Caleb was at lunch with the investors when he met a mutual friend, someone he hadn't seen or talked to in months. He found out through an offhand comment from the said friend that Isabelle was back in town after her performance abroad. A performance she didn't tell him.
It was the same performance that made her ditch their anniversary.
Perfect. This news turned his day from bad to worse. His mother had been relentless in her demands, and this information was just the cherry on top.
He was back in his office, but he had spent the last hour staring out his window at the city skyline. Isabelle didn't even bother to tell him like he was some nonexistent person in her life.
Caleb's hand tightened around his phone, and the casing creaked under the pressure. He tried to be patient. He did his best to understand. But this... this might just be the final straw that would break the camel's back.
Exhaustion permeated from him. He was tired of the games, the excuses, and the way Isabelle pushed and pulled at him. When he would distance himself, she would reel him back in with a well-placed apology or a tearful phone call. He accepted it over and over.
He was such a sucker. "Fuck," he cursed. "Does she really take him for one?"
She even ditched him on their first anniversary. Was he still a man?
Grabbing his jacket, he stormed out of the office. His mind was set on Isabelle. He would find her and end this once and for all.
---
The bar was dimly lit with music so loud that it was impossible to hear anyone. This place was the kind where people went to forget their problems, not face them. Caleb strode in, scanning the space until he spotted Isabelle.
She was at the corner table with a group of friends, laughing. She was radiant, like she always was. Her smile lit up everything around her. The black sequined dress she wore wrapped around her like a glove. She could enchant anyone in this bar, but not him.
She lost her hold on him... a long time ago. He didn't even know why he tried to make this relationship work.
He walked over, his presence casting a shadow over the group of friends. Isabelle's laughter stopped midway, and she stood up immediately.
"Caleb," she said smoothly, getting off her chair and reaching out to him. "What a surprise. I didn't know you were coming."
"Can we talk?" Caleb's voice was low and controlled. He acknowledged her friends, nodding at them politely.
The other girls looked at the two of them, sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere. Isabelle grabbed her purse and turned to her friends, "I'm going girls. My man's here." She giggled, but it sounded fake.
Isabelle grabbed his arm and guided him toward the exit, but he pulled his hand back. He then called a waiter, telling him to guide them to a private room.
"What's going on?" Isabelle frowned, clutching her purse.
"Let's talk," Caleb said and followed the waiter to a private booth that VIP's used. Once inside, he closed the door behind him. All the noise disappeared, and it was only them.
Finally, some privacy, Caleb thought.
Isabelle crossed her arms as she locked gazes with Caleb. "What's this about?"
Caleb didn't waste any time. "You didn't tell me you were back in town."
Isabelle's lips curled into a small smile. She licked her lips and explained, "I've been busy. You know how it is with my work."
"That's not an excuse anymore, Isabelle," Caleb rebutted, his voice thick with frustration. "You didn't even call. No word from you. You ditched me on our anniversary and didn't tell me about your performance. And now, you didn't tell me you're back. Do we still have a relationship?"
Isabelle's expression wavered. It was obvious that guilt ate at her, but her face hardened in a second. "I'm sorry if I didn't check in like a good girlfriend, Caleb. I have a career, and you have one as well. You're busy with that assistant of yours!"
Caleb rubbed his hand over his face as he said, "Don't bring Bailey into this. This isn't about us being busy or other people. You've been pulling away, playing me like a fiddle. Then you pull me back like I'm some toy. When I give you space, you act like I'm the one abandoning you."
Isabelle looked awful. "Oh, so now this is my fault? You're always busy with work!" She pointed at his phone and continued, "That thing is always in your hand. Don't act like you don't answer emails while we're out, Caleb. You're not a perfect boyfriend."
Caleb let out a bitter laugh. "I've tried, Isabelle. I really have. But this... it's not working anymore."
There was a long silence, the tension hanging like a thick fog in the air.
