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