Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
I pushed the door open after work, only to find Logan’s shoes kicked all over the entryway again.
Irritated, I bent down and put them away.
"Logan, how many times do I have to tell you? Shoes go into the shoe rack!"
He was deep in his video game and didn’t even look up.
"Got it. Next time, I promise."
I opened my mouth, ready to tell him he’d said the exact same thing yesterday.
Then my eyes caught the overflowing trash can in the living room.
A flood of memories instantly crashed over me.
When I asked Logan to do the dishes, he literally only washed the dishes. The dirty pans and the greasy countertops were left untouched.
When I had a raging fever in the middle of the night, half-delirious, I asked him to run downstairs to the pharmacy for medicine. He just muttered that he was exhausted, too, and told me to order it on DoorDash.
Then there were the damp clothes he forgot in the washer, the empty pitcher in the fridge he never refilled, the dirty socks scattered across the floor...
A wave of bone-deep exhaustion hit me. I turned around and looked at him.
"Let's break up."
Only then did Logan finally look up from his screen, staring at me like I’d lost my mind.
"Are you seriously starting drama over nothing? I don’t cheat, I don’t blow money on gambling, and I share my paycheck with you!"
"You’re breaking up with me just because of some damn shoes?"
His voice was so loud it left me completely speechless.
I wanted to tell him it was never just about the shoes.
It was the lights he left on, the clutter he never put back, the toilet paper roll he never replaced when it ran out.
It was too much.
Yet none of that frustration could make it past my lips. Every single thing sounded so petty when spoken aloud, making me look like a nagging micromanager.
I looked at Logan with sheer disappointment and kept silent.
I walked into the bedroom, pulled out my suitcase, and started packing.
Fuming, Logan threw himself onto the couch, completely baffled as to why I was ending things.
When I wheeled my suitcase out, his face was still dark with resentment.
"Let’s just take some time to cool off," I said.
"I'll come back this weekend to pack the rest of my things."
Logan grabbed my arm.
"Why?"
"If you want to break up, you at least owe me a real reason."
I took a deep breath and looked right into his eyes.
"I was away on a three-day business trip. What did I ask you before I left? Wash the dishes in the sink, hang up the laundry, and throw away the takeout boxes on the counter."
"And look at this place."
Logan looked around at the chaotic mess, momentarily at a loss for words.
His face flushed red, but he still argued back.
"You're breaking up with me over petty little chores?"
"I just forgot! I'll definitely remember next time!"
I couldn't even remember how many times he’d said those exact words.
I was done fighting.
I was so exhausted that even looking at his face drained the life out of me.
Next time, and then the next time. There was always another "next time."
I let out a soft sigh.
"You don't need to change. You didn't do anything unforgivable."
"We just have different habits. It’s better if we go our separate ways."
Logan tightened his grip on my wrist.
"Chloe, didn't I already apologize?"
"I'm trying to change, okay? I can't completely rewire my habits overnight! Just because I haven't met your impossible standards yet, you throw a tantrum and want to break up?"
I didn't answer. I just pulled my arm free from his grip with steady force.
I grabbed my suitcase and kept walking toward the door.
"Fine! You want to break up? Then let's break up!"
"I'm sick of you anyway! Every time I’m around you, you’re bossing me around, ordering me to take out the trash, nag, nag, nag about the laundry. You could easily do all that yourself, but you have to make me do it!"
"Am I not allowed to have any free time of my own?!"
My steps faltered. I glanced back at his flushed, furious face.
Suddenly, I remembered the promises he made when he was chasing me.
"Chloe, once we move in together, I promise you won’t have to lift a finger. I get home earlier from work anyway, so I’ll handle everything. You just focus on being happy and pretty, and I’ll take care of you."
Looking back now, it felt like a bitter joke.
I pulled my gaze away, opened the door, and said my final words to him.
"Congratulations."
"Now that we're over, your time is all yours."That night, Logan's best friend, Mason, texted me.
[Chloe, did you and Logan get into a fight? He said you moved back in with your parents.]
