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They Chose a Cat Over Me
Novelix
Completed
"Betrayed by her boyfriend Sean, her brother Taylor, her childhood friend Emmett, and her cousin Mandy, Nora returns home hoping for reconciliation on her birthday—only to find her room given to Mandy's cat and herself relegated to a tiny sunroom. After enduring humiliation, an asthma attack, and a sabotaged interview, she secretly accepts an overseas job, cancels the apartment lease, and leaves the country. When the truth about Mandy's manipulations surfaces through security footage, the group's lives unravel. Nora thrives in her new career, while those who wronged her face the consequences of their cruelty."
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
The night before I was supposed to spend my twenty-third birthday alone, my boyfriend, Sean, suddenly tagged me in our five-person group chat.
"Come home for your birthday. Don't be mad anymore. We all miss you."
My eyes filled with tears the moment I read it.
I'd left because they always took my cousin Mandy's side. This was the first time any of them had reached out to make peace.
I went back, full of hope. But when I arrived at the apartment building, my key card wouldn't activate the elevator in the lobby.
I called over and over. No one answered.
I had asthma, and it took me two hours to climb all twenty-five flights of stairs.
When I finally reached their floor, I came face-to-face with Mandy as she stepped out of the elevator, holding her cat.
Sean immediately stepped in front of her and gave me an awkward smile.
"Mandy said she had cramps, so I was filling a hot-water bottle for her. I didn't notice my phone ringing."
Then he glanced at Mimi. "You'd been gone so long that we reassigned your key card to Mimi."
Mimi was the cat in Mandy's arms.
Fighting through the discomfort, I silently turned and walked into the apartment.
Emmett, a friend I'd grown up with, smiled and handed me a sleeping bag as soon as I stepped inside.
"We just redid the sunroom. You can sleep in there tonight."
I looked up. A massive cat tree and a cat bed now occupied my old room.
When my brother, Taylor, saw me staring, he explained, "Mimi needs room to play. Just put up with it. Be generous for once."
"You've been sulking long enough. We've already forgiven you. It's not like we're enemies."
Tears slid down my cheeks.
Taylor hurried me along. "Go make dinner. It's Mimi's birthday, and she loves your cooking."
Then the four of them gathered around the table again, laughing and chatting as they played cards.
I looked at the group photo on the wall and slowly wiped my tears away.
So that was where I stood. Even Mandy's cat mattered more than I did.
If they had no room for me in their hearts, there was no reason to spend my birthday with people who didn't care about me.
...
"Oh, Mimi's stomach has been acting up these past couple of days. Make sure her meal is nutritionally balanced."
Sean said it casually, his eyes on his cards.
I stood in the middle of the living room, painfully aware of the state I was in.
"Sean, I spent fifteen hours on a train. Then I climbed twenty-five flights of stairs."
The room fell silent for two seconds.
Mandy looked at me and slowly lowered her cards. Her voice caught.
"I'm sorry, Nora. Mimi and I should just leave."
Taylor gave me an accusing look.
"Nora, you know we don't have much space. You've kept this fight going for ages, and nobody here has held it against you."
"Do you have to start something the second you get home?"
Emmett threw his cards onto the table.
"Mimi's a Maine Coon. If she gets sick because of a room or a meal, are you going to cover the vet bills?"
I looked at him.
When we were eighteen, Emmett had gotten sick while his parents were fighting over a divorce.
I'd emptied my savings for him. My parents had accused me of stealing and beaten me until I was covered in bruises, but I hadn't said a word.
I'd paid his medical bills. After he recovered, he'd looked at my injuries and cried.
"Nora, I'll never let anyone hurt you again. I'll remember what you paid for me for the rest of my life."
Now he was one of the people hurting me.
When I didn't respond, Sean sighed.
"All right, Nora. You don't have to cook. Just stay in the sunroom for a couple of days."
He shoved my luggage into it.
The sunroom was barely sixty-five square feet, crammed with cat beds, clutter, my suitcase, and the sleeping bag.
Then Sean brought a cupcake out from behind his back.
I froze. Thinking he'd remembered my birthday, I felt my eyes fill again.
I took a small bite. It tasted a little strange, but it was still sweet.
Then he said, "Don't hold this against Mandy. Consider this my apology on her behalf."
I looked at him, suddenly struck by how ridiculous I'd been.
The sweetness in my mouth turned bitter.
He hadn't remembered. He was only apologizing for Mandy so I wouldn't resent her.
Sean looked as though he wanted to say something else, but a meow came from the living room.
He turned and left without another glance at me.
I took out my phone and found an email I'd received two weeks earlier.
My company had asked whether I would be willing to interview with its overseas headquarters.
I'd turned it down because Sean had said he didn't want a long-distance relationship, and my brother had said we couldn't be separated.
Everyone had told me that we were only complete when all five of us lived together.
Now, standing in the chilly sunroom, I opened the email again.
[I'd like to accept the overseas interview.]
The reply came quickly.
[Your interview will take place tomorrow afternoon. If successful, you'll be expected to report for work the following day.]
[Understood.]
Chapter 2
Not long after I sent the message, cheers erupted from the living room.
I opened the sunroom door. Sean was busy lighting candles on a cake, and Taylor was clearing the table for dinner.
Mandy threw herself into Emmett's arms, laughing.
For a moment, I thought they were celebrating my birthday. Maybe they'd just taken things too far.
Like in a novel, they would wait until I was at my lowest before saying, "Happy birthday, Nora!"
But then Mandy pulled me over, and Sean lifted Mimi onto the table.
"Come on, Nora. Wish Mimi a happy birthday."
I stared at the familiar-looking cake.
"Oh," Sean said casually. "That cupcake came free with this pet cake."
