med the entire previous night. The empty space next to me in bed was a stark reminder that it

all with Chloe in my head. Had I really done that? Had

were stable, logical, and designed to last. My own life was now a structure on the verge

ize, to tell her I was having a breakdown and she should forget everything I said. But another, stron

oden fence. She was all scraped knees and wild ideas, while I was quiet and methodical. She taught me how to ride a bike by pu

us, a comfortable silence that Ava and I never quite achieved. Wi

hitecture. We traded a few emails, a couple of awkward phone calls, and then life just got in the way. Th

asked her

. The engagement post. And then Ben's phone call. Ava's choice. The ring on the nightsta

the coffee table.

dinner? I'm free tonight. 7

he best milkshakes in town. The choice was so perfectly Chloe

se, this was my new reality. I felt a flicker of something I hadn't felt in a long

ook calls about material shipments, and sat in on a planning meeting for a new downtown high-rise.

plan. It was all gone. Wiped out. But underneath the grief was that simmering anger. She had made her choice. Now I was making mine. This wasn't just ab

booths, a checkered floor, the smell of fried onions and coffee in the air.

b, and she wore a leather jacket over a simple black t-shirt. But her eyes

the booth

ith a slow grin. "Y

e it," I

late milkshake and a plate of onion rings t

d on her elbows. "You have a w

walked out the door. I told her about the pursuit, the hope, the final, crushing disappointment.

g my face. She didn't interrupt. She just le

d out. I stared down at the tab

early still hung up on her childhood flame. You finally get her, only for her to ditch you, your engagemen

it up," I said,

n you haven't seen in five years, on

ow... I don't know, Chloe. I just know I can't let them win. I can't l

er eyes thoughtful. The silence stretched, and my anxiety spiked. This was it

isn't dying," s

ked. "

fectly fine. It's the oldest trick in the emot

n Ava's betrayal that I hadn't even considered that the root of th

st desperate. And desperate people use the biggest weapons they have. Family. Sickne

vious trap, and Ava had walked right into it without a second thought for me. The last bit of lingering hope that Ava migh

oe's face. It was the same dar

into her mouth. "What's the theme? Do I have to wear a

reeling. "Are you... are

than the freelance projects I have lined up. Plus," she leaned in, her eyes glinting, "I can't stand bulli

ibe the situation, but hearing her say it, I felt a genuine

gh the misery. "Okay. Chloe Miller, will you marry me

let's talk strategy. If we're going t

oring," she'd said). She suggested a food truck instead of a stuffy catered dinner. She wanted a rock band instead of a string

. It was probably the stupide

nd, I felt a strange sense of liberation. The blueprint of my old life was gone, but maybe, ju

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