Chapter 1What If We Win

“Wait, so the admin actually used to date Devin Cole?”

“Oh my god, she literally made him lemon drops so he would quit smoking, and he pulled her in by the collar and kissed her in the rain.”

“What kind of romance novel is this?! My heart can’t take it. Please, please get back together!”

“+1”

“+10,000.”

The team facility was pitch-black.

I sat alone on the living room sofa, the cold blue glow of my phone illuminating the dark as I scrolled through every single comment under that viral post.

My thumbs hovered over the keypad for a long moment before I typed out a text to Devin:

Are you going to clarify that I’m your actual girlfriend?

Thirty minutes passed before the screen lit up with his reply:

Can’t be bothered to post.

Another thirty minutes crept by. A second message popped up:

Why are you even paying attention to random internet gossip?

I set my phone face down on the glass coffee table and let out a long, quiet breath.

There was a time when becoming Devin Cole’s girlfriend was the only dream I had. But standing beside someone whom the entire world put on a pedestal was never the fairytale I’d imagined.