Chapter 1 Last Goodbye

Pain.

Lately, I have become very well acquainted with it. The slow and steady aching pain. The types that comes when you have been hurt repeatedly by different people.

You finally breath, thinking that yesterday's problem will stay in the past when in fact it's today's problem. Tomorrow's problem and the problem of everyday after that. Only in those rare moments when he pulls me to his chest and makes promises he never seems able to keep. Does the pain disappear?

* * *

The glass of wine slipped from my fingers, shattering against the hardwood floor of my apartment. Red liquid splashed across my bare feet, which I barely noticed. My attention remained fixed on the text message glowing on my phone screen.

*I think we should see other people. It's not working out between us. Sorry.*

My stomach hollowed out, a physical pain spreading from my chest to my limbs. Three months. Three months of dinners, movies, and what I thought were genuine connections all reduced to a fifteen-word text message from Derek.

Is this real? or it's my eyes playing tricks.

I sank to the floor beside the spilled wine, my hands trembling. This couldn't be happening again. Not when just yesterday he'd held my face between his hands and told me how much he enjoyed being with me. Not when I'd finally let myself believe this might be different.

"Are you kidding me?!" I whispered to my empty apartment, my voice breaking. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"just like that..."

My phone buzzed with another incoming text.

*I didn't want to hurt you, but we both know this isn't going anywhere. It was hard..*

"Coward," I muttered, stepping carefully around the broken glass to grab paper towels from the kitchen. As I kneeled to clean the mess, my phone buzzed again.

*I hope we can still be friends though.*

I laughed bitterly. The classic line. I'd heard it from Jason six months ago, from Michael before him, and Ryan before that. Always the same story with different faces.

I finished cleaning the wine stain and tossed the glass shards into the trash. My phone remained on the counter, still lighting up with Derek's attempts at gentle rejection. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a response. Not tonight. He should feel a glimpse of this too.

Instead, I opened my contacts and tapped on Talia's number. My best friend answered on the second ring.

"Let me guess," Talia said by way of greeting, "Derek turned out to be another disappointment?"

"How did you know?" I asked, collapsing onto my couch.

"I have a sixth sense for these things. That, and you only call me after 9 PM when you're having a dating crisis. What happened this time?"

"He dumped me by text. No warning, no explanation. Just 'sorry, it's not working out.'" I stared at the ceiling, fighting back tears. "I.. i thought this one was different."

"You always think they're different," Talia said, her voice softening. "Want me to come over? I can bring ice cream and we can trash talk him all night."

"No," I sighed. "I have that big presentation tomorrow, remember? I should review my notes and try to get some sleep."

"Okay, but we're definitely doing wine night this weekend. And I'm bringing the expensive stuff."

After hanging up, I checked my social media, curiosity getting the better of me. There it was-Derek had already changed his relationship status. Not just to single, but to "in a relationship" with Amber from Marketing. The timestamp showed he'd made the change three hours ago, while I was still at work preparing for tomorrow's presentation, completely unaware that my relationship was already over.

"Of course," I muttered, my vision blurring with tears as I scrolled through comments congratulating the new couple. Each cheerful message felt like another knife twisting in my chest. I hurled my phone across the room, where it hit the wall with a satisfying crack before dropping to the carpet.

I hugged my knees to my chest, rocking slightly as hot tears streamed down my face. The betrayal cut deeper than just losing Derek-it was the public humiliation, the realization that I'd been made a fool of yet again. And everyone knew except me.

When I finally retrieved my phone, hands still shaking with anger and hurt, I saw a hairline fracture across the screen-a perfect metaphor for how I felt inside.

Just then, my phone pinged with a notification. An old college friend had tagged me in a comment: *"Isn't this the guy who was dating @LillianVale? What happened?"*

I quickly shut down the app, but not before seeing Derek's reply: *"Lil and I weren't really serious. You know how it is with her relationships."*

The casual dismissal stung worse than the breakup itself.

I let out a soft, sad smile " *my relationships.* hmm." replaced with a deep sigh.

