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“Since Ryan's gonna propose, I figured we should do something to mark it.”
With that, she pulled out her phone, opened Instagram, and gave me a quick, easy wink.
Almost right away, the stares on me let up, and the room felt lively again.
“C'mon, follow her! People beg for Annie for her Instagram and never get it!”
“Yeah, and if she ghosts Ryan again after he proposes, you can help him send her a message.”
They brazenly flaunted the unusual bond between Ryan and Annie right in front of me.
They'd just spilled the truth, but now they acted like I had no clue what was going on.
It was quiet, mean mockery—blatant, unapologetic.
And Ryan? He never once tried to stop them.
Even though he was standing right next to me, his eyes were glued to Annie the whole time.
After a moment of silence, I pulled out my phone.
But the minute we hit “follow” on each other, I froze. My face went pale, and I gripped my phone so tight I couldn't let go.
Annie raised an eyebrow, looking surprised, then smiled again.
This time, her smile was even more knowing—like she had a secret.
Seeing Annie smile, Ryan's mood lightened up too.
“What's up? Why the smile all of a sudden?”
Annie glanced down, casual as can be, and said, “Oh, nothing—just realized Vivian and I already followed each other ages ago. Kinda funny, right?”
It seemed like no big deal, so almost nobody paid it any mind.
They went back to joking around and talking about childhood stories I'd never been part of, leaving me standing there, totally humiliated.
But I knew—Annie had put it all together.
She'd figured out I'd once made a fake account to follow her, that I'd stayed up all night scrolling through her posts like a creep, staring at pictures of her and Ryan.
I could barely breathe, shame weighing me down.
My eyes burned, tears threatening to spill over.
The scar on my collarbone—from when I got the tattoo removed—throbbed, sharp and sore.
I couldn't take it anymore. Frantically, I scanned the room, looking for what I needed.
I'd known from the start this proposal had turned into Annie's welcome party.
The only reason I showed up was to get that one thing back.
Even though most of the old stuffe had been cleared out, I still spotted it in a corner.
It was something I'd hidden there, a surprise I'd planned for Ryan when he proposed—a collection of al the little ways I'd loved him over the years.
But now I knew if anyone found it, it would only make the shame and humiliation worse.
I gritted my teeth and ran for that corner, no second thoughts.
But I was in too much of a rush—I crashed right into a server coming in.
The four-tier cake he was pushing went crashed down on me.
I fell, covered in thick, heavy frosting from head to toe.
I tried to get up, but the slippery cake on the floor made me lose my balance, and I hit the ground hard again.
The noise—plates clattering, the cake tin slamming down—drew everyone's attention fast.
They turned and saw the ridiculous scene, me on the floor, covered in frosting, cake crumbs everywhere.
Right away, they started yelling at me.
“Vivian, what the hell? You've ruined the whole party!”
“Did you do this on purpose? Just because Ryan didn't propose to you?”
Ryan's face went dark, his jaw tight with anger.
He walked over—not to check if I was hurt, just to snap, “Vivian, what are you doing?”
He reached out like he was gonna help me up, but then noticed what I was clutching tight to my chest, my fingers white from squeezing it.
He stopped short, his brows furrowing. “What's that?”
