Chapter 1: The Message That Changed Everything

Sent the message to my ex by mistake.

[Hey babe, did you get the little umbrella?]

He replied instantly:

[ ]

The words just hung there, making my heart stutter like the air had gotten thick and heavy. I could practically see his face on the other side of the screen—brow furrowed, thumb frozen, totally thrown by my text.

I panicked, deleting it as fast as I could and firing off a rushed explanation.

My thumbs flew over the screen, anxiety spiking, my cheeks burning hot. The phone felt like it was on fire. Of all people, why did it have to go to him? My pulse hammered as I tried to explain, desperate to undo the mess I’d just made.

My phone started buzzing nonstop—he was going off, message after message, like he’d just found out his favorite team lost the Super Bowl.

The notifications lit up my screen one after another, each buzz making my stomach drop. It was like watching a car crash—you want to look away, but you just can’t.

[If you sent it to the wrong person, who else could it be for?]

[Are you kidding me? I can’t pretend. Geez, we haven’t even been broken up that long and you already found someone new?]

[Is he as good to you as I was?]

[If you ignore me, are you just playing games? You want to get back together? I might be open to it.]

[Come on, I was wrong, please talk to me, babe. You can’t use it with him, only with me.]

[Babe, give me another chance, dump him, get back together with me, okay?]

[Wait for me, I’ll come back to the States right now.]

[……]

I hadn’t checked my phone for a bit, and already had 99+ messages.

The screen was just a blur of his name and desperate notifications. My chest got tighter with every buzz. I dropped the phone onto the bed, closed my eyes, and tried to breathe through it—fighting the urge to scroll through his meltdown. It didn’t feel real, not at all.

I wanted to laugh, cry, and throw my phone out the window all at once. This was the guy who’d left me on read for days, and now he was acting like I’d broken his heart on national TV.