Lily's call woke me. "Vivi! You're trending!"

I checked my phone. Three hashtags blew up:

#Stepdaughter Exposes Evil Stepmom

#Cheating Stepmom Tries For Secret Love Child

#100k Apologies To Vivi

A fan-made "drama" recap of yesterday? 500k+ likes.

Before I processed it, my doorbell rang.

Evan.

He used my spare key when I didn't answer.

Damn. Forgot to take it back.

Evan beamed. "Hungry? I queued since 6 AM for your favorite soup dumplings."

I stared at him.

This was the same man who, twelve hours ago, threw a bag at my face and told me he'd be ashamed to admit we dated.

"Get out."

His smile faltered. "Babe, I saw the news. I know everything now. Sophia set you up—"

"I said get out."

"Vivi, I was wrong. Your dad told me those things and I—I panicked. But now that the truth is out—"

"Now that the truth is out, you're back. With soup dumplings." I laughed bitterly. "When you believed I was trash, you shoved me into broken ceramic. Where were the dumplings then?"

He set the bag down and reached for my hand—the one still bandaged from yesterday's cuts.

"Don't touch me."

"Vivi—"

"You didn't trust me. Not for one second. My father lied to you and you believed every word without even asking me."

"I know, I—"

"You threw my stuff at my face in front of a hundred people and told me you'd be too ashamed to admit we dated."

His eyes reddened. "I was wrong. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"No, you won't. Because you won't be in my life."

I took the spare key from his frozen hand, opened the door, and pointed.

"The dumplings smell good though. Leave those."

He left the dumplings. And my life.

I ate them while watching Lily's stream replay. They were, admittedly, excellent dumplings.

Wasted on a coward. But not wasted on me.