Chapter 2: The Breakup Nobody Saw Coming

Ryan Mitchell and I were together for three years, but that didn’t stop us from falling apart. Everyone at NYU was floored. We were that couple—too pretty, too in sync, too Instagram-perfect for our own good.

Ryan was the type of guy who made baristas write their numbers on his cup, even with me standing right there. His dad owned half a hedge fund, and he drove a Tesla that cost more than some folks’ houses in Harlan County. He spoiled me with designer bags I couldn’t pronounce, reservations at restaurants with three-month waitlists, weekend trips to places I’d only seen in glossy magazines at the dentist.

To the outside world, we were solid. Unbreakable. But one day, we were just… done. No big blowup, no screaming match, no cheating—just over. Everyone assumed he dumped me. I mean, guys like Ryan always do the dumping, right?

But the truth was, I was the one who broke up with Ryan. I was the one who said, 'enough.'