The day after the fake engagement announcement I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my windows and immediately felt a sense of dread that had nothing to do with the weather. Rain on a Thursday in early autumn with that specific smell of wet earth and dying leaves was exactly how it had been the day everything started falling apart in my old life.

I tried to tell myself it was just a coincidence because rain happened all the time and there was no reason to panic about precipitation, but then I ...