Gold Behind Closed Hands

My boyfriend belonged to the untouchables among the capital's elite, with a family fortune worth tens of billions.

To "test" me, he spent seven years never buying me a single gift, never spending a cent on me.

Even a stop at a convenience store for condoms had to be split down the middle.

Then, my mother fell critically ill. I borrowed from every friend and relative I could, but I was still two thousand short to cover the surgery fees.

No matter how much I pleaded, he refused to lend me the money.

I arranged my mother's funeral on my own.

When I went back to pack my belongings, I accidentally found a list of gifts he had bought for the young woman next door.

A private luxury estate. Designer handbags. Jewelry worth hundreds of millions.

There was also a voice chat with his friend.

"Caleb, is it true Jessica actually humbled herself and begged you for two thousand?"

Caleb Brooks let out a low, amused laugh, his tone lazy and indifferent.

"Nevaeh wasn't wrong. Anyone who goes around begging over two thousand — what else is she if not a gold digger?

"We've only been together seven years and she's already trying to get money out of me."

So that was the truth.

Seven years of so-called testing, it seemed, had been sparked by nothing more than a few manipulative words from a young woman next door.

However, it no longer mattered.

The moment my mother passed away, I had already decided to leave him.

1

I had just tucked the gift list away when the front door burst open.

Caleb Brooks stumbled in, a little tipsy, and plopped down next to me.

"You were gone for a few days. I bet you thought you wouldn't come back.

"However, you missed me too much, didn't you? You just had to come back."

He almost said out loud that I returned just to con him out of his money.

Maybe he'd always seen me as just a girl after his cash.

Without even glancing at him, I scooted away, avoiding the arm he tried to drape over me.

He looked at his hand, then at me, confused.

He figured I was just upset about the $2,000.

"I'm a little thirsty from all the drinking. Go fetch me some lemon soda," he said.

He was always like that, bossy and dismissive. A typical spoiled rich kid.

However, when he first pursued me seven years ago, he pretended to be poor.

He had me completely fooled.

"Jess, I've got nothing, and I can't promise you a future.

"However, we can work hard and make a good life together."

I believed his honest face back then and agreed.

I needed money, but I could get by on my own hard work.

I was touched by his promise to work hard together.

However, the longer we were together, the more I realized that he was not like everyone else.

He would turn his nose up at anything cheap.

He would make me do things that he could easily do himself.

It all clicked when I saw him step out of a fancy car and into a swanky club, treated like a star.

That was when I knew our relationship was built on lies.

He was always afraid that I was just after his money.

Caleb spoke up again, snapping me back to the present.

"If you need money in the future, just ask me. Don't use your mom's sickness as an excuse.

"You're not scared of getting what's coming to you, huh?"

His words seemed so silly to me now.

I looked up at him with an icy stare.

"Would you actually give me the money if I asked?"

He paused, looking unsure for a moment.

However, then, as if proving a point, he gave me a mocking glance.

"Nevaeh was right. You're only with me for my cash."