The Ring in the Cake Became Their Gift

I planned to propose to my boyfriend, Julian, on my 28th birthday.

I baked a cherry cake from scratch and hid a diamond ring inside.

But when Julian came home that night, he had a kid with him.

Sienna has a business trip, so I'm babysitting Noah for her.

Sienna was his coworker, a single mom.

Julian had been hovering over her like a savior ever since she got divorced a year ago.

"Can't she hire a nanny?" I complained.

Julian immediately frowned, accusing me of lacking empathy.

He didn't even take a single bite of the cake I made.

Instead, he gave the whole thing to the kid.

I reached out to stop him, wanting to tell him about the ring hidden inside, but his face darkened.

"Are you seriously fighting a toddler over a slice of cake, Chloe?"

With that, he grabbed the kid and walked out.

When Julian finally came back in the dead of night, he was holding a massive bouquet of 999 white roses.

"Happy birthday, baby!"

"Don't worry, Sienna is just a coworker. You're the only one I love."

I forced a smile and chose to forgive him.

But later that night, I saw the notifications light up on his phone.

Sienna: That ring in the cake... was your girlfriend trying to propose to you?

Julian: Just keep it. I don't really want to get married anytime soon anyway.

Julian called out from the bathroom, "Chloe, I forgot to grab a towel. Can you bring me one?"

I put his phone back down. My heart sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The moment he opened the door, I handed him the towel.

He wrapped it around his waist, his expression softening as he reached out to ruffle my hair.

"What's wrong? Still mad at me? You're usually the understanding one."

I flinched away from his touch, my voice cold.

"Give me my ring back."

Julian's smile froze.

"What ring?"

"Stop acting. I put a ring inside that cake, and you know it."

Julian glanced at his phone on the nightstand, and his face instantly turned angry.

"Did you go through my phone?"

"I told you, Sienna and I are just coworkers!"

I didn't have the energy to argue. I held the phone up to his face.

"Call her right now. Tell her to give me my ring back."

Julian looked embarrassed. "I already gave it to her. I'll buy you another one, okay? I promise I'll get you a much more expensive one."

"Julian, that's not the point," I interrupted.

Julian suddenly slammed his phone onto the floor.

His voice boomed through the room.

"Chloe! What is your problem tonight?!"

"It's just a stupid ring! How was I supposed to know it was inside the cake?"

"I already gave it to her! How do you expect me to ask for it back?"

I stared at him, numb.

Julian pulled a thick stack of cash out of his wallet and threw it right at my face.

The bills fluttered down around me, and among them were three tickets to Disneyland.

"Is this enough?"

Then he whipped out his black card and threw it at me.

"Is this enough?!"

My ears rang from his shouting.

In our six years together, this was the first time Julian had ever raised his voice at me. He looked so vicious, like he wanted to tear me apart.

My chest tightened, a suffocating pain paralyzing me.

Trembling, I opened the photo gallery on my phone, frantically searching for the video from five years agothe one where he promised he would marry me today.

He was the one who forgot.

"Fine. Let's both take the night to cool off."

Julian pushed my phone away.

"Chloe, you need to seriously reflect on your jealousy."

The door slammed shut.

My stomach knotted, and I began to dry heave uncontrollably.

I clutched my shirt tightly over my chest.

It felt like the only way to breathe.

I cried until I had no tears left. When I finally dragged myself off the floor, I began to pack my few belongings.

Six years ago, I came here with nothing but love. Six years later, I was leaving completely alone.

My phone buzzed. Sienna had posted on Instagram.

Her caption read: [Thank you for always being by my side through the hardest times. ??]

The photo showed a high-end restaurant. Julian was holding Noah, and Sienna was leaning closely against his shoulder.

Today was my birthday, but he was out having a fancy dinner with Sienna and her son.

Julian's assistant had commented on the post:

"Damn, that was fast. Sienna's charm is no joke."

"Julian keeps telling everyone at the office that he's a non-marriage guy, but he still fell for Sienna in the end."

I turned off the screen, staring at my pale reflection in the dark glass.

My hands shook so hard I could barely zip my suitcase.

At the very bottom of my bag lay the train ticket to Minneapolis from six years ago.

But these six years had just been brutally ended by Julian's own hands.

It was honestly pathetic.

After living in Minneapolis for so many years, I had no friends and no job. Even the money I used to buy that ring was saved up from the allowance he gave me.

My entire world had revolved around him.

I was so incredibly stupid.

Stupid enough to hand him my heart on a silver platter, letting him shred it to pieces.

