Chapter 1: The Breakup and the Reunion

Rachel Carter broke up with me out of the blue. We’d dated since college. Not long after, he married a guy a year below us. The whole thing blindsided me. Even now, nearly a decade later, I sometimes wonder if there was some cosmic sign I missed—the kind of warning you only recognize in hindsight, like a hairline crack in the ceiling you once thought was just a shadow.

Now, I’m nearly thirty, still getting rejected on dating apps, one after another.

Swiping left, swiping right, and somehow always ending up staring at my own reflection in my phone screen. The blue glow from my phone made my apartment feel even emptier, like the universe was swiping left on me too. At this point, Tinder feels more like a slow-motion lottery you keep playing because you’ve already bought the ticket.

Five years later, at a college reunion:

They arrive as a picture-perfect, middle-class couple—driving a Mercedes, dressed in Patagonia jackets, carrying Coach bags.

It’s the kind of tableau you’d expect to see in a glossy alumni magazine: Patagonia puffers zipped to the chin, Coach logo swinging from Tiffany’s wrist, Rachel grinning like he’s just closed a million-dollar deal. The car’s so clean it looks like it’s never seen a rainy day in Savannah.

And me? I showed up on my old bike, sitting quietly in a corner, clearly out of place.

My Schwinn still creaks when I pedal, the seat is worn, and I keep my helmet at my feet, like a shield. I feel the eyes on me—people trying not to stare, but definitely noticing the contrast.

Until—

A nosy classmate deliberately asks, “Aubrey, why didn’t your husband come?”

She leans in, voice sugary-sweet, and for a moment it feels like we’re back in freshman year, everyone jockeying for position at the lunch table. My stomach tightened. I could feel everyone’s eyes flick to my empty left hand.

I smile and answer, “He’s off ringing the Nasdaq bell.”

I almost surprised myself with how easily the lie rolled off my tongue. For once, I was the one with the story people wanted to hear. Everyone stared, waiting for me to break. But this time, I held their gaze—and smiled.