Chasing The Star He Lost

Chasing The Star He Lost

Gavin

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Everyone knew Ava Chen was just keeping Dr. Julian Vance' s spot warm. He, a brilliant Columbia astrophysicist; I, a New York financial analyst. We were dating, but his great love, my former best friend Chloe, was merely on fellowship, her return an unspoken ticking clock. The clock exploded the day Julian stood me up at City Hall for our marriage license. An Instagram story appeared instead: Julian, smiling, at Chloe' s surprise welcome-back party. My heart didn' t just break; it fractured into a dull, final ache. I shredded the marriage application. Later, Chloe brought a drunken Julian to my apartment, his subtle taunts confirming my place. He then whispered it: "Chloe." The ultimate affront. His cold, indifferent "Take the pill" solidified our transactional reality. I was a placeholder. My deep love unrequited, our relationship a cruel joke of neglect and manipulation. Why did I cling to a love that never truly saw me? But my tears turned to cold fury. I canceled wedding leave, applied for a senior analyst role in London. I would shed the "placeholder" and forge a fierce new beginning, on my own terms.

Introduction

Everyone knew Ava Chen was just keeping Dr. Julian Vance' s spot warm.

He, a brilliant Columbia astrophysicist; I, a New York financial analyst.

We were dating, but his great love, my former best friend Chloe, was merely on fellowship, her return an unspoken ticking clock.

The clock exploded the day Julian stood me up at City Hall for our marriage license.

An Instagram story appeared instead: Julian, smiling, at Chloe' s surprise welcome-back party.

My heart didn' t just break; it fractured into a dull, final ache.

I shredded the marriage application.

Later, Chloe brought a drunken Julian to my apartment, his subtle taunts confirming my place.

He then whispered it: "Chloe." The ultimate affront.

His cold, indifferent "Take the pill" solidified our transactional reality.

I was a placeholder. My deep love unrequited, our relationship a cruel joke of neglect and manipulation.

Why did I cling to a love that never truly saw me?

But my tears turned to cold fury.

I canceled wedding leave, applied for a senior analyst role in London.

I would shed the "placeholder" and forge a fierce new beginning, on my own terms.

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My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

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