"One-way ticket to Miami, please," I told the ticket agent.

The elderly woman at the counter looked up. "Oh? Aren't you the girl from six years ago?"

I looked up, a faint bit of life returning to my numb face.

"You remember me?"

The lady smiled warmly.

"How could I forget you two?"

"Back then, your boyfriend waited outside this station for a whole day and night. The snow was piling up on his shoulders, and he looked like an ice sculpture, but he refused to leave. He was so terrified of missing you."

"We told him to come inside the lobby to have some warm tea, but the poor boy just smiled awkwardly. He said he was starting a new business and spent every penny buying you a welcome gift. He couldn't even afford a bus ride. He walked five hours in the freezing snow just to get to this station."

I listened, dazed.

A dull, aching pain squeezed my heart.

From a run-down basement to a tiny rental, and finally to our current luxury penthouse.

The boy had swallowed all the bitter cold alone.

With his frostbitten, calloused hands, he had built our lives brick by brick, trying to give me a home.

He used to say, "We don't have to be afraid of winter anymore."

"Chloe, honestly, I was so scared you'd come find me and suffer, but I was even more terrified that you wouldn't come."

"I didn't want you to struggle with me."

"But I was so scared you'd stop loving me."

He had cried that day, holding me so tight it felt like he wanted to merge our bodies into one.

My tears flowed silently now.

We were supposed to be happy. How did we end up so broken?

"Here's your ticket, sweetheart."

My fingers trembled as I took it.

It didn't feel like a ticket. It felt like a blade severing my past.

"Don't cry."

The ticket agent glanced at the expensive Cartier bracelet on my wrist and sighed with relief.

"When you build a man up from nothing, don't look at his sweet words. Look at his wallet, and see if he's still willing to spend on you."

I nodded slowly, clutching the crumpled ticket.

Before I could board, Julian ran into the station.

He sprinted toward me just like he did six years ago, throwing his arms around me and crushing me into his chest.

I could hear his ragged breathing, his racing heartbeat, and his cracking voice.

"Don't go..."

"Chloe, I was just angry. I didn't want you to leave..."

Julian snatched my ticket, tore it to shreds, and carried me out to his car, putting me into the passenger seat.

"You hate that I hang out with Sienna, right?"

"I've transferred her to another department. I'll keep my distance from now on."

I remained silent.

I just stared blankly at the car air freshener hanging from the mirrorit was a gift from Sienna.

The car smelled faintly of citrusSienna's perfume.

The glove compartment, which used to hold my lip balms, was now stuffed with Noah's favorite snacks and a couple of lipsticks that didn't belong to me.

I blinked, my eyes burning with dryness.

Julian didn't notice my silence. He was already talking about taking me to Hawaii for the upcoming holidays.

I let out a soft sigh.

I didn't even have the energy to nod.

Julian never brought up Sienna again.

Their chat logs on Snapchat were strictly about work.

Everything seemed clean.

"Chloe, I'm running for vice president at the firm. I'm going to be extremely busy lately," his voice came through the phone, sounding distant.

"I transferred some money to your account. Go shopping, buy yourself something nice. Don't just stay home waiting for me."

Lately, by the time he came home, I was already asleep.

When he left in the morning, I was still dreaming.

There was always warm breakfast waiting for me in the microwave, and my dirty laundry was always washed and dried.

Julian's presence was everywhere in the apartment.

I could see it.

But I couldn't feel it anymore.

The distance between us was growing, our relationship rusting away.

Even if we tried to polish the rust, the weight of our love was gone. We were floating in the air, ready to be blown away by the slightest breeze.

I had planned to take my money and leave, but then, the ultimate complication happened.

I got pregnant.

At first, I was just exhausted, losing my appetite, and throwing up constantly.

I mentioned feeling sick to Julian, and the next day, he brought home a huge bag of pills and told me to take them. Without a single word of comfort, he rushed back to the office.

I took them, but the nausea only got worse. Finally, I went to the hospital, only to find out I was pregnant.

"We need to run more tests to see if we can keep the baby," the doctor said, frowning. "You've taken a heavy dose of strong antibiotics. There's a high risk of birth defects."

I was wheeled out of the room by two nurses.

Outside the ultrasound room, I spent the most agonizing six hours of my life.

I pinched the back of my hands until they were bruised.

My eyes stared blankly as tears of guilt ran down my cheeks.

I blamed myself for not realizing sooner.

Why didn't I check the medication?