I opened my messenger app, finally responding to Derek:

*Congrats on the new relationship. Next time, try breaking up with one girl before starting with another. Or was Amber the reason you were "working late" last week?*

His response came immediately: *Don't be dramatic, Lil. This is exactly why things weren't working between us.*

A second message followed: *And for what it's worth, nothing happened with Amber until after I realized we needed to end things.*

"Bloody liar," I whispered, tossing my phone aside. I didn't need this, not tonight, not when I had to be professionally composed tomorrow. I walked to my bathroom and stared at my reflection-dark circles under my eyes, my brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, wearing the same blouse I'd worn to work at Everett Enterprises, where I'd spent the evening finalizing projections for tomorrow's client meeting.

My phone chimed with an incoming call from Talia. I answered on speaker while splashing water on my face.

"I have changed my mind," Talia announced. "I'm coming over. I just saw Derek's update and that sleazeball does not get to do you like this. How dare he!"

"You saw it too?"

"Great. I'm officially the office charity case again."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed, patting my face dry. "You know what they say about me. The cursed girl who can't keep a relationship. "

"No one says that," Talia insisted, though her hesitation betrayed her.

"Miranda from HR literally told the new guy in Accounting to 'proceed with caution' when he asked about me at the Christmas party," I reminded her. "I've overheard the jokes in the break room. 'Another one bites the dust.' 'Who had three months in the Lillian breakup pool?'"

"Those people are jerks," Talia said firmly. "And Derek is the biggest jerk of all. Dumping you by text while already updating his relationship status? That's a special kind of cowardice."

I leaned against the bathroom counter, suddenly exhausted. sighs, "Maybe they're right. I might be cursed or something. Six relationships in two years, and not one made it past the four-month mark."

"That's not a curse, that's just dating in your twenties," Talia reasoned. "And from what I saw, you're better off without most of those guys."

"But what if it's me? What if there's something fundamentally unlovable about me?" The question had been haunting me for months, growing louder with each failed relationship.

"That's the wine and Derek's betrayal talking," Talia said. "There is nothing unlovable about you. You're smart, successful, gorgeous, and too good for every single one of those idiots!"

My phone buzzed with a text notification. I glanced down to see another message from Derek: *Can we please be mature about this? I'd still like us to be friends. and you were always busy, it wasn't easy dating you actually.*

My heart skipped a beat.

"You know what?" I said, a strange calm settling over me. "I'm done. I am officially swearing off relationships, dating, flirting, all of it. I'm taking myself off the market permanently."

"You say that every time," Talia reminded me gently.

"This time I mean it." I walked back to my living room, newly determined. "I'm going to focus on my career, on building a life that doesn't depend on someone else's validation. No more hoping for those fairy tale nor anymore disappointment."

"Lil-"

"I mean it, Tal. I've wasted too much energy on men who weren't worth it. I have that potential promotion coming up, my apartment lease renewal, plenty of things that actually deserve my attention." I picked up my portfolio for tomorrow's presentation.

"Love isn't real, not the kind in books and movies. It's just a chemical reaction that fades, leaving you with text message breakups and social media humiliation."

Talia was quiet for a moment. "Okay, if that's what you need right now, I support you. But don't close yourself off completely. we are not getting any younger and not everyone is like Derek or the others."

"I'm not closing off. I'm being realistic," I corrected, flipping through my presentation notes. "Now, I really do need to review these projections for tomorrow."

"Fine, but I'm still coming over tomorrow night with wine and ice cream. "

After we hung up, I tried to focus on my presentation, but Derek's betrayal kept intruding on my thoughts. I checked social media one more time and immediately regretted it. The office gossip machine was already working overtime, with subtle digs about my "latest casualty" and thinly veiled references to my "relationship track record."

I shut down the app, fighting back tears. I channeled my hurt into determination, spending the next hour refining my presentation until it was flawless. Tomorrow, I would walk into that conference room as Lillian Vale, valued marketing analyst at Everett Enterprises, not the girl who couldn't keep a relationship.

I finally prepared for bed, with the promise to myself not to open up to anyone again. Me, believing in love? hell no!

I had no idea, as I drifted off to sleep with this resolution firmly in mind, that fate had other plans that would begin unfolding tomorrow in the most unexpected way, drawing me toward a love more powerful and dangerous than anything I could imagine.

* * *