The finality in his voice crushed the little hope still clinging to my heart.
I watched helplessly as he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there alone in the dim hallway, the echo of his footsteps pounding in my ears.
The sounds of my birthday party filtered in from outside, hollow and meaningless now.
I pressed my back against the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. My heart ached so fiercely I thought it might shatter into pieces.
Happy birthday to me.
Chapter 5
Brittany
The Past (Age 18)
After the kiss and fallout on my birthday, Ace disappeared like smoke. He didn’t come around anymore. I didn’t dare ask Jasper why, even though every bone in my body ached to. It would be too suspicious, and the last thing I needed was foranyone to know that I had let myself fall for someone who clearly didn’t feel the same.
Graduation came and went. I had officially finished high school and should have been excited, but instead, I was drowning. Milan Fashion Week was a week away, and my mom had me on a strict diet that made my head spin and my body feel weak. She kept pushing me, harder and harder. As if Milan wasn’t enough, she was determined to get my agent to book me a spot at the Victoria’s Secret show too. According to her, that would "set my career in stone."
Meanwhile, Jasper was buried in his own world, wrapping up his thesis at UCLA before moving to Harvard for graduate school. Jasper, the genius. The golden child. I had overheard him once, telling Dad that Ace was always stuck on campus with endless assignments. That explained his MIA status. Or so I told myself.
But tonight, everything was going to crash and burn.
Earlier in the week, a new photoshoot of mine had been published. I should have been proud. I should have been happy. Instead, it became another weapon my mother wielded against me.
"Look at this!" she snapped, waving the glossy magazine in front of my face as we sat in the car heading to my cousin Sierra's dinner party. "Your stomach is sticking out! You look like you’ve gained weight in all the wrong places. This is unacceptable, Brit."
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I'm sorry, Mom," I mumbled, staring out the window, counting the streetlights to keep myself from crying.
"Sorry won't fix it. I've booked you a Botox appointment tomorrow. We need to make you runway-ready. Milan waits for no one."
By the time we got to Sierra's house, my spirit was hanging by a thread. Jasper wasn’t coming — he was busy with finals — so I was completely alone. My mom abandoned me the second we arrived, finding Daniel and Juliette, Sierra's parents, while I lingered near the buffet, picking at a tiny salad leaf.
The room buzzed with laughter, wine glasses clinking, and the low hum of music. Everyone looked radiant, full of life. And then, the front door opened.
I heard the click of heels, the low hum of voices. Curiosity made me glance up — and there they were.
Ace and Sierra.
Hand in hand.
My heart stopped.
Ace looked... perfect. Taller than I remembered, sharper around the edges, wearing that cocky smirk that used to make my stomach flip. And Sierra? She looked like a goddess. With her natural curves, caramel skin, and thick, dark hair cascading down her back, she was effortlessly stunning. The kind of beautiful that didn't need filters or touch-ups.
I felt like a frumpy extra in a movie where she was the star.
"Everyone," Sierra beamed, pulling Ace closer, "I want you to meet my boyfriend!"
The room erupted into cheers and claps.
Boyfriend.
The word slammed into my chest like a freight train. I blinked rapidly, hoping no one noticed the way my hands trembled around my glass.
"Brit!" Sierra chirped, leading Ace over to me. "You know Ace, right?"
