The Price of Betrayal novel Chapter 2

On my birthday, I bought myself the latest iPhone.

Since it was difficult to get a taxi in the busy downtown area, I called my boyfriend Ivan Taylor to come pick me up.

The moment he saw me, Ivan's face darkened. We drove back in silence.

His family wasn't well-off, and he would nag me endlessly every time I went shopping downtown.

Last time I invited him to watch a movie and chose VIP seats, spending $300 for the two of us. He was so angry he didn't talk to me for half a day, constantly complaining that I was wasteful.

At that time, I was actually somewhat relieved, thinking I had found a boyfriend who cared about our future.

But as time went on, I felt something was off, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

At a red light, Ivan suddenly spoke up:

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand about switching to an iPhone? It's such a big deal."

I was confused: "Is buying a phone really such a big deal? Besides, I told you on the phone right after I bought it. Since when do I need your approval to buy a phone? I spent my own money."

"I've told you before, people who use iPhones are just vain. How much did this one cost? Three or four thousand dollars, right? You could buy two or three Android phones for that price."

Ivan's tone was lecturing, which irritated me. I blurted out the price: "I got the latest model, it was two thousand dollars."

"Molly, what did you say? Say that again!"

Being accused like this out of nowhere made me angry, but thinking about Ivan's logic also made me laugh.

"Every mom has it tough, everyone should make it up to their own mom. We're just boyfriend and girlfriend, so I don't need to bear the burden of your mom's hardships. But if you worked harder, maybe your mom could use such a nice phone too."

"Don't you think?"

At this, Ivan completely lost it.

He reached out and forcefully pulled me off the back of the bike: "Since you want to draw such clear lines, I don't need to give you a ride anymore. You can take a taxi home yourself."

With that, Ivan picked up his bike and stormed off, leaving me standing alone at the traffic light, caught between laughter and disbelief.