Chapter 1

I have severe anorexia.

To get me to eat more, my boyfriend built a private food-delivery app just for me.

He gave every dish its own name, and he made every single one himself.

He even promised every order would arrive within ten minutes.

But the food that showed up was always either spoiled or undercooked.

To keep from disappointing him, I forced myself to eat every bite, no matter how sick it made me feel.

What I couldn't understand was that every time I placed an order, my roommate received the exact same dish.

Except hers looked, smelled, and tasted like actual food.

She said there was a fan who could only eat while watching her livestream, so he cooked for her every day, putting his heart and soul into every meal.

I chalked it up to coincidence.

Until one day I came back to campus early and overheard my roommate on a livestream call.

"You make me all this gorgeous food every day, so why are you feeding your girlfriend slop?"

My boyfriend's voice came through, clear as day.

"Eating with her is like watching someone get hanged. Every time we sit down together, I end up eating two fewer bowls of rice at the cafeteria."

"I'd rather watch you eat. You enjoy it, and it makes me happy."

That's when it hit me—the fan behind all those carefully made meals was my boyfriend of ten years.

She got his best. I got the scraps and the failed attempts.

My hand froze mid-knock.

I stood there for a long moment before slowly lowering my hand.

One was called Goodbye Beef Pasta.

The other was called The Last Course.

……

"Your order is being prepared. Please be patient, my queen!"

The familiar notification chime sounded.

But I knew, without a doubt, that something had changed.

I pushed the door open and walked into the dorm.

My roommate, Celeste, didn't show the slightest hint of panic.

She calmly flipped her phone face-down on the desk.

When she caught me staring at it, she shrugged and smiled.

"You know. That fan who loves watching me eat."

I said nothing and sat back down on my bed.

Celeste plugged in her earbuds, and her syrupy voice kept drifting over.

"Love me or hate me, you'll have to wait in line. But if you're buying me dinner, you get to cut ahead."

"Stop it, I've already gained two pounds because you keep feeding me."

"You'll like me even chubbier. You said so yourself, no take-backs!"

It was a long time before she finally cooed her goodbyes to whoever was on the other end.

The instant her call ended, my phone started ringing.

His name flashed across my screen: Ezra

I bit down on my lip and answered.

"Babe, why didn't you tell me you were coming back early?"

"I'm rushing to finish the order you placed. Just wait for your darling to finish making it."

Twenty minutes later, a knock came at the dorm door.

Ezra stood in the doorway, slightly out of breath, damp strands of hair falling across his forehead as he handed me a pink lunch box printed with cartoon characters.

"Why'd you order these two? Did I do something to upset you?"

I looked away from his earnest expression.

"Never had them. Just wanted to try."

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Babe, whatever you want to eat—no matter what it is or how hard it is to find—I'll make it for you."

He opened the box for me, set the straw in, laid out the chopsticks, and only then, reluctantly, did he leave.

The whole time, he didn't glance at Celeste once.

It was as if they were complete strangers.

Inside the first box was Goodbye Beef Pasta.

A small piece of grilled beef and an egg, set at opposite ends of the container.

Except the beef was charred black, and the edges of the egg looked like burnt coal, while the inside wasn't even cooked through.

The other dish was The Last Course.

The container was completely empty.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Celeste leaned in, unable to hide her glee.

"Is that even something a person could eat?"

"By my count, my fan should be sending my dinner over about now."