From the moment she returned, Zaldy devoted himself to her as though she were his chosen queen. For an entire year, I watched him attend to her every request, fund her ventures, and rearrange his empire to suit her needs. I, meanwhile, was offered nothing but distant words and hollow gestures.
A year ago, I opened my own art gallery—something I had built from nothing with my own vision and effort. Zaldy never showed. Not even briefly. Instead, he sent flowers with a generic card that felt more like an obligation than a celebration.
Yet when Maria needed him at the airport, he arrived immediately. When she required security, financing, or connections, he handled every detail personally—treating her life as if it outweighed mine entirely.
I became a ghost within my own home, invisible to the man I had once believed was my future.
The resentment finally erupted as I followed him upstairs, my voice shaking but resolute.
“Why are you so heartless, Zaldy?” I demanded. “You skipped my gallery opening. You rushed to Maria’s side without hesitation. You invested everything into her operations. And now you can’t even spare a few hours for my graduation? Is it always going to be her?”
He turned slowly, sliding his phone into his belt, irritation flashing across his face.
“What’s your problem now?” he scoffed. “Do you want more money? A better gift? Just say it instead of acting pathetic.”
The words sliced through me, reducing everything I had given him to something transactional.
“I don’t want your money,” I whispered, tears spilling freely. “I want you. I want my partner to show up. That’s all I ever asked for.”
He laughed softly, cruel amusement flickering in his eyes as he grabbed my chin.
“Your tears won’t change anything, Sami,” he said coldly. “You’ll never have what you want. And don’t expect to see me at your graduation.”
He shoved me away and slammed the door, the echo reverberating through the halls of the manor.
Our relationship had always been empty. From the beginning, it was an arrangement orchestrated by his mother—two strangers forced into proximity for convenience and image. Despite the army of staff surrounding us, he demanded I tend to his needs personally, confusing control with intimacy.
The man I once loved was gone—if he had ever truly existed at all.