Seven Years, One Heartbreak, New Love

For seven years, I was the perfect girlfriend to Hollywood star Ethan Cleveland. I put my life on hold, baked his favorite pastries, and silently endured the online hate from fans who wanted him with his co-star, Keira.

Then came my 29th birthday. He said he had a late-night script meeting, but I discovered the truth: he was at a private clinic, comforting Keira as she confessed her feelings for him.

He publicly defended Keira from online harassment, calling for kindness. But when I received death threats from his fans, he called me "dramatic" and "insecure."

He was capable of empathy and protection, just never for me. The man who claimed to love me was systematically destroying my self-worth while playing the hero for the world.

So I left. And when he finally tracked me down, trying to reclaim what he'd lost, I did something I never thought I would. I turned to the new man by my side-the one who truly saw me-and kissed him right in front of my ex.

Chapter 1

Adeline Nixon POV:

The cake sat on the counter, perfectly iced, a small, defiant beacon in the silent kitchen. It was my twenty-ninth birthday, and Ethan had lied. Again.

He' d said he was with a producer, a late-night script meeting. But the text I' d accidentally seen on his unlocked phone, glowing bright on the charger, told a different story. "She finally told me," Keira' s message read, followed by a teary emoji. "It was intense. Thanks for being there. Can't believe you missed your meeting for me." My stomach twisted, tighter than any knot I'd ever made with fondant. He hadn't just lied; he'd spent my birthday comforting his co-star, who was confessing her feelings for him.

I stared at the cake. Seven years. Seven years of my life, baked into countless celebratory pastries, each one a silent prayer for a love that felt increasingly hollow. My fingers, usually so steady with a piping bag, trembled as I picked up my phone. Ethan' s face stared back at me from a thousand headlines. "Ethan Cleveland and Keira Fisher: The Hottest Hollywood Romance?" "Are They or Aren't They? The Chemistry Is Undeniable!" The posts were everywhere, fueling the rumors, building a narrative where I was just the unfortunate, forgotten girlfriend.

I scrolled through the comments, a familiar ache starting in my chest. "Adeline is so boring, just holding him back." "He deserves someone vibrant, someone like Keira." The digital venom was a constant drip, eroding everything I thought I was. Ethan always dismissed it, calling it "fan fiction," telling me I was "overreacting." He' d say I was "dramatic" or "insecure." But there was nothing dramatic about the way my hands clenched, the way my breath caught in my throat every time I saw another picture of them, their smiles too bright, their eyes too close.

He walked in then, coat slung over his arm, a practiced smile on his perfect face. He smelled faintly