Chapter 1

I always thought my boyfriend’s phone passcode was my birthday.

Until today, on my actual birthday. I unlocked his phone to open Amazon, wanting to sneak a peek at the surprise he had ordered for me.

There was indeed an order—a beautiful cake—but the delivery address wasn’t mine.

Before I could process it, a Snapchat notification popped up on the screen.

"I got the cake and the gift. Thank you for always remembering."

The sender's name was Chloe. Chloe Miller. His first love.

In that single second, my mind went completely blank.

It turned out his passcode had never been set for me.

I quietly handed the phone back to him, my throat feeling like it was clogged with ash.

"You got a message."

Ethan took the phone. He casually flipped it over and placed it face down on the table.

"It’s not important."

He walked over to me, placing his hands on the back of the sofa, trapping me gently in his arms.

"Today is your birthday, babe. Nothing is going to ruin this for us."

He leaned down, his lips inches from mine. But just before he could kiss me, I turned my head.

His lips brushed against the stray hairs near my ear.

The air in the room froze for a long, silent second.

"It was from a girl named Chloe," I said, my voice eerily calm.

"She said thank you for remembering her birthday."

Ethan’s arms went stiff.

He slowly straightened up, his mouth opening slightly, but no sound came out.

I just stared at him.

"You saw it?" he finally asked.

"Your passcode is my birthday. Of course I could open it."

I paused, correcting myself.

"No, wait. It’s your ex’s birthday. We just happen to share the same day, don't we?"

The color drained from Ethan’s face.

He took a step back.

"Elena, it’s not what you think. Chloe and I are ancient history. It was just her birthday, and I happened to—"

"Happened to order a cake to her doorstep? Happened to pick out a thoughtful gift?"

I stood up. My knees felt weak, but I gripped the armrest of the sofa to steady myself.

"Ethan, do you even hear yourself right now?"

He fell silent for a few seconds. When he looked up at me again, his eyes held that familiar, desperate look he always got whenever we had a fight.

"We were together for six years. Some habits are just hard to break overnight. I admit, I still check up on her occasionally, but we’re just normal friends—"

"Do normal friends remember exact birthdays and pre-order cakes and gifts?"

That shut him up.

"Since you never actually let her go," I looked directly into his eyes, "why did you even ask me out?"

Ethan frowned, looking slightly offended by the question.

"I truly wanted to build a life with you."

"Truly?"

I repeated the word, tasting the bitter irony.

"Your version of 'truly' is secretly sending birthday gifts to your ex behind my back?"

He ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated.

"Can you not be so stubborn? It’s just a birthday gift. It’s not like I cheated on you."

Staring at him, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hit me.

"Just leave," I said.

"What?"

"I said, leave."

Ethan stared at me, dumbfounded.

He probably thought this was just another one of our typical arguments. He thought he would make a soft apology, I would back down, and we’d make up like we always did.

"Elena," he said, softening his voice. "It’s your birthday. Stop making a scene."

"I’m not making a scene."

I walked to the front door, grabbed his brown loafers from the shoe rack, and placed them on the floor.

I had bought those shoes for him. They were our anniversary gift from last year.

He stood frozen in the living room.

"Just because of this? You’re kicking me out?"

"Yes. Just because of this."

"Elena, be reasonable! Nothing happened between Chloe and me. If it makes you that unhappy, I won’t contact her again. Is that enough?"