Chapter 3I Hired a Boyfriend

I knew I hated coding from the very first day of college. The rigid rules, the unyielding logic—it all felt so suffocating, so dull. I started skipping classes, secretly taking drawing workshops and spending all my time in the art studio.

I couldn't let Liam know.

But you can’t hide something like that forever. When he found out I was cutting his beloved data structures lecture for a life drawing class, his brow furrowed.

“That’s not a serious pursuit,” he’d said, one word at a time. His tone was as stern as my parents’ had been my whole life.

The big fight, the one that broke us, happened last month. It was because I’d submitted my application to transfer majors.

Liam was furious. He said I was being impulsive, that I was throwing my future away.

In that moment, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I didn’t want to convince him anymore. I didn’t want to explain myself at all.