This was it.
I curled my hair carefully. Got my nails done. Slipped into the emerald green dress he once said made my eyes “shine like spring.” I checked my reflection twice before leaving.
I was ready for a ring.
What I got instead was a wake-up call.
A Celebration That Was Never Mine
Dinner went smoothly at first. Wine flowed. Ryan smiled more than usual. He looked relaxed, almost excited, like someone holding a secret close to his chest.
My hands trembled beneath the table.
Then dessert arrived.
The waiter placed a pristine white plate in front of me, trimmed in gold. Written in elegant chocolate script were the words:
“Congrats on Your Promotion!”
I stared at it, confused.
Because I hadn’t gotten a promotion.
In fact, just weeks earlier, I’d been passed over for the role I’d worked toward for more than a year—given instead to a man I had personally trained. Office whispers suggested I was “about to settle down” and would be “too distracted” to lead.
Ryan knew all of this.
And yet, he leaned back in his chair, smiling.
“Positive vibes, babe,” he said lightly. “Just manifesting your success.”
Something inside me hardened.
This wasn’t encouragement.
It was mockery disguised as optimism.
