Chapter 7
Chapter 7
That is, until a colleague sent me some photos.
They showed Ivan with his arm around a petite girl, entering and exiting a hotel. He wasn’t trying to hide it at all. This hotel is right next to our company, so it’s no wonder a colleague caught them.
When I zoomed in on the picture, I could see that the girl Ivan was holding wasn’t just anyone, but my dear cousin Daisy.
My colleague was quite upset: “Recently, people in the company have felt that something was off between you and Ivan, guessing that you two might have broken up. But right after breaking up, he’s brazenly gallivanting with another woman at hotels. It’s really disgusting.”
didn’t take it to heart. To be honest, I think Ivan and Daisy are quite well–matched – one’s a hopeless romantic, and the other’s a bossy know-it–all. They complement each other perfectly.
Little did I know they would come stirring up trouble, even though I left them alone.
It turns out that after work, Ivan posted a lengthy rant on his social media.
Although this essay didn’t name names, it was clearly pointing at me.
“I want to advise everyone to be careful when choosing a girlfriend based on my experience. Although we weren’t together for long, I never skimped on holiday transfers and gifts. When she wanted to see a concert, I pulled in favors from several friends to get tickets. I bore all the big and small expenses in our relationship, pinching pennies for the bride price, yet she could casually buy an iPhone for twelve thousand.”
“She wouldn’t even buy me a pair of shoes, I’m sorry it took me so long to see her true colors.”
“I just want to find a down–to–earth girl to live a simple life with, gold diggers need not apply.”
I glanced at the likes and comments, mostly from colleagues we knew in common, all consoling Ivan and throwing shade at me.
Having found people who supported him, Ivan became even more blatant in his social media attacks on me.
“Everyone talks about how tough it is to be a woman, but I think it’s even harder being a man. Women don’t need to prepare anything for marriage, they can eat whatever they want and buy whatever they want. But men? We’re expected to provide a dowry, buy gold, a house, and a car. If we can’t do all that, we’re called scumbags.”
“I’ve always believed that marriage is about two people living life together. The woman can’t just spend money on her own if she has it, right? Isn’t marriage supposed to be about mutual support?”
Ivan’s words resonated with many male colleagues.
Many colleagues felt that I was too unethical, not spending a penny throughout our relationship and not even willing to buy Ivan a pair of shoes.
I was astounded by Ivan’s audacity. He failed to take advantage of me, and now he’s turning around and accusing me of being a gold digger.
I laughed. Did he really think that I, a law school student, would let a scumbag like him bully me?
I’ll let these rumors simmer for now. The more they ferment, the more powerful the backlash will be when the truth comes out.
