I Cleaned His Fridge For Three Years For Nothing Chapter 02

I Cleaned His Fridge For Three Years For Nothing Chapter 02

The next afternoon, Elara linked her arm through mine the second we met up.

“Sage, I’m so glad you came.”

“Kai’s already inside—he bailed on a huge client dinner just to be here with us.”

Kai turned heads everywhere he walked through the gallery space.

He’d always had that magnetic, unmissable presence.

Back in college, every design professor pegged him as the star of the architecture program.

I studied residential vintage space styling, and my rough, unpolished taste had gotten publicly torn apart by our professor once.

I’d hidden in the stairwell crying that day, until Elara showed up with a vanilla milkshake and sat down beside me.

“Don’t listen to their garbage. You’ll carve out your own style someday.”

Kai walked past a minute later, tossed his wool coat over my shoulders without slowing down.

“Don’t sit on the cold concrete. Your color sense isn’t bad—your layout logic’s just scattered.”

“Sage, keep pushing. I’ll polish every project you draft when we graduate.”

I’d believed him wholeheartedly back then.

I read all the same design textbooks he did, copied his drafting habits, pulled all-nighters right alongside him.

We landed jobs at the same design firm after graduation.

He climbed the ranks fast to Lead Architectural Designer, and Elara became the second-in-charge designer.

I was still stuck as a junior assistant, running material samples and pouring water for clients all day long.

Even then, Kai never hesitated to point out how slow I worked.

“It’s okay you’re a little behind. Just study Elara’s process more.”

I was his girlfriend, but he hadn’t looked at me like an equal in years.

Halfway through the exhibit, Elara froze in front of an interactive light installation.

“Kai, do you remember this lighting framework? It’s identical to the lakeside inn renovation we finished last quarter.”

Light spilled over both their shoulders, and they dove deep into work talk immediately.

They walked side by side into the next gallery hall, and neither glanced back to check if I’d followed them.

I stood alone for a minute, then turned and walked out of the building entirely.

Kai’s phone call came through not long after.

“Sage, can you stop vanishing without a word? Elara’s been searching all over the gallery for you.”

I heard Elara’s soft voice in the background.

“I bet Sage misread the moment. I get carried away talking design and lose track of everyone around me.”

Her tone sounded gentle, placating him.

I hung up the call and headed back to the downtown loft, starting to pack all my belongings.

It felt strange—three years living here, I’d assumed I owned mountains of stuff.

When I finished sorting everything, all my possessions fit neatly into two cardboard moving boxes.

Late afternoon, footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the door.

Elara stepped forward first, her voice thin and fragile.

“Sage, it’s all my fault. Don’t stay mad, okay?”

Kai held out a carton of low-sugar yogurt to Elara without a second thought.

“This doesn’t concern you, Elara.”

He turned to face me, his brows drawn tight.

“Sage, quit acting like a spoiled kid.”

“Kai, don’t talk to her like that—Sage never used to be this way.”

The two of them fell into bickering, comparing the girl I’d been three years ago to the version of me standing in front of them now.

A tight fist squeezed my heart until I could barely breathe.

Hearing him say those things out loud hurt worse than I’d imagined possible.

I stood straight, lifted my chin, and spoke in a clear, unshakable voice.

“We’re breaking up.”

Kai’s face went completely blank with shock.

“You—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Elara cut in cautiously.

“Sage, we were genuinely just discussing the light installation. It’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”

Kai’s frown deepened after hearing her speak.

He wrote my breakup declaration off as a petty tantrum, his tone cold and unyielding.

“Think this through carefully, Sage. Where exactly are you going if you walk out on me?”

Elara whispered quietly, “Kai, don’t be harsh—Sage works so hard too…”

Kai didn’t spare her a glance, his eyes locked solely on me.

“Putting in long hours doesn’t mean you’re fully self-sufficient. I’ve stepped in to fix professional missteps for you more times than I can count.”

A heavy wave of suffocation crashed over my chest.

Every time a client rewrote the entire design brief last minute, I’d stayed up all night reworking the styling spreadsheets.

Kai took all the credit presenting it to stakeholders, listing the whole project team as contributors without naming me once.

I’d never argued for recognition, yet now he framed all my labor as favors he’d handed down.

Kai pulled Elara aside to stop her from defending me, leaving me alone in the living room.

Later that evening, my work phone buzzed with a call from Mr. Halewell, our department supervisor.

“Sage, report to the conference room at nine tomorrow sharp. The Thorne Lake Inn renovation has major issues, and the clients specifically requested you to explain the errors.”

My stomach dropped straight to the floor.

The Thorne Lake Inn project was Elara’s lead, with Kai overseeing all final approvals.

I’d only handled organizing physical sample binders as a low-ranking assistant.