I was rich, so I tested my broke girlfriend’s love by pretending I was dying and couldn’t afford treatment — she texted, “I’m leaving for five days. Don’t call me.” But when she returned, what she did made me cry like a baby. Skyla and I came from completely different worlds. I grew up never worrying about money. My parents were wealthy; I had a successful business, and if something broke, I replaced it without checking the price. Skyla was still in college and paid for everything herself. She worked evenings and weekends, drove an old car that constantly needed repairs, bought used textbooks, and planned every paycheck around tuition, rent, and groceries. There were weeks when she lived on noodles just so she wouldn’t fall behind on school fees. But in almost two years together, she never once asked me for money. If I offered to help with tuition, she refused. “I need to know I can do this myself.” I should have respected that. Instead, I let other people get into my head. My friends kept warning me that a girl struggling that much financially had every reason to stay with a wealthy man. Even my parents questioned her intentions. My mother once told me, “Just be careful. Some people are very good at pretending they love you until they get what they want.” My father was even more direct. “She knows what your family has. Don’t let yourself be used.” The more I heard it, the more I started wondering. Did Skyla love me—or my money? So I came up with a stupid test. I told Skyla I had been diagnosed with a serious illness. Then I said the treatment would cost more than I could afford and that even my rich parents couldn’t help this time. Skyla went pale. “How much do you need?” I named an amount I knew was impossible for her. For the next two days, she kept calling and asking about doctors, loans, payment plans—anything that might help. Then I got a text. “I’m leaving for five days. Don’t call me.” I called anyway. No answer. For five days, nothing. By then, I was sure my friends and family had been right about her. Her disappearance had confirmed every doubt in my mind. Then, on the fifth evening, the front door opened. Skyla walked in looking exhausted. I stood up immediately. “Where have you been?” Without answering, she placed something on the table in front of me. A few seconds later, tears filled my eyes. “Skyla… what have you done?!”

Sunday dinners at the family estate.

“She’s very spirited,” Eleanor said one evening after Skyla left the room.

“That sounds like an insult.”

“It isn’t.”

“It sounded like one.”

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