Dinner at the Hendrix house. Something I’ve dreaded all week, and it’s dragging despite Daniel’s promises it wouldn’t. I should know better. His family loves to linger through dessert, gossiping like a den of snakes ready to slither around their next victim. I hate putting on an act for them. If only they knew the truth about their golden boy.  

His Aunt Mierrdra is to my left, speaking to Mrs. Hendrix about Priscilla, one of Daniel’s cousins. Apparently, she’d been caught kissing a girl behind the bleachers. Poor girl. Aunt Mierrdra is the nastiest homophobe I’ve ever met.

Daniel squeezes my hand. I cringe as I meet his eyes. He gives me a tight smile and rises from his seat.

He easily clinks his wineglass with his butter knife and clears his throat. “I have an announcement.”

The people around the dinner table put their utensils down as their eyes settle on Daniel. I don’t care what he says so long as he hurries. This chocolate dessert is literally melting in my mouth with every bite, and I want to finish it, but I have to stop like everyone else. They’d never stop talking about how rude I am if I didn’t.

“Trina and I have been having some relationship problems.”

My eyes double in size. I’m so thankful I stopped eating, or I’d have surely choked to death on chocolate. What a way to go out!

What is he doing? The whole point of me coming was so his family wouldn’t know about what he did.

There are gasps of shock, and I’m positive one of them is mine.

My calculating gaze rests on Daniel’s face. What the hell are you up to?

“I think we’ve gotten past them as civilly as possible.”

I nearly spit out the wine I held in my mouth to keep my notoriously inappropriate trap in check. My reaction didn’t go unnoticed.

“Of course, the problems are our own,” he stammers. “But I want everyone to know this so that you’ll know I sincerely mean it when I say this next part.” Daniel looks at me and gets on one knee.

Oh no.

He looks me right in the eyes as sweat begins to build on his forehead.

I lean into him. “Daniel, what the fuck are you doing?” I hiss.

A grimace flashes across his face before he composes himself. Daniel gives me his famous wide, white-teethed smile that first won me over when we met-it does nothing for me now. He pulls a ring box from his pocket and opens it. “Trina, would you do me the absolute honor of being my wife?”

The cheers from his family and their close friends echo in my ears. I don’t think any of them realize I haven’t answered yet. Would they be this excited if they knew what he’s done to me? The reason why we’re having problems, as he put it.

“I-” I don’t know what to say.

Is this part of the plan? Did I miss something he said earlier? Am I supposed to say yes, and then we make an excuse later? Or am I supposed to say no now and officially end things for his family to witness?

One thing I do know for sure. There’s no way in hell I’m marrying him.

“Trina?” Daniel asks as his family slowly goes silent. He’s glancing around nervously and leans in to whisper to me. “I know we’ve been having problems, but I can change. I’ll make everything up to you. We’ll have the rest of our lives for me to make it up to you.”

Daniel leans back with confidence. “What do you say? Make me the happiest guy alive?” he asks loudly so his family can hear.

My eyes wander over them. They look at me expectantly and wait for an answer. I know they all think I’m going to say yes.

“No.”

My body instantly fills with relief at that one word slipping past my lips.

Holy shit.

A giggle slips past, and I slap a hand to my mouth to keep the laughter building up from exploding in Daniel’s face. It feels amazing to say no to him.

His eyes are wide as more gasps come from his family, filling the silence. Could they be more dramatic?

“What?” Daniel asks.

I shake my head and stand up. “I said no.”

Daniel quickly gets to his feet, with hunched shoulders, and looks at me. “Why?”

“You know why, and if you don’t want to tell your family why I broke up with you, that’s fine. But I’m not going to fake an engagement for you just to keep them off your back.”

“Please,” he whispers. “I mean it. I want to marry you!”

Shaking my head, I throw my napkin on the table and stand. “I can’t do this. It was a mistake coming here. Goodbye, Daniel.”

As I walk away from a shocked family and a heartbroken ex, I realize I’m walking away from a decade of my life with him. It’s hard to remember what life was like without Daniel being there at the beginning and end of my days. I don’t know where I’m going to go. I don’t know anything, if I’m being honest with myself.

And it’s the most exhilarating feeling.