He Gave Her the Ring I Wanted. I Gave Him Hell. Chapter 02

He Gave Her the Ring I Wanted. I Gave Him Hell. Chapter 02

The moment the car came to a halt, I got out quickly.

He rolled down the window. “Angie, Sophia is just a friend. Don’t overthink it.”

I didn’t look back and walked straight into the hospital.

Inside the ward, my mother was asleep.

My phone buzzed with a local video notification.

The footage was taken inside an speakeasy in the Bronx.

Leo and his crew were having drinks.

A friend joked, “Leo, give us some advice. How do you keep Angie so perfectly tamed?”

Leo took a puff of his cigar, smoke swirling around him. “Just push things back. No matter what a woman says, tell her to wait.”

“When she’s right on the edge of exploding, throw her a bone. Do it a few times, and she’ll be wrapped around your finger.”

The friend asked, “Then how is she so willing to hand over her paycheck and cover all the bills?”

Leo laughed, a trace of arrogance in his voice. “I told her I needed to fund an arms deal. I said it was for the family’s future, which meant our future.”

The camera panned, and Sophia let out a cold snort. “Then what you do for me is also for the family? Do you really plan on marrying her?”

Leo smiled, pulling her into his arms. “How can she even compare to you? Back then, I didn’t want you living in constant fear with my lifestyle, so I chose her as a shield.”

I gripped my phone tightly, my mind going completely blank.

A bitter ache swelled in my throat.

Eight years. He had played me for eight years.

He had never once envisioned a future with me.

My hands shook as I saved the video.

Just as I tried to check the comments, the post was deleted.

I lost track of how long I sat there until my mother weakly called out, “Angie.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m right here.”

After the doctor finished his rounds, my mother said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Not wanting her to worry, I nodded.

When I went down to get breakfast, Leo was already there.

My mother looked at me. “Angie, Leo said he brought food. Why did you go out to buy more?”

Leo handed me a bag. “The bagels and coffee you like.”

I stepped aside to avoid him. “No need. I bought my own.”

My mother sensed the tension. “Did you two have a fight?”

“No,” Leo said.

“Yes,” I countered.

Our eyes locked, but Leo quickly smiled. “Mrs. Bennett, Angie is just throwing a little tantrum. I’ll smooth things over.”

My mother gave me a disapproving look. “Leo, sorry to trouble you this time. Go on and attend to your things, don’t let us delay the family business.”

“Angie, go walk him out.”

Suppressing my emotions, I escorted him to the parking lot.

His blue BMW M8 sat quietly in its spot.

Back then, he said he bought the car so we could go on weekend getaways, but he had never taken me once.

Yet he had taken Sophia to Miami several times.

Just last month, they had gone to a villa in the Hamptons.

“Leo, let’s break up.”

He paused in his tracks, eyes wide with disbelief. “What are you making a scene about now?”

“I’m serious.”

Anger flared in his eyes. “Eight years together, and you’re just throwing it away?”

I sneered. “Sophia is the only one who matters to you, isn’t she?”

Leo lost his patience. “Over this nonsense again? Is it really worth it?”

“The proposal was only because she said she didn’t want to get married but wanted to experience the romance.”

“The doctor said your mom was fine, so I only took her out to unwind.”

I met his gaze, pronouncing every single word clearly. “You always have so many excuses.”

“But I don’t want to hear them anymore.”

“Because of your single word ‘wait,’ I wasted eight years. Isn’t that enough?”

By the end, I was practically screaming.