After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 33

After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 33

Sadie’s voice slithered back in. She’d found her role again. The peacemaker. Fake and sweet.

“Vanessa. That’s a little greedy. Don’t you think?”

Her tone shifted. Scolding. Parental. The moral-high-ground act.

“Don’t be so heartless. Dylan treated you so well. Fed you. Housed you. How can you walk away and leave him like this?”

Greedy.

I laughed. It came out cold.

“Sadie. You’ve been so pampered by Dylan, you’ve forgotten what normal life looks like.”

“You have no idea how ridiculous those words sound coming from you.”

I adjusted my earbud. Took my time.

“When I was with Dylan in that garage, building his company from nothing, I ate boiled broccoli with vinegar and soy sauce. My lipstick was drugstore. Clearance bin. A few dollars.”

“I drove a rusted-out Toyota. Over a decade old. Air conditioning broken. Texas summers. Freezing winters.”

“I mentioned once. Saving up for a new car. Want to guess what Dylan said?”

I paused. Let the silence stretch. Then I mimicked his voice.

“Vanessa. We’re entrepreneurs. How can you be so materialistic? So vain? Do you know what a new car costs? Insurance. Tax. Fees. It’s a money pit.”

“I believed that gaslighting. Swallowed it whole.”

“And you?”

My gaze could’ve burned through the phone.

“You liked a Porsche post on Instagram. The next day, he swiped his card. Keys in your hand.”

“He called it a company car. For you to drive him around.”

I stopped talking.

Sometimes silence hits harder than words.