[He told me you broke up with him over some unplaced shoes. You two have been together for three or four years. Throwing that away over something so small isn't worth it. Just talk it out.]
I stared at the screen for a moment, not answering directly.
[We just live differently, Mason.]
[Remember when you and Mia were fighting the worst? Back then, I didn't get it either. I told Mia that you just forgot to close the fridge door, wasting a few cents of electricity, and that it wasn't worth a divorce. Now I get it.]
Mason didn't reply. He clearly understood what I meant.
He glanced sideways at Logan, who was distractedly clicking around in his game at the cybercafé, and spoke up.
"Come on, man. You were supposed to marry Chloe soon."
"Step up a little. Anyone coming home from an exhausting business trip to find their place looking like a pigsty would lose their mind. You have hours to game; spending thirty minutes cleaning up shouldn't be that hard."
Logan shot Mason a weird look and waved him off impatiently.
"What's wrong with you? You get married and suddenly you start nagging like a middle-aged woman? Is playing a video game a crime now?"
"I bust my ass at work all day, too! I don't cheat, I don't gamble, and I share my paycheck with her. All I wanted was to kick back after work. What did I do wrong? Chloe keeps bitching at me. In the time it takes her to nag, she could’ve cleaned it up herself!"
Mason frowned deeply.
He couldn't help but shoot back:
"Does Chloe owe you something? Is she supposed to be your maid and do the chores for two people?"
"You work, but so does she! If you're free, pull your own weight. You guys were building a life together, why keep score like that?"
Logan knew he was in the wrong, silenced by Mason’s words.
He sulkily logged out of the game and muttered under his breath:
"I'm just tired of spoiling her. Every single time, I'm the one who bows his head and apologizes. Can't she comfort me just once? Whatever, talking to a married guy is pointless."
"Let's go. Chloe can't boss me around anymore anyway. Let’s grab some wings and beer! We’re getting wasted tonight!"
Logan dragged Mason out of the place.
Meanwhile, staring at my phone, I couldn't help second-guessing myself.
Then I looked up and saw my mom in the kitchen, washing the dishes.
I suddenly asked:
"Mom, why did you choose Dad back then?"
"Auntie told me you were dating that handsome guy, Paul, before him."
My mom turned around and smiled at me.
"At first, I didn't think much of your dad. Paul was handsome and treated me nicely, but he had this one habit: he kept tapping his cigarette ashes into my flower pots. My plants died one after another."
"No matter how many times I told him, he never changed. It drove me crazy."
"Your dad wasn't like that. He brought me pretty planters, bought different plant fertilizers, and whenever I went out of town, he took such good care of my flowers."
I fell into deep thought.
Just then, my dad walked through the door after taking out the trash.
He was carrying a huge watermelon, smiling warmly at me before calling into the kitchen:
"Sarah, didn't you say yesterday you were craving watermelon?"
"Look how lucky I got! I took out the trash and ran into a vendor selling sweet melons down the block."
Mom beamed and took the watermelon from him.
I knew Dad was lying. Street vendors weren't allowed around our gated community.
He must have gone out of his way to the specialty grocery store a mile away.
My mind instantly snapped back to that box of fever medicine. That night, burning up and barely conscious, I nudged Logan, begging him to walk to the 24-hour pharmacy down the block.
It was a five-minute walk. I could have had medicine in ten minutes.
"Just order it on DoorDash. It'll be here in half an hour. I'm exhausted, and I have work tomorrow."
I couldn't move him, so I had to order it through an app.
Late at night, drivers were scarce. Even with priority delivery, the medicine arrived an hour later.
After choking down the pills, I collapsed onto the bed, dizzy and shaking, staring at Logan sound asleep beside me.
That was the first time I felt real resentment toward him.
Right then, Mom pressed a fresh slice of watermelon into my hand.
"Have some. It's so sweet."
"Honey, Logan isn't a bad guy, but he doesn't know how to care for someone. A lifetime is long—fifty, sixty years. Spending it with a man like that is just too exhausting."
