Page 3 of I was labeled a gold digger

Three days later, I heard Victoria had applied for the student exchange program.

Bruno was at a street food stall with me when he got the call from his advisor. He'd been patiently peeling crayfish for me. For a while, the great heir to the Antonia Corporation had been happily slumming it with me at night markets and food stalls. The red oil from the crayfish had splattered on his white shirt cuff, and I felt a pang of guilt.

After he hung up, he didn't say anything. He just kept peeling the crayfish and piling them on my plate. Everything seemed normal.

But in the middle of the night, his friend called me.

"Bruno's at his downtown condo. He's locked himself in. We're a little worried. Can you go check on him?"

The moment I opened the door, the thick stench of alcohol hit me. The floor-to-ceiling windows were wide open, the curtains whipping violently in the night wind.

Bruno was curled up on the rug.

He heard me and looked up. His eyes were alarmingly red. His usually straight back was slumped, as if all the strength had been drained from him.

"She's gone," he said, his voice so hoarse it made my own throat ache. "I used to tell her she was a fool for working so hard to save money. But yesterday she transferred me some money. She said she said it was a travel fund we'd saved up together when we were both working part-time."

He suddenly laughed, a sound mixed with a sob. "Why is she so stubborn? I wish she were more like you."

But I knew the truth. If she were like me, Bruno wouldn't love her.

I didn't know how to comfort him. I cleaned up the apartment and helped him to bed. As I was about to leave, he grabbed my hand. "You're leaving, too?"

"You said you would love me."

I hadn't realized he remembered what I'd said in the VIP room that night.

In the moment I hesitated, he pulled me into his arms, and I fell onto the bed.

When he kissed me, even though I had prepared myself to be a sugar baby, I was still scared. I turned my head, and the kiss landed on my cheek.

His fingers traced the side of my face, his voice a soft, patient coaxing. "Don't hide from me, Alberta. You're mine."

The night dissolved into a blur.

After that, physical intimacy became a constant between us, a feverish habit he couldn't get enough of.

One day, he insisted I dress up as a bunny girl for him.

I snuggled against his shoulder, a rare moment of coquettishness. "Not today. Next time."

He pinched my waist, always leaving his marks on me, fingerprints and bruises from his kisses.

"It's always next time,' isn't it?"

He kissed my cheek. "My timid little bunny."

Later, as we were both scrolling through our phones, I saw in the alumni group chat that Victoria was coming back to the country.

I'm sure he saw it, too.

His phone rang. "Bruno, Victoria's back. She's throwing a welcome home party. Are you coming?"

He shot me a guilty look and snapped into the phone, "Don't bother me!"

I pretended not to care. "You should go if you want to."

I don't know if it was my timing, or if my feigned magnanimity had struck a nerve. The smile vanished from his lips.

I wrapped the sheet around myself and reached for my clothes on the floor. "I'm heading back to campus."

"Okay," he said distractedly.

I couldn't focus in the library. I put on my headphones and logged into a burner account on a game.

And then I heard it. His friend's voice, clear as day through the game's voice chat. "So, if Victoria is willing to give you a shot, what about Alberta?"

Bruno's voice was cool and distant. "What about her?"

"I mean, she's been your girlfriend for two years."

I held my breath. In the game, my character had already been killed.

He sighed. "We'll break up. I can't be with two people at once, can I? Besides, I've been more than generous with her these past two years."

His friend agreed. "True. It's a shame, though. We've all gotten used to having Alberta around."

"That's enough. Not a word about this in front of Victoria."

The one who isn't loved is always the third wheel.

I understood.

I quit the game. Suddenly, the last two years with Bruno felt completely meaningless.

But tears still fell onto my phone screen.

My fingers trembled as I typed out the words. It was better to make a graceful exit now than to wait for him to deliver the sentence.

"Bruno, Victoria's back. Let's break up. I hope you get everything you've ever wanted."

I waited a long time. The "typing" bubble appeared and disappeared. Bruno hated texting. He always said, "Why waste time texting when you can clear things up with a two-minute phone call?"

A "ding" signaled a new message.

"Okay. If you ever need anything, just ask."

When things were good, I had dared to hope he might love me. Now that we were breaking up, I finally understood my place. I was just the opportunistic clown who had taken advantage of a situation.

"Victoria has always had a misunderstanding about you. I hope you two can avoid each other in the future."

I understood that message, too. He was afraid I would use some cheap trick to hurt his precious white moonlight. He was warning me. The past two years had given me the illusion that we were equals. Now that we were breaking up, I realized that he had always had the right to look down on me.

I froze, my hand gripping the phone. "Okay. Understood," I typed back.

I moved out of the dorm immediately and started at the internship I had already arranged. That night, there was a welcome dinner for the new interns. Of all places, it was at the same bar where I used to work.

The moment I walked in, I saw Victoria on Bruno's arm.

I quickly ducked into the next room. As I was about to leave, someone stopped me. I recognized him. A VIP at the bar named James. I had met him once with Bruno. I remembered they didn't seem to like each other.

His eyes raked over me. "Bruno's girlfriend?"

I frowned. "Sorry, wrong room."

He smirked, a lecherous look in his eyes, and tilted my chin up with his fingers.