Ninety-Nine Denials: A Fateful Proposal

“The table was set for our 99th engagement anniversary, a running joke Chloe and I shared about my failed proposals. I touched the velvet box in my pocket, ready to finally make it real, when her phone buzzed-a call from her half-brother, Leo. Her face fell, and the warmth in the room vanished; she was already a thousand miles away, ready to drop everything for him, again. When I tried to explain what I knew in my gut-that a superstorm was coming for her grandmother' s coastal village-Chloe dismissed it as jealousy and ripped my data to shreds. Then, she called my boss and accused me of instability, getting me fired and disgraced, leaving me with nothing but the terrifying data screaming the truth. But her grandmother, and an entire village, were walking into a death trap, and I couldn't let that happen, even if it cost me everything.”