America’s Most Hated Ex: The Natalie Cross Scandal
Chapter 1: Viral Throwback
On the fifth anniversary of my breakup with Ryan Caldwell, the entire internet suddenly started shipping our long-dead romance.
Honestly, you’d think after all this time, our story would’ve faded into obscurity. But nope—on a muggy June morning, my phone buzzed off the nightstand with a million notifications, all pointing to the same viral throwback—me, in a bear suit, grinning like an idiot on local TV. It was like waking up and finding out my old heartbreak had become America’s favorite soap opera overnight.
In the trending video, my twenty-three-year-old self was wearing a heavy mascot costume, drenched in sweat but still grinning at the camera:
“Hi, Natalie Cross at thirty-three—did you go on a honeymoon with Ryan Caldwell? Work is so exhausting, you absolutely have to make Ryan pay you back for this, okay?”
Watching it, my cheeks burned as I watched, feeling the old sweat prickling my skin all over again. It was like watching a relic from another era—me, in that ridiculous bear suit, optimism leaking through every pore. The camera caught my smile, shaky and earnest, through a mess of fur and exhaustion. The comment section was already full of people making memes out of that line. Americans love a comeback. And nothing sells like someone laughing at their own mess.
No.
I never got it back.
By thirty-three, Natalie Cross had long since been left behind by Ryan Caldwell.
