“My Friends Bet I Couldn’t Do Better Than You—I’m Just Proving Them Wrong,” She Said With A Smug Little Smile After I Caught Her Perched On Another Man’s Lap. I Didn’t Yell. I Didn’t Beg. I Just Looked At Her And Said, “Prove This Too.” Then I Took One Photo, Sent It To Her Parents With, “I Thought You Should See This,” And Walked Out. A Minute Later, My Phone Blew Up. She Was Calling In A Panic—Because Her Dad Had Already Opened The Message.

My phone rang. It was her, the screen flashing with her name and a photo of her smiling from a happier time, and I let it ring three times before swiping to answer. I said nothing.

“Alex,” she breathed, strained and raw from shouting and crying. “Yes,” I said. “Oh, thank God.

Look, you need to come home right now. We need to call my dad together.”

“No.”

A beat of stunned silence. “What do you mean no?

Alex, be reasonable. This is my future.”

“You ended our future last night,” I said, my voice even in the quiet. “This is the consequence.”

“Consequence for what?

For having fun. For living my life.” The anger snapped back into place, a familiar weapon. “You were always so judgmental, so small.

You need to fix this.”

“Tell him we’re back together.”

“We’re not.”

“Alex!” she screamed into the phone, and I held it slightly away from my ear as she kept going. “Tell him you overreacted. Tell him you’re sorry.

My dad respects you. He’ll believe it. Just do this one thing.”

“Goodbye, Chloe.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on—”

I ended the call and immediately reblocked her number.

The silence rushed back in, purer than before, but the information gathering wasn’t over. I had one trusted mutual friend, Ben. He’d never been part of Chloe’s core circle; he was my friend from college who’d moved to the city, grounded and observant and allergic to drama, so I texted him: Hey, Chloe and I are done.

It’s messy. Might hear some things. Just wanted you to hear it from me first.

His reply was almost instant: Ben, dude, I already heard. Are you okay? Me: I will be.

What did you hear? Three dots appeared and disappeared for a long moment, then he sent it: Jessica called my girlfriend, freaking out. Said Chloe’s dad completely cut her off.

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