Valerie’s words cut sharp, but she wasn’t done. “And now you’re just chilling in a café? Where’s your dignity as a man? Why are you just sitting there, surrendering in silence?”

Her sentences hit Vance right at the core of his pain. He scrubbed his face roughly, frustration boiling over from emotions he’d never felt before.

“I don’t know, okay? This is the first time I’ve ever been in love, and everything was fine—until suddenly she asked to break off the ...