I nodded numbly and took a bite of the melon.
It was incredibly sweet.
Looking up, I saw my dad out on the balcony, hanging up the laundry.
In that exact moment, everything clicked.
"Mom, tell Mrs. Davis I'll meet that guy she wanted to set me up with."On the second day after our breakup, Logan sent me a few texts.
[You've had enough time to cool off. You should have your head on straight by now.]
[Let's get back together.]
I frowned at the screen.
[Logan, we broke up.]
I locked my phone and went back to work.
When I stepped out of the office that evening, Logan was actually waiting outside with his car.
I couldn't even remember the last time his car was parked outside my building.
Two years ago?
When we first started dating, he’d happily drive an hour out of his way just to pick me up and drop me off.
Then one day, running late, he suggested I take the subway instead.
After that, his car never appeared outside my office again.
Logan waved from across the street, calling my name with a bright smile.
"Chloe! Over here!"
I couldn't understand how, after screaming at each other like that, he could stand there grinning as if nothing had ever happened.
Maybe he thought a night of sleep magically erased everything.
With a cold expression, I walked over.
But the moment I pulled open the passenger door, my stomach sank.
Someone was already sitting there.
Logan's coworker, Hailey.
She greeted me with a sweet smile:
"Hi, Chloe! Logan said it was on the way, so he offered to give me a ride. Plus, tomorrow's the weekend. He told me you two have been bickering, and thought another girl might be able to help smooth things over."
I didn't return her smile, replying coldly:
"Then you should be sitting in the back with me, not hogging the passenger seat that belongs to his girlfriend."
I turned on my heel to leave, but Logan grabbed me and gently shoved me into the back seat.
He chuckled, trying to play it off:
"Come on, I went completely out of my way to pick you up!"
"Hailey gets carsick easily, that's why she’s in the front. It’s just a seat, don't make a mountain out of a molehill."
I stopped fighting it.
Whatever. We were broken up anyway. Anyone could sit in that seat for all I cared.
I might as well use this ride to make things crystal clear and collect the rest of my things from the apartment.
Along the way, Hailey wouldn't stop chattering.
"Chloe, I heard you and Logan got into a fight just because he didn't put his shoes away."
"If you ask me, you're overreacting. Guys are just like that. When you come home, you can just tidy up after him."
"Mm," I muttered, acknowledging her noise.
Sensing my dismissal, Hailey pressed on:
"Chloe, Logan is known as the ultimate loyal guy at our company."
"New interns ask for his number and invite him out to dinner all the time, and he turns them all down. He always tells them he has a girlfriend. It's just a few chores—you can easily take on a little more. Men with that kind of integrity are practically extinct these days."
I scoffed softly and asked casually:
"Judging by the way you talk, you seem pretty interested in him yourself?"
Hailey tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing back at me with a smirk.
It was a clear provocation.
"A guy that good? Of course any girl would want him."
"You better make up with him quick, Chloe. Otherwise, some eager intern might sweep him right off his feet."
Logan, oblivious, puffed up with pride.
He threw fuel on the fire:
"You hear that, Chloe?"
"Stop being mad at me, or someone might steal me away!"
I didn't say a word.
I kept my head down, scrolling through my phone in absolute silence until we arrived.
Hailey shamelessly insisted on coming upstairs with us, and Logan didn't stop her.
The moment we stepped inside, Logan proudly showed off the apartment:
"Look! While you were gone, I cleaned the entire place top to bottom!"
I scanned the room.
It really was much cleaner. The floors were mopped, the trash was taken out, and even the shoes were lined up neatly.
Yet, all I felt was a heavy sigh leaving my chest.
A deeper sense of helplessness washed over me.
See? He always knew what bothered me. He always knew how to do it right.
He just never wanted to do it... or he was waiting for me to do it for him.
Ignoring him, I walked to the bedroom to pack my remaining things.
Panicking, Logan grabbed my arm, completely bewildered.
