Chapter 1

At the high school reunion, everyone was talking about the photos on their girlfriends' phones.

They laughed, saying their couples' selfies didn’t even make up a fraction of the photos of their favorite celebrities.

I stayed quiet.

My girlfriend didn’t follow celebrities. But she had an encrypted album on her phone.

Inside were hundreds of photos of her ex-boyfriend.

During our three years together, she spent every single day planning. She was just waiting for him to come back to the country so she could find an excuse to dump me.

Later, I gave her exactly what she wanted. I walked away first.

But then, she got wasted night after night, begging me in every way possible not to leave her.

When I got out of the Uber, the Snapchat group chat was still blowing up.

They were accusing me of gatekeeping the prettiest girl from our high school, keeping my relationship with Chloe a total secret.

Marcus, my desk partner from high school, spoke up first:

"If we don't see the queen Chloe herself at the next reunion, I swear the guys and I will drink you under the table."

I laughed and replied, "We'll see who passes out first."

The takeout seafood chowder I brought back from the restaurant was getting cold. I unzipped my winter coat, tucked the container close to my chest to keep it warm, and hurried upstairs.

Two weeks ago, I had asked Chloe to come to this reunion with me.

My project had just wrapped up, and I took her to a cozy cabin spa resort nearby.

The scent of red wine blended with the warm steam of the hot spring, wrapping around us.

She was in high spirits. Looking at me through the misty air with hazy, romantic eyes, she nodded.

That was the happiest day of my life in the past three years.

Chloe had never liked publicizing our relationship.

She was the type of person who would post on Instagram about every little detail of her day, yet for three whole years, she never once mentioned my existence.

I thought her agreeing to come to the reunion meant she was finally ready to go public.

I thought my three years of devotion had finally earned me a decent, presentable spot in her heart.

Until I woke up in the middle of the night and found her fast asleep beside me.

The moonlight fell on her face, highlighting a wet tear mark at the corner of her eye.

I reached out to pull her into my arms, but then I noticed something glowing faintly underneath her tightly closed palm.

I glanced over. The screen was lit, displaying a familiar face.

Julian.

Her ex-boyfriend.

That night, I sat propped up against the headboard, slowly going through Chloe’s phone.

The heating in the hotel room was blasting, but my blood ran cold.

Inside that screen, Julian was everywhere.

An encrypted album held hundreds of photos of him.

A Spotify playlist named "J.S." was filled with dozens of love songs.

A list in her Notes app titled "Julian’s Favorites" recorded every song, movie, and restaurant he had ever recommended.

On her Snapchat, Julian was the only contact with a red heart next to his name, pinned at the very bottom of her chat list.

While everyone else had the default background for chats, her chat with him used a photo of them at their high school graduation.

I remembered that day. The sun was perfect. Everyone thought this golden campus couple would end up together forever.

Including me, who had quietly loved Chloe for three whole years.

But now, Chloe was sleeping peacefully by my side.

And during our three years together, she hadn’t exchanged a single text with Julian.

Their chat log remained frozen in time, three years ago.

Except...

She had upgraded her phone four or five times in the last three years. Why had she never deleted those chats?