My stomach lurched.
I ran to the bathroom and vomited until there was nothing left, not even bile. Only then did the retching finally ease.
Sean hurried over with tissues and rubbed my back.
When I didn't take them, he quickly offered me a glass of warm water.
"Here. Rinse your mouth."
Then he added, "Try to finish throwing up soon. We've set this bathroom aside for Mimi. She won't like you using it."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
I pulled away from his touch, my voice hoarse.
Sean curled his fingers back toward his palm.
"Stop looking for things to complain about, Nora. You've only been home a few hours, and all you've done is make everyone miserable."
"I'm looking for things to complain about?"
"Sean, I spent fifteen hours on a train because of one message from you. Then I climbed twenty-five flights of stairs."
"I almost had two asthma attacks. I came home to find you'd given my room to a cat, and then you fed me a cake the cat had eaten."
"Who's really causing problems here? Who?"
Emmett leaned against the doorway, frowning impatiently.
"Here we go again. How many fights are you going to pick over this petty crap?"
Mandy stood with the cat in her arms, her eyes lowered and her voice timid.
"I'm sorry, Nora. Please don't be mad. I'll just take Mimi and leave."
I looked at her and suddenly smiled.
"Okay. Go."
When we'd first rented the apartment, Sean hadn't had any money because his mother was sick. Taylor had said he'd spent almost everything on traveling.
Mandy had said she had depression.
I'd paid half the rent myself. Even after I left, I'd kept paying.
I'd always believed the five of us were a family. Whatever disagreements we had, we would work them out eventually.
And now?
I paid half the rent, only to be sent to sleep in the sunroom for a cat.
Apparently, even using the bathroom was an imposition on her.
Why should I put up with that?
I got to my feet, stormed into my bedroom, and threw the pet toys out the door.
Cat hair drifted through the air, making my throat itch.
I slammed the door and hurriedly pressed my inhaler to my mouth.
My body sagged against the door. I covered my ears, trying to suppress the frustration and hurt rising inside me.
But their words still pierced the wood like a thousand tiny needles, driving straight into my heart.
Emmett picked up the cat bed.
"Stealing a cat's room now, Nora? Which one of you is the animal?"
Taylor, the brother who'd promised to protect me ever since we were little, slammed his fist against the door.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Nora?"
And Sean, the man who'd promised to love me for the rest of his life, said nothing.
He just kept comforting Mandy.
Her poor little cat had lost her room. What a tragedy.
I quietly picked up my phone and messaged the landlord.
"Mrs. Carter, I won't be renewing the lease next month."
She replied almost immediately.
"All right, Nora. You're the only reason I've been renting it to you all for half price."
I'd met Mrs. Carter the year I graduated, when I found her unconscious on the street.
I'd been out looking for work. I took her to the hospital, then went to my interview.
She'd tracked me down afterward. When she learned I was looking for an apartment, she offered me a fifty-percent discount.
"Are you sure? If you've made up your mind, I'll find new tenants."
"Oh, and happy birthday."
Then she sent me some money.
I sniffled, and tears spilled down my face.
A woman I'd known for only a year remembered my birthday. The people I considered family remembered the cat's, but not mine.
I tapped out my reply.
"Thank you, Mrs. Carter. I'm sure. I'm ending the lease."
Chapter 3
Less than two minutes after I sent the message, someone began pounding on my door.
I pulled it open and found all four of them glaring at me.
Sean thrust his phone in my face.
"What the hell is this, Nora? Why is Mrs. Carter saying she's renting our apartment to someone else?"
I brushed the dust off my clothes.
"It means exactly what she said. I'm not renting this place anymore. You should all move out as soon as possible."
"Have you lost your mind?"
Emmett looked at me with fury in his eyes.
Sean grabbed my wrist, regarding me like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Enough, Nora. You've caused one problem after another since you got here. Have we given you a hard time about any of it?"
"You're going to throw everyone out over a few stupid, insignificant things?"
Taylor snatched my phone.
"You already took the room back. What gives you the right to end the lease?"
He tried to unlock it, but after four or five attempts, he still hadn't guessed my passcode.
He'd forgotten my birthday.
I gave a bitter laugh and took my phone back.
Sean was about to say something else when the cat in Mandy's arms let out a loud cry.
Mandy stepped back. Tears hovered in her eyes, making her look heartbreakingly vulnerable.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I'll take Mimi and leave."
"I should've just died with her back then."
She ran out crying.
The three of them chased after her without another glance at me.
I stood in the empty room, feeling increasingly light-headed.
I probably had a fever.
With a bitter smile, I called 911.
Early the next morning, I finished receiving IV fluids in the emergency room.
A delighted voice message from Mandy appeared in the group chat.
"I posted the video! Mimi's gone viral! Someone wants to pay me for a brand deal!"
The three men immediately chimed in.
Sean: [I knew Mandy was the best.]
Emmett: [All that love we've given Mimi paid off. We have to celebrate tonight.]
Taylor: [How about we reward Mimi with a new room?]
Right above those messages was my question asking whether someone could come down and help me upstairs.
A whole day had passed.
No one had answered.
When I got home, I went to my room to pack. My suitcase was still practically untouched.
I took out my laptop to prepare for that afternoon's interview.
Once I passed it, I could leave this place for good.
As I turned to go, a cardboard box caught my eye.
It sat half-open nearby, filled with odds and ends.
On top lay a journal where I'd written about my everyday life with Sean.
Every page recorded some kindness he'd once shown me.
I walked over, picked it up, and opened it.
The pages had been torn to shreds.
Some were covered in suspicious yellow stains and reeked of urine.
My vision trembled. I forced down the pain threading through my chest.
An email notification appeared on my phone.
[Your interview begins in two hours.]
