Chapter 1

Zoe's POV

The line for the limited edition figurine stretched around the block. Madison shifted her weight from one foot to the other, scrolling through her phone with that bored expression.

"God, this is taking forever," she muttered, not looking up from her screen.

I didn't mind. The weather was perfect. Besides, I'd been looking forward to this drop for weeks. Madison had only agreed to come because I'd promised her brunch afterward at that new place she wanted to try.

"It's moving," I said, watching the line shuffle forward a few feet. "We'll be inside soon."

She hummed in response, thumb still flying across her phone. Probably texting with some guy.

A girl in front of us suddenly whipped around, eyes wide. She couldn't have been more than twenty, with pink streaks in her hair and at least five enamel pins on her denim jacket.

"Oh my God," she breathed, staring at Madison. "You're M, right?"

Madison's head snapped up. Her face went pale. "I—sorry, I think you have the wrong person."

"No way!" The girl bounced on her toes, clutching her phone. "I've watched your streams for three years. You and your boyfriend are like, the sweetest couple ever."

My stomach dropped. Boyfriend?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Madison's voice came out too tight. "I'm not—"

"Wait, I saw the video from last week!" The girl was practically vibrating with excitement now. "The one where you were making breakfast? I totally saw his hand and that mole on his palm. I knew it was him. Oh my God, I'm so happy you guys got back together! When you broke up, I literally cried for days."

Madison's face had gone from pale to almost gray. "I... I need to use the restroom."

She practically ran toward the coffee shop next door.

I stood there, frozen, while the girl bounced excitedly in front of me. What the hell just happened?

"Um." I asked. "What streaming account are you talking about?"

"Oh!" She pulled up her phone immediately. "@our_little_world. They're honestly the best couple content creators. Super wholesome, you know? Even though the boyfriend doesn't show his face, you can just tell how much he loves her. The way he touches her, talks to her..." She sighed. "Total relationship goals."

My hands were shaking as I pulled out my own phone and typed in the handle.

The account loaded. A cute logo of two stick figures holding hands. 47.3k followers. The bio read: College sweethearts sharing our little world ❤️

The most recent video was from two days ago. The thumbnail showed Madison in a familiar yellow sundress. Wait, was that my sundress? She was standing at a stove with her back to the camera.

I pressed play.

"Morning, babe," Madison's voice chirped from my phone. The camera was clearly propped on a counter, showing her stirring something in a pan. "I'm making your favorite."

Then an arm reached into the frame. A man's arm. The hand grabbed her waist, pulled her back slightly. Even through the phone screen, I could see her lean into the touch, that soft smile I'd seen a thousand times.

But I wasn't looking at her face anymore.

I was staring at that hand. At the left hand, specifically. At the palm, where a small brown mole sat just below the base of the thumb.

No.

The wedding ring was gone, but the mole, that distinctive mark I'd traced with my own fingers countless times was unmistakable.

That was like Alex's hand. My husband's hand.

"They're so cute together, right?" The pink-haired girl was still talking. "Some of the longtime fans were worried after the breakup, but I always knew they'd find their way back to each other. True love always does."

Breakup. Back together. True love.

My brain couldn't process the words fast enough. They just kept bouncing around in my head, not connecting to anything real.

"When..." I had to clear my throat. "When did they break up?"

"Oh, like three years ago? It was so sad. She posted this video crying, saying they'd decided to go their separate ways. The account went dark for over a year. But then..." Her face lit up. "...they came back! It was about, I don't know, a year and a half ago? Maybe two years? She did this whole emotional announcement about how they'd found each other again and how love deserves second chances and..." She pressed her hand to her chest. "I'm getting emotional just thinking about it."

Three years ago. Alex and Madison had broken up three years ago.

Madison had "randomly" met me on the subway two years ago.

Oh God.

My fingers moved on autopilot, scrolling to the account's timeline. The videos were organized by date. I scrolled back, back, back—past the recent couple content, past the reunion announcement, until I hit a wall of nothing. A year and a half gap where no videos were posted.

Then I found it. The last video before the silence.

Madison's face filled the screen, eyes red and swollen. "This is really hard for me to say," she said, voice breaking. "But... we've decided to end our relationship."

The date stamp: January 2023. I met Alex at that tech industry mixer three months after this video was posted, and we got married a year later.

I scrolled further back. Video after video of college life. Madison and Alex. Alex, whose face I couldn't see but whose body I knew better than my own, cooking in a tiny dorm kitchen. Studying in the library, his hand absently playing with her hair. Walking through campus, their fingers intertwined.

The comments on those old videos were full of heart emojis and "couple goals" and when are you getting married?

"Are you okay?" The pink-haired girl was looking at me with concern now. "You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine. I just... I need to sit down."

Madison came out of the coffee shop at that exact moment.

"Zoe," she said carefully. "You ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah." I locked my phone. My fingers were still shaking. "Actually, I'm not feeling great. I think I'm going to head home."

"I'll come with you—"

"No. I just need to be alone for a bit. Headache."

"Oh. Okay." She bit her lip, "Text me later? Let me know you're okay?"

I nodded without really seeing her and started walking toward the parking lot.

The drive home was a blur.

Finally, I forced myself out of the car and up to the third floor. The apartment was quiet, Alex was at work, wouldn't be home for hours. I locked the door behind me, walked straight to the bedroom, and sat on the edge of our bed.

Then I opened the account again.

This time, I started from the very beginning. The first video, posted four years ago.