Chapter 1

"You look ridiculous," Jeremy's voice cut through the evening air like a blade. His eyes swept over my bright yellow dress with the kind of disgust usually reserved for something rotting. "Absolutely ridiculous. Do you want everyone at Sarah's wedding to think I'm dating some attention-seeking—"

"Some what?" The words escaped before I could stop them. For five years, I'd learned to swallow his criticisms whole, to apologize before he even finished his sentences. But tonight, something felt different. The yellow fabric seemed to pulse with its own life against my skin, a reminder of who I used to be before I learned to dress in beiges and grays.

"You know exactly what." Jeremy's jaw tightened, that familiar muscle twitching near his temple that always preceded his ultimatums. "You're embarrassing. This whole... look. It's desperate. Pathetic, really."

The words should have sent me scrambling to change, to apologize, to smooth over his anger with promises to be better. Instead, I found myself studying his face—really looking at him for what felt like the first time in months. When had his eyes become so cold? When had his mouth learned to twist with such casual cruelty?

"I like this dress," I said quietly. "I bought it before we—"

"Before we what? Before you had someone to tell you how to dress like an adult?" He stepped closer, and I caught the familiar scent of his cologne mixed with something sharper—frustration, maybe. Or contempt. "Jesus, Sutton. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

There it was. The setup. The familiar dance where he dangled our relationship over a cliff, waiting for me to beg him to pull it back to safety. Ninety-nine times I'd played my part perfectly, tears streaming, voice breaking as I promised to change, to be better, to be whatever he needed me to be.

"You know what?" Jeremy's voice rose, filling our small living room. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending this is working when you clearly don't care about how you reflect on me. Maybe we should just—"

"Break up?" The words fell from my lips like stones into still water, creating ripples I couldn't take back.

Jeremy's mouth snapped shut. His eyes widened slightly, confusion flickering across his features. This wasn't how our script was supposed to go.

"Maybe we should," he said, but his voice lacked its usual conviction. He was waiting for me to crumble, to throw myself at his feet and beg forgiveness for daring to wear sunshine to a wedding.

Instead, I felt something shift inside my chest—a door closing, or maybe opening. "Okay, Jeremy."

The silence stretched between us like a chasm. He stood frozen, his mouth slightly open, waiting for the familiar performance of my desperation. But I had nothing left to give him. No tears, no pleas, no promises to transform myself into whatever version of me he could tolerate that week.

"Okay?" His voice cracked on the word.

"We're done." The certainty in my own voice surprised me. It sounded steady, calm even. Like I'd been practicing these words in mirrors for months without realizing it.

Jeremy's face cycled through emotions—shock, disbelief, and something that might have been panic. "Sutton, don't be dramatic. You don't mean—"

"I do mean it." I smoothed my hands over the yellow fabric, feeling its warmth against my palms. "I mean it completely."

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again like a fish gasping for air. For five years, he'd held all the power in our relationship, wielding the threat of abandonment like a weapon. Now, faced with my quiet acceptance of exactly what he'd offered, he seemed to shrink before my eyes.

"You can't just—" he started, then stopped. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. "This is insane. You're being insane."

But I was already moving toward the bedroom, my yellow dress swishing around my legs like liquid courage. Behind me, I heard Jeremy sink onto the couch, the leather creaking under his weight. He was probably expecting me to emerge in ten minutes, apologetic and changed into something appropriately dull.

Instead, I pulled my old suitcase from the closet and began to pack.