did I ever fall for a man who lacked both trust and responsibility?
I felt like I must've been bewitched.
The crowd was overwhelmingly in Lawson's corner, including some friends who used to be close to me. Now, they seemed eager to see me humiliated.
They had once been my sycophants, eager to do anything for a scrap of my attention.
But now, when I faced trouble, they were quick to turn their backs, almost reveling in my misery.
It was true—trouble really did reveal the true nature of people.
Realizing this, I suddenly felt a sense of relief.
I looked at Lawson, his face twisted with anger, and emotionlessly pulled out my phone. I transferred him a hundred dollars.
"Lawson, let's break up. In the month we've been together, I've spent fifty bucks from you. I'm sending it all back now.
"To be honest, this amount is shit to me.
"You don't need to return the excess. Consider it a fee for cleaning up your filthy mouth. I hope you stay far away from me and don't bother me again."
Laughter erupted from the crowd behind me. Amid Lawson's stunned disbelief, I walked away with my head held high.
I didn't want to stay a second longer, afraid it might taint my eyes and ears.
As I was eating at the cafeteria for lunch, I overheard a few unfamiliar girls behind me whispering and pointing.
"She's such a broke loser, yet here she is pretending to be someone she's not. What a joke."