"Wait, what are you doing? I cleaned the whole damn apartment!"
"And you still want to break up?!"I looked at Logan, then glanced at Hailey standing by the door, watching the drama with keen interest.
A spark of anger flared in my chest.
"What else did you expect? Did you bring your coworker along just to show off how popular you are?"
"Not cheating and not flirting with other women is the bare minimum in a relationship. Does that really deserve a cheerleader singing your praises? Don't pretend you didn't understand what she was hinting at in the car."
"Logan, do you honestly think this relationship is working?"
Seeing that his smiles and jokes weren't softening me, Logan's embarrassment turned into fury.
"No, it's not working! Of course it's not!"
"The second I do one little thing wrong, you blow your lid! You completely erase everything good I've ever done for you and scream for a breakup. I never said I wouldn't change! I told you I'd change next time!"
Hailey stepped in right on cue to stir the pot.
She touched Logan's arm, pretending to soothe him:
"Logan, please don't be mad. It's all my fault. Chloe, if you want to yell at someone, yell at me! As a coworker, I shouldn't have gotten involved. I just felt so bad seeing how suffocated Logan feels in this relationship."
"Chloe, I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel better, just slap me!"
With that, Hailey actually grabbed my hand and tried to pull it toward her cheek.
Logan shoved me back instantly, shielding Hailey behind him.
"Hailey, what are you apologizing for? She's the one being ungrateful!"
"She was trying to help our relationship, and not only do you brush her off, you try to hit her? Chloe, do you even have a conscience?!"
His shove knocked my shoulder hard against the wall.
A dull pain shot through my arm, making me wince.
Pale-faced, I looked at the two of them.
I let out a bitter, exhausted laugh.
"From the moment we met today until now, did I say a single word to your precious coworker? Did I lay a finger on her?"
"Logan, turning a relationship into this... it's pathetic."
I picked up my storage box and walked out.
Behind me, Logan shouted furiously after my retreating back:
"Pathetic? You're the one who's pathetic! You have the worst temper on the planet! I swallowed my pride to beg you back, and you still treat me like dirt! Fine! If you want to break up, then get the hell out! I'm done catering to you!"
"Chloe, you walk out that door today, and don't you dare ever come back!"
I didn't stop. Giving him another backward glance felt like a complete waste of energy.
I pulled the door shut and left.
For the next three or four days, Logan didn't text me once.
Even when Mason asked about it, Logan just frowned and brushed it off:
"Let her throw her tantrum! Like I care!"
"I bent over backwards to apologize, what more does she want? I told her next time, next time, but she just won't listen!"
Mason didn't know what else to say.
Days went by, but looking at his completely silent phone, Logan grew increasingly restless and anxious.
Two weeks after the breakup, unable to stand the silence any longer, Logan invited Mason out for drinks, asking him to bring his wife, Mia, hoping they could help him figure out how to win me back.
"Mason, don't you think Chloe is being ridiculously stubborn?"
"If I don't text her, she doesn't text me. Are we really just going to stay in this standoff?"
Mason gave a strained smile, gently reminding him:
"It's not really a standoff, man."
"Didn't she... break up with you?"
Logan scoffed, feigning indifference.
"She's just talking out of anger. We've been together for almost four years. How could she just drop it like that? She's just mad, waiting for me to crawl back like a dog and beg."
"Not this time. I'm not backing down!"
Mia, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up:
"Logan, nobody stands in place waiting for you forever."
Logan went silent.
The words hit him like a physical blow, leaving him deeply unsettled.
He picked at his food, unable to focus, before finally pulling out his phone to text me:
[Are you done being mad?]
A bright red exclamation mark popped up on his screen.
Blocked.
Logan's brow furrowed tightly. He turned to Mason across the table.
"Lend me your phone. Chloe blocked me."
"I need to text her."
Mason nodded and pulled out his phone. But as he unlocked it and tapped on Instagram, his eyes widened.
His face went pale as he looked up at Logan.
"Logan... I think Chloe is seeing someone."
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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