I Saved 10,000 Points For Our Wedding, He Deducted 500 For Her Chapter 01

I Saved 10,000 Points For Our Wedding, He Deducted 500 For Her Chapter 01

All I’d done was order Nashville hot chicken at dinner. That was enough to make my boyfriend of eight years, Ethan Whitmore, go cold.

“Claire. Minus five hundred.”

“Sienna’s allergic to chili peppers. A bad reaction could put her into anaphylactic shock.”

I said nothing.

Because Ethan and I had our own private points app.

Bring him lunch, plus ten. Don’t get clingy, plus twenty. Get sick without making a fuss, plus fifty…

At one thousand points, he would take me on a trip. At three thousand, he would give up one bad habit.

At ten thousand, we would get married.

I’d spent eight years saving. Tonight, I’d planned to tell him I’d finally made it.

But after that five-hundred-point penalty, my balance dropped from “10000” to “9500.”

And it was hardly the first time he’d docked me because of Sienna.

Too slow giving her my seat, minus three hundred. Too late bringing her water, minus two hundred.

Once, Sienna mentioned that the AC was too cold. Before I could even stand up to adjust it, Ethan had already docked me four hundred points.

Ethan slid an arm around Sienna’s shoulders, his voice softening as he soothed her.

“Don’t pout. I’ll get you that new bag after dinner.”

Then he pushed the menu toward me.

“Check the menu next time, or you’ll lose more points and cry about it again.”

I closed the menu. “I’m not eating dinner.”

As I stood, Ethan frowned at me.

“Claire, what is it now?”

I smiled.

“Nothing. I just don’t want to earn them anymore.”

*****

Sienna tugged lightly at Ethan’s sleeve.

“Ethan, don’t dock her that much. Claire’s been saving for eight years.”

“She didn’t mean to. Maybe she just forgot I’m allergic to peppers.”

Ethan caught her wrist.

“You know how serious your allergy is. Why didn’t she ask before she ordered?”

He turned to me, his voice going cold.

“Rules are rules. If she ends up in the ER, are you going to take responsibility?”

I stared at the plate of Nashville hot chicken on the table.

It was his favorite.

Every time we came here, I’d order it before he arrived so it was waiting when he sat down.

“You seriously don’t know why I ordered it?”

Ethan paused, then scoffed.

“Sienna’s here today. Even if it’s my favorite, you still shouldn’t have ordered it.”

It was almost funny.

He could give up spicy food for Sienna without a second thought. But when I’d eaten something so hot my stomach hurt, he hadn’t even handed me a glass of water.

He could switch our reservation from a Cajun place to a steakhouse because Sienna said she couldn’t handle the heat, but in eight years, I’d asked him ten times to take me to the coast. Every time, he was too busy.

After eight years together, I was never the person he made room for.

I drew a slow breath. “Ethan, I made it to ten thousand points.”

The table went silent for a full five seconds.

Ethan’s brows pulled together. “You just made that number up, didn’t you?”

“You made the rules.”

“Ten thousand points, and you were supposed to marry me.”

“I was going to tell you that after dinner tonight, we could finally get married.”

“Then you took five hundred away.”

He glanced down at his phone and kept scrolling, completely unfazed.

“Then keep earning. You’re still at ninety-five hundred.”

I looked straight into his eyes. “But I don’t want to anymore.”

Ethan went quiet for three seconds. Then one corner of his mouth curled.

“Claire, what is this, playing hard to get? That doesn’t work on me.”

“I’ve docked you all the way back to three thousand before, and you never said this.”

I forced the tears back before they could spill.

“Then what about Sienna? Why can she mention a five-star restaurant and have you booking a table seconds later?”

“Why can she text you at midnight that she’s cold and have you drive across town with a blanket?”

“Why can she say she wants to see the sunrise and have you up at five driving her to the top of a mountain?”

“Why do I have to earn one thousand points, three thousand, even ten thousand just to get the same thing once?”

The questions came out one after another.

Ethan’s expression hardened. The casual indifference vanished.

“Enough. What does Sienna have to do with any of this?”

“We grew up together. She’s basically my little sister. Of course we’re close.”

“What kind of little sister curls up against you, wears your jacket, and wears the ring you bought her?”

Right on cue, Sienna stood, her eyes turning red.

“Ethan, Claire, I get it. I crossed a line. I’ll go.”

Ethan caught her arm. “Sit down.”

Rain poured down beyond the glass doors. Ethan lowered his voice to comfort her.

“It’s pouring. Where are you supposed to go in that?”

I watched them for two seconds, then picked up my bag.

“Claire!”

He called after me, then let out a cold laugh.

“Fine. If you’re really going to walk out, don’t come back. And don’t do what you always do, show up two days later apologizing and trying to make up.”