Chapter 3 The Ring That Was Never Mine

I immediately recognized the ring to be the featured design from a jewelry brand that had approached me for a sponsorship not long ago.

Each person could customize only one with their ID.

They said they would pay 500,000 for advertising.

At that time, I had wanted to accept it. However, I wasn't doing it for the money. Instead, it was because Caleb and I had been together for five years. I thought it was finally time for our relationship to move forward.

However, Caleb turned it down.

"How can I use a sponsored ring for a proposal? Mel, trust me. One day, I'll buy you an even more beautiful one."

Yet, the same ring he said shouldn't be used for a proposal was on Jessica's finger.

I opened my WhatsApp and searched for the brand company's contact information.

"Did Caleb accept your campaign?"

They replied almost immediately, "Yes, but he wanted to post it on his girlfriend's personal account. Since it has far fewer followers than the main account, the sponsorship fee was reduced to 100,000. Still, the campaign performed really well. It's already trending."

The words were blurry through my tears.

I gripped my phone tightly and suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Even if it was an advertisement, the ring still had to be customized using Caleb's ID. This could only mean that he had used his one and only chance to customize that ring for Jessica.

Before I could wipe away my tears, the bedroom door opened, and Caleb walked in.

When he noticed my tears, he glanced at the trending topic on my phone.

He paused for a second before saying, "It's just a trending topic about Jessica and me. Is that really worth crying over?"

He pulled a few tissues from the box and held them out to me.

"Come on, stop crying. You're a girl. Help me pick a gift for Jessica. She gained over 100,000 followers this time, so we should celebrate."

I didn't take the tissues, but Caleb didn't seem to care as he lowered his head and scrolled through his phone.

There was a handbag that was worth over 50,000 dollars, a trendy four-leaf clover bracelet, and a camera worth more than 30,000 dollars.

It was obvious he had done his homework since everything he picked suited Jessica perfectly.

However, he would forget every single one of my birthdays or our anniversaries. Whenever I got upset about it, he would simply wrap his arms around me and smile.

"We're together every day. Our work and our lives are completely intertwined. Any regular day can be an anniversary for us."

Caleb held the phone closer and asked, "Which one do you think she should get?"

"Anything."

When he heard my response, his face darkened instantly.

"Melanie, why can't you just be happy for someone else? Jessica finally has some success, yet you have to act so petty."

In that split second, I felt a lump rise in my throat.

He seemed to have forgotten that when he first told me that Jessica wanted to become a content creator, I was the one who taught her everything.

I taught her how to edit videos, how to write titles, how to find good content ideas, and how to keep viewers watching.

Yet, this was how they repaid me in the end.

Caleb looked through the list for a while before giving up.

"Forget it. I'll buy them all."

The moment he finished speaking, my phone buzzed.

It was a notification from our shared account telling me that 160,000 dollars were being deducted from it.

It had been my mother's birthday not long ago. When I accidentally used that same card to transfer her 5,200 dollars, Caleb had complained about it for three days straight.

"Melanie, this account is our house fund. We can't spend money so carelessly."

I was about to ask him why he could use the same account when the front door unlocked.

His mother, Bethany, walked in while carrying several shopping bags with a huge smile on her face.