After My Boyfriend Dumped Me, He Ended Up Begging on the Streets novel Chapter 3

Lila let out a sigh, and silence filled the room.

After a while, I said goodbye to her and left.

When I got back to the house Caleb and I had lived in for eight years, everything was just as we had left it.

The same furniture, the same decorations—nothing had changed.

And yet, everything had.

The house was filled with memories of us, but now, they felt like ghosts of a past life.

I curled up on the couch, and before I knew it, tears started falling again.

Eventually, exhaustion took over, and I drifted off to sleep.

…

A noise at the door woke me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Caleb standing there.

"Caleb… you're home," I murmured, still groggy.

For a second, I forgot everything that had happened this morning and instinctively moved toward him, seeking comfort like I always had.

But before I could reach him, a hand shoved me back.

Nora stepped in front of me, smirking.

"Wow, Zoe, throwing yourself at someone else's boyfriend? That's not a great look."

She clung to Caleb's arm, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

Caleb didn't even look at me.

His gaze was locked on Nora, soft and full of affection.

I swallowed hard, pushing down the lump in my throat.

"What are you doing here?"

My voice came out steadier than I expected.

If he had already burned our bridges, why come back?

Just to rub salt in the wound?

"We're here to grab Caleb's stuff," Nora said, her voice dripping with condescension.

"After all, he can't exactly keep living in this little dump, can he?"

A dump.

This "dump" was the home Caleb and I had built together over eight years.

And now, all I could do was watch as they took away every trace of him.

"Oh, oops. My bad, Zoe," Nora gasped dramatically as she dropped a framed picture of us, the glass shattering on the floor.

She gave me an exaggerated look of apology, but the smugness in her eyes was unmistakable.

"It's just a picture," Caleb said indifferently, barely sparing it a glance.

"I was gonna get rid of it anyway."

My fingers trembled at my sides.

I was on the verge of breaking.

He didn't answer.

Instead, he pulled out a card from his pocket and held it out to me.

"Here. A million dollars," he said, his voice flat.

"Consider it payment for taking care of me all these years."

Nora hesitated for a second, but then she smiled, her voice saccharine-sweet.

"Yeah, Zoe, take it. You've been such a great help to Caleb all these years."

She didn't want me to accept it—I could see that much.

And that was exactly why I took it.

I wiped away my tears, grabbed the card, and forced a smile.

"Thanks."

Nora's expression twisted into something ugly, but she quickly schooled it into a fake smile when Caleb glanced at her.

I looked at them, and suddenly, I wasn't sad anymore—I was just done.

"Now that we're settled, get out of my house."

I wasn't going to beg.

If Caleb wanted to pretend none of this had ever meant anything, I wasn't going to fight him on it.

I'd spent eight years raising a dog that could make money.

I was just cashing in.