Chapter 3: The Price of Being Taken for Granted

The next morning, I didn't make breakfast.

Cole sat at the dining table for ten minutes. Seeing that I had only grabbed a glass of milk, he finally asked, "Where's mine?"

"I don't know."

"You know very well my stomach hurts if I drink coffee on an empty stomach."

I put on my shoes and looked at him calmly.

"You also know I'm lactose intolerant. But last week you bought two cases of the whole milk Elise likes and threw out all my oat milk."

He paused.

"They wouldn't fit in the fridge. I thought you could just buy more."

"Then you can just buy breakfast, too."

I pushed the door open and walked out.

At noon, Cole's mother, Mrs. Bennett, called me.

The moment she spoke, she urged me not to be mad at Cole.

"It's not easy for Elise. She was hurt so badly by her ex-boyfriend. Cole is helping her out of the affection they share from growing up together."

"You and Cole have a stable relationship. Yielding to her a little won't cost you anything."

Holding the phone, I suddenly remembered Thanksgiving.

Cole had promised to come home with me to see my parents. Halfway there, Elise called to say she didn't dare face her relatives alone.

He immediately turned the car around, dropped me off at a gas station at the next highway exit, and drove away, leaving me to call a car all by myself.

My mom heated up the food in the kitchen three times, but in the end, I was the only one who showed up.

Meanwhile, Cole stayed with Elise through Thanksgiving dinner at her parents' house, brought wine and desserts for the hosts, and fended off those gossipy relatives for her.

The next day, Cole's mother called to persuade me, saying that there were plenty of days ahead and that I shouldn't embarrass Elise during her hardest times.

They all had to protect her pride.

Only my pride could be cast aside time and time again.

"Mrs. Bennett." I cut her off. "Cole and I have already broken up."

The other end of the line was quiet for a few seconds before she started laughing.

"Haven't you two been faking a breakup for a while now? Alright, don't use words like that to scare people. I know how Cole is. He doesn't know how to coax people, so just bear with him."

So even Cole's mother knew.

I had been kept in the dark under the guise of so-called protection, like a prop that could be sacrificed at any time.

Everyone watched wide awake as Cole crossed the line, only to tell me that they were just acting.

"It's real this time."

I hung up the phone, organized the follow-up appointments, the doctor's notes, and the medical records from the past three years, and forwarded them all to Cole, telling him he would have to accompany his mother himself from now on.

He called back very quickly.

"You've always gone with my mom for her checkups, and you're familiar with her doctors. Even if we're fighting, don't take it out on my mom."

"She is your mother, not my responsibility."

"Mara, when did you become so cold?"

I hung up the phone directly.

The transfer application to Lakeside was approved the day after I submitted it.

I had two weeks to hand over my work and pack my bags.

That evening, I got home early. I was packing my books into a box when the door lock suddenly clicked.

Elise walked in, dragging a suitcase.

Cole followed behind her, holding her cat.

I looked at her, then at Cole.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Cody went to her place tonight."

Cole put the cat down and skillfully pulled a pair of pink slippers out of the shoe cabinet.

I had no idea when those slippers had even appeared.

"It's not safe for Elise to live alone. She's going to stay here for a few days."

Elise added in a small voice, "I wanted to stay at a hotel, but Cole said he's been checking my posts lately and even wandered around downstairs from my apartment. He said it's safest here. Mara, I won't bother you guys."

I looked at the slippers on her feet, which had clearly been worn many times.

"You've been here before?"

"Occasionally."

Her answer was vague.

But Cole didn't deny it.

When I was working overtime, on business trips, or accompanying his mother to checkups, Elise had perhaps entered this home countless times.

She knew where the cups were kept, knew which bowl to pour the cat food into, and even smoothly pulled out the juice I had just bought yesterday from the fridge.

This place wasn't unfamiliar to her at all.