Chapter 1

My girlfriend didn't come home on my birthday.

She was out getting drunk. Her boss, Adrian, called and told me to come pick her up.

When I got there, the floor was littered with printouts of the long, heartfelt text I’d sent my girlfriend, Olivia, trying to make up.

Her boss laughed. "This is hilarious. Who still writes long, emotional texts to apologize? It's so childish."

"And you can just tell he copied it from TikTok."

Olivia’s voice was cold when she replied, "Honestly, it’s just disgusting when he does stuff like that."

Later, she was the one kneeling at my door, handwriting page after page of apologies, begging me to take her back.

A sheet of paper slid out from under the door of the private room, the white chat bubbles on it catching my eye.

I stopped just before opening the door and took a closer look.

What I saw made my entire body go rigid.

It was the long text I had sent Olivia Shaw two days ago, pouring my heart out to make up after a fight.

I thought about it for a long time before sending it.

"This is hilarious,” a man’s mocking voice burst from the room. “Who still writes long, emotional texts to apologize? It's so childish."

"And you can just tell he copied it from TikTok."

I recognized the voice immediately. It was Adrian Vance.

He was Olivia's boss.

They were always close, always going out to parties together.

Laughter erupted from inside the room again.

"Come on, Mr. Vance, you can't just call him out like that."

"What if he didn't copy it from TikTok? What if he just Googled it? Hahaha."

"Hey, Olivia, you're not mad we're making fun of your boyfriend, are you?"

"No," Olivia's voice was ice-cold.

"Honestly, it’s just disgusting when he does stuff like that."

I felt like I was frozen in place.

That long text… I had spent the whole night writing it, deleting and rewriting every word.

I sent it to her the second I was done.

She replied almost immediately: [Let’s be good from now on.]

I thought my words had moved her.

But now, I saw that wasn't it at all.

"I printed these out today just to give everyone a laugh," Olivia continued.

"Hahaha, well, it definitely worked."

"But yeah, it is pretty disgusting," Adrian chimed in.

"It's just so immature."

Olivia seemed to agree with him completely. "I know, right? Mr. Vance, I wish my boyfriend was half as mature as you."

"If I could turn back time, I wish I had met you first. That would have been perfect."

Her words were like needles piercing my skin.

A sharp pain spread from my stomach to my heart.

My whole body was trembling.

I suddenly remembered the year I first met Olivia. I was digging for cans in a trash can under an overpass.

She was two years older than me, already in high school, wearing a clean school uniform with her hair in a high ponytail.

She walked toward me, bathed in the sunlight.

"Hey kid, why aren't you in school? Why are you collecting cans here?"

Her question left me silent.

I wanted to go to school, but I grew up without a mom, and my dad was a gambling addict who’d lost all our money.

We could barely afford to eat, let alone pay for school.

I didn't say anything. I just turned and walked away.

But she followed me, buying me snacks and slipping money into my hand.

She told me, "I'll come here every day at six from now on."