The Jilted Lover's Fierce Comeback

e letter felt like a joke in my hands, a

heir smiles full of promises they never meant to keep. I saw the sterile white of a hos

e, and watched Brooke run, not to me, but to Zoe, who had a sin

a game. They had me sterilized, a secret vow of their devotion to Zoe. They had willed all my

sunlit room with the future in my hand,

sive motion, I tore

n half

le of confetti representing a future I was actively rejectin

ait. My future, the re

m Chloe. "Can' t wait to celebrat

rd the news! So proud of you, Alex. You

t a reply. Their words were po

later, sitting on the edge of my bed. She

tly, her voice filled with a gentle confusion. "He said you

her. I couldn't bear to s

d down the early recruitment

di

omfort. "Alex, honey, can you tell me why? We t

led directly to her death. This time, he

"I' ve been thinking a lot, Grandma. All that pressure, the

t to take a break, maybe start a small company from my desktop, something manageabl

t they were tears of love, not di

u always think

ed. I was protecting her, even if she did

ur small town like a sickness. I went to the local diner f

y name mixed with words like "crazy,"

he dark liquid in my cup. The

Chloe, Brooke, and right between them,

barely noticed her. She was just Chloe' s quiet friend from a less fortunate family, the one

a booth near the back, their back

er tone dripping with fake concern. "He was

suggested, her voice just as disingenuous.

t. He probably thinks he' s too good for Stanford, too good for all of us.

day and night, building the very foundation of the tech that got those companie

said, but her defense was weak, h

ing handed to you. A big house, a loving grandmother, everyone telling you you' re a

inting herself as the victim, planting the se

all-nighters, the stress, the sacrifices. They saw me pour every cent of my early earnings f

y k

he lie. Or rather, they cho

est. It wasn' t just disappointment. It was confirmation. A f

riends. They were

re my e

of the diner without a backward glance. The game was on, but