Chapter 1: Breakup Livestream

I found abortion pills in my fiancée’s purse.

But she’d always claimed to be traditional, telling me again and again that she wanted to wait until marriage before we slept together.

My phone buzzed—notifications popping up like popcorn. Twitter threads, Reddit posts, TikTok bubbles. I scrolled, stunned:

@heartbreakhotel: Bro, you just got dumped on main and STILL think you’re the victim? 💀

u/TeamNatalie: She always said she wanted to wait for the right guy. You were just a pit stop.

@spicytea: If my man ever pulled this, he’d be out the door before the scarf unraveled.

@romcomstan: If those two never missed their shot, their kid would be in kindergarten by now. #missedconnections

@fangirlfever: Main couple’s endgame. Sorry, Derek, you’re the plot twist nobody asked for.

I stared at the glowing screen, the digital peanut gallery dissecting my heartbreak. The blue flicker from my phone painted everything in ghostly light, the TV in the corner muttering a late-night talk show rerun I barely heard. It felt like my breakup was trending—and I was the meme.

When I snapped back, I didn’t hesitate. I looked at Natalie and said, “Let’s break up.”

1

The room froze.

Natalie was knitting a scarf, her focus absolute—until my words hit. Her hand jerked, the needle slipping from her fingers and clattering onto the hardwood.

That metallic ring echoed through the living room. She was wearing my old Villanova hoodie, sleeves pushed up, knuckles white around the blue yarn. Peppermint steam curled from her mug on the coffee table, fighting with the leftover cinnamon scent from our half-melted Christmas candle. She looked up, eyes huge, like I’d just slapped her.

“What did you just say?”

She stared at me like she couldn’t believe it.

“I said, break up.”

My phone buzzed again.

u/saltyobserver: Bro, look in the mirror—how you gonna dump HER?

@fanclubnatalie: Natalie could leave you on read 800 times and you’d still think you’re her soulmate. LMAO.

@throwawayboy: So you’re mad because she wouldn’t hook up? Men are really like this, huh?

@redflagwatch: Girl took abortion pills, her health’s tanked, and this dude’s still whining. Next!

I scrolled past the comments, feeling a mix of rage and humiliation.

I’d been with Natalie for three years. She always kept a wall up, like I was a stranger renting space in her life. Sometimes she’d barely even look at me.

I wasn’t some creep pressuring my fiancée. I just wanted something normal. Cozy nights. Walks where we held hands and planned a future.

I remembered the night I confessed: “I want to be with you for real, Nat. For the long haul, if you’re in.”

She needed three days and nights to decide before she finally said yes.

But after that, she was always a little distant, always making excuses.

Every time I brought up the distance between us, she’d sigh and say her family was old-school. She’d ask, “Do you love me, or do you just want me?”

So three years passed. We got engaged, planned to get married next year. And now, social media’s blowing up with hot takes: Natalie doesn’t love me, she’s saving herself for some other guy, maybe even got pregnant by him…

So what does that make me?

I stared at my hands, gripping my phone so hard my veins stood out. Outside, headlights swept past, shadows darting over the IKEA couch. I just felt like the last one to know—an extra in my own life.