Chapter 1
After seven long years together, Ryan finally popped the question.
But just days before our engagement, I stumbled across a secret social media account he'd been hiding.
It contained every memory he had of his first love, a record of 3,000 days and nights together.
Without hesitation, I replied to the PhD offer from overseas I'd just received.
If Ryan wanted to keep up his act, I was more than happy to play along.
I'd see this drama through to its bitter end.
On the day of our engagement, I boarded a flight to the other side of the world.
However, Ryan broke down even worse than I could've imagined.
*****
Ryan Carter, the guy I'd dated for seven years, suddenly popped the question.
At the same time, I'd gotten an acceptance letter from the top overseas school I'd always dreamed of for a PhD.
If it had been just a few days ago, I would've turned down that offer in a heartbeat, ready to marry Ryan and finally live out our fairy-tale love story after seven years.
But this morning, while tidying up our wedding suite, I came across a phone I'd never seen before. It was tucked in the corner beside the bed.
What I found inside ripped me to pieces.
All those memories from my seven years with Ryan started playing through my mind, like some faded old film reel I couldn't stop rewinding.
We'd been together for so long, but not once did he ever post a photo of us together on his social media account. He never shared any little moments from our daily life, either.
I'd asked him about it before.
Ryan just brushed me off, saying he wasn't like those guys who constantly post every relationship update online.
But those posts on his secret account, where he'd documented and shared every detail of his first love, were even more obsessive than anything I'd ever done for him.
So he did have the habit of recording memories. He just never bothered with ours.
I guessed I was never worth capturing, not in his eyes.
I unlocked my phone and started scrolling through our recent chats.
It was always me sharing everything going on in my life, while he replied with a few empty words each time.
Ryan: [Yeah.]
Ryan: [Sure.]
Ryan: [Whatever you want.]
Compared to the chatty, sentimental, and fragile guy on his secret account, he was like a stranger to me.
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the couch, my eyes and nose burning with the weight of it all.
Suddenly, Ryan's name flashed on my phone, but instead of his voice, it was his assistant Tommy Howerton on the line.
He said, "Ms. Summers, are you free right now? We're at a work party, and Mr. Carter's way too drunk. Everyone else is too smashed to drive, either."
There was a lot of noise in the background, people laughing and making a ruckus. I could barely make out someone egging him on.
"Come on, Mr. Carter. Have a drink with Ms. Grant!" someone shouted.
My heart jolted. Instantly, Chloe Grant's name, the one I'd seen a thousand times on his secret account, flashed through my mind.
"Okay, got it," I replied.
Without wasting another second, I hung up, grabbed my keys, and headed out to the car.
This was Ryan's backup ride, and inside, everything was sleek and minimalist, with a cool, rigid vibe that matched his personality perfectly.
I used to get jealous of my friend, whose boyfriend had the car crowded with plushies she loved and snapshots from their trips all over.
I'd mentioned it to Ryan countless times, and eventually, he grudgingly stuck a three-inch Polaroid of me way off in the corner of his spare car.
Sitting there, I stared at that little picture, its edges gathering dust, and a helpless kind of sorrow pressed down on my chest.
On impulse, I snatched the photo and shoved it into my bag.
Even if every inch of this car was covered with traces of me, what difference would it make?
He never once wanted to look.
I soon pulled up to the location Tommy had sent me.
When I walked in, Ryan, usually so collected and self-controlled, was sprawled drunkenly on the couch.
He was holding hands with the elegant, gorgeous woman sitting next to him.
Ryan slurred, "Chloe..."