Why did I blindly swallow whatever Julian handed to me?

"The baby looks fine for now. Come back next month for a checkup."

A wave of relief washed over me. My mood brightened, and I even ordered a whole pizza for dinner.

Julian didn't get home until midnight.

He reeked of alcohol, his cheek was bleeding, and one of his eyes was badly bruised.

"Did you get into a fight?"

He mumbled something incoherent and went straight into the bathroom.

His work phone was lying on the bed, and it lit up with a Snapchat notification.

Sienna: Julian, thank you so much for standing up for me today. Otherwise, my ex-husband would have kept harassing me.

Sienna: I feel so helpless. If you hadn't been here for us, Noah and I wouldn't have survived. Noah loves you so much, he calls you Daddy Julian every day. Julian... please give us a real family.

The words pierced my chest.

It hurt so bad, like my lungs were collapsing.

Daddy...

Then who was my baby going to call Daddy?

Give them a family...

Then what about my family?

The warm, safe home I had dreamed of since I was a child was gone.

Shattered by Julian.

I bit my tongue hard, letting the pain snap me back to reality as I scrolled through his Snapchat.

They had never stopped talking.

They just moved their conversations from his main account to a private burner account. His private feed was filled with photos of him, Sienna, and Noah, receiving warm blessings from his close friends and relatives.

I had been abandoned again.

I couldn't play the polite girlfriend anymore.

With shaking fingers, I typed a message to Sienna: Do you love being a homewrecker that much? You can have this trash. I'm throwing him out.

"Chloe! What the hell are you doing with my phone?!"

Julian's gentleness always vanished the second his boundaries were crossed.

He grabbed my arm and yanked me forward.

I stumbled and fell against the bed frame. Ignoring the sharp pain in my lower abdomen, I scrambled up and slapped him across the face.

Julian's bruised face swelled even more.

He glared at the phone in my hand.

"Give it to me."

I didn't budge.

He lunged forward to grab it, grabbing my wrist and forcing my fingers open one by one.

My joints popped painfully, and through my scream of pain, he snatched the phone back.

"The message already sent, Julian. It's too late to delete it," I laughed hysterically.

I sounded like a madwoman.

"I called her exactly what she is. A homewrecker. Does your heart bleed for her?"

"Sienna is just"

SLAP!

The force of his hand sent me crashing onto the bed.

My words were swallowed back into my throat, turning into a sickening pain that twisted inside my stomach.

My eyes throbbed.

For a second, I thought he had ruptured my eye. Otherwise, why was there so much warmth flowing down my cheek? Was it blood, or just tears?

"Do you have any idea how much trauma Sienna has been through?!" Julian roared. "Chloe, you're going to drive her over the edge!"

"Would you only be happy if she died?!"

My voice was completely hoarse.

"Yes."

"Go die. Both of you."

Julian ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, shoved it into my hand, and pressed the blade against his own neck.

It was a dramatic, toxic standoff.

"Come on! Kill me!"

"Kill me if you have the guts!"

"Chloe, I never said I wouldn't marry you! I'm just trying to handle Sienna's situation first. I don't have the energy to deal with your drama right now!"

"You waited six years, but you can't even give me a little time? Are you really that starved for love?!"

Yes, I was.

I was pregnant, and I didn't want my child to grow up in a broken home like I did.

He accused me of hurting Sienna.

But he was the one ripping my old wounds open, sticking his fingers in, and twisting them.

His phone rang.

It was Noah, crying. "Daddy... Mommy ran out of the house crying. I'm so scared something happened to her... Please come find her..."

Julian hauled me up from the bed by my collar.

"Get up. You're coming with me to see exactly what you've done to her!"

"Chloe, your spoiled attitude needs to stop!"

The car sped down the highway.

Soon, Sienna's figure appeared on the side of the road.

Julian dragged me out of the car, forcing me to apologize to her.

He shoved my shoulders down, forcing me onto my knees in the freezing snow. My knees burned against the icy ground through my thin leggings.

"Chloe, I can tolerate your little tantrums, but not this time."

"Sienna has severe depression from her divorce. She can't handle this kind of trigger."

The snow fell heavier, and as my body shivered violently, Julian pressed down harder on my shoulders.

People walked past us.

I envied them so much.

They were whole. The snow falling on them was just snow, not salt on open wounds.

"Julian... I'm pregnant..."

A desperate, empty laugh escaped my lips.

A warm gush of liquid began to spread beneath me, slowly staining the white snow crimson.

"I can't handle this kind of trigger either..."