Isabelle screamed, her voice sharp, almost desperate. "You can't just throw everything away! After all the things we've been through? Don't you see, Caleb? You need me!" She held onto him, not letting him go when he tried to pry her fingers off him.
Caleb shook his head, sadness creeping into his voice. "I don't. Not like this."
He pulled off her hands from him and walked away, but Isabelle screamed, "This is because of Bailey, right? That bitch has been after you for years! She hates me to the bone. Tell me, what did she say?"
Caleb frowned, looking at Isabelle like she had lost her mind. She scratched her fingers on her hair, pulling a few strands. Tears dripped from her eyes, her make-up smudging everywhere.
"Stop this. It's embarrassing," he decisively told her. Bailey's face flashed in his mind, and he added, "You should give Bailey more respect. At least Bailey cares."
"You pay her," came her shrill reply. "You give her salary! That crazy whore…" She stomped her foot, trying to drive her point, but to Caleb she looked like a child throwing tantrums.
Caleb fixed the lapels of his suit jacket, trying to control his temper. He didn't appreciate Isabelle calling his assistant a whore.
He couldn't stop himself and said in a deadpan voice, "I pay you, too. I pay for your bills. Pay for your shopping. Pay for your expensive night outs with your girls. I even give you an allowance every month. Do you want me to tell you how much you spent this month alone?"
Isabelle's face reddened, and she choked on her next words. "I sleep with you. Does your precious assistant do that, huh?"
Caleb snapped, and he grabbed her arm. "You better keep Bailey out of that mouth of yours, Isabelle. Don't let me hear you say another disrespectful word about her because... I don't know what I'll do."
He let her go, and Isabelle crumpled on the floor, crying.
"Speaking of money, throw the cards I gave you. They will be useless by tomorrow," Caleb declared, turning on his heel.
Isebelle's face contorted into something ugly, hatred filling her eyes. "You think you can just walk away from this? From us? From me? You'll regret this, Caleb! Nobody else will love you the way I do. You'll come crawling back!"
---
Isabelle sat on the floor in the private room, disheveled and crying silent tears. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths as her mind raced, trying to wrap her head around the breakup.
He did it. He walked away from her. All her life, he was the only one she ever wanted. And she got everything she ever asked.
It wasn't her fault they broke up. It was Caleb. He made her do all those things. She pulled away from him because he made her do it. Isabelle grabbed at her hair again with so much force as those memories played in her head.
How could she make him stay with her if she didn't play that game? He was always Bailey and work. Bailey here. Work there. That woman had a bone stuck in her throat.
Isabelle let out a shrill scream, throwing her phone on the glass in front of her. It broke into pieces like her heart and... her life. Crawling on the floor, she picked up a shattered glass.
She gazed at it deeply, smiled crazily, and aimed it at her wrist when the door suddenly opened. A man came in, looking at her in shock.
"Brother," she called out as she pushed the glass onto her wrist, but the man caught it. His hand bled, but he didn't care. He pulled the glass from her palm and enveloped her in his arms.
"Brother..." she choked, "Caleb left me."
"Baby, it's alright. Everything's alright. There are a lot of men out there," he cooed, rubbing her hair softly.
"No, brother, I want Caleb!"She screamed again, grabbing him by his suit. "I want him. I can't live without him."
Isabelle's eyes widened, and her pupils dilated as she said the sentence over and over again.
"You'll give him to me, right? You'll get rid of Bailey, right? Like you always did..." She clung to his suit jacket, shaking him. The man locked gazes with Isabelle, unable to utter a word.
"Promise me!"She let out a shrill scream followed by a sob as she crumbled to the floor.
Seeing her losing her mind, the man hugged her and made a promise, "I will, baby. I will do whatever you want. Brother's here for you. Don't worry."
Isabelle cried harder as she held her knees, shaking.
The man's eyes glinted in the dark as he made a vow to himself that he would do whatever she asked him to.
As long as she stayed with him.