All Chapters of The Breakup Dare: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I had been with Ellery Whitfield for five years. Yesterday, I secretly gathered every friend and family member we had and proposed to her.She was overwhelmed, and she said yes with tears brimming in her eyes. I posted photos of us, with our fingers intertwined, across every social media. Countless strangers flooded us with congratulations and well-wishes.Just when I thought I had finally reached the finish line to my happily-ever-after, I received a message from her.[Reid, we're breaking up.]There was no warning and no reason.At first, I thought Ellery was joking, so I played along: [Fine. If you want to break up, at least give me a reason. Are you seeing someone behind my back?]I even attached an angry reaction meme when I sent it.An hour passed, and the smile on my face slowly faded. Ellery, who always replied to me within seconds, did not reply this time, which meant she had been serious about the breakup message.Panic set in, and I sent her message after message.[

Chapter 2

It reminded me of three years ago, when I first met Theo. It was the first time Ellery brought me along to one of her friend group gatherings and introduced me to everyone. Theo was the only guy in the group.He came up to me all smiles, planted himself in the seat next to mine, and started whispering about Ellery with exaggerated winks and nudges."Dude, I seriously don't know what you see in that oblivious girl. I've known her for years. You're by far the best-looking out of all her boyfriends, and you've got the best taste too. That earring of yours looks really unique. Honestly, if I were a girl, I'd fight her for you."I was a little flustered by all of it, and I smiled sheepishly, genuinely believing that Theo was being sincere and welcoming me into their circle. My guard dropped completely. When I heard him compliment my earring, I took it right off and gave it to him as a gift.Even Ellery, watching the two of us hit it off like old friends, chimed in with a hint of jealous

Chapter 3

I stared at the oversized glass on the table, my face draining of all color and my voice trembling. "Ellery, you know my stomach's bad. Mixing three kinds of liquor like that could kill someone. Do you really want to do this to me?"Ellery turned to glance at me with a slight frown, sighed, and walked over. Without any warning, she grabbed my jaw and forced my mouth open. I struggled, but she poured the contents down my throat anyway.My throat and stomach burned like they were on fire. A few seconds later, the room began to spin. The last thing I registered before everything went black was the mocking smile spreading across Theo's face. He had done it on purpose....The video on my phone was still playing on loop, but I had already calmed down.I opened every social media app in silence, deleting the happy announcements from the night before one by one. Then, I booked a moving service to come to the apartment. After that, I opened the messaging app, pulled up the breakup message

Chapter 4

Theo got up and walked over, his tone cool and cutting."Throwing a tantrum so bad that you tossed your ring? Sounds like you've been holding a grudge against Ellery for a while now, and you're just using this as an excuse to blow up. Or maybe you've already got someone else, and our little game gave you the perfect out."He was not even finished before Ellery cut him off.Theo pursed his lips in annoyance, as if to say this was hardly the first time he had run his mouth like that. I knew it was not.In the handful of occasions we had met over the years, he always found a way to take shots at me. When I visited Ellery's family during the holidays, he deliberately picked apart every gift I brought, calling them cheap and embarrassing. He kept trying to turn her family against me. When I was down with a stomach infection and asked Ellery not to go out, he called and made snide remarks about me controlling her freedom.Not once, in any of those moments, did Ellery ever speak up for

Chapter 5

The second after I hit send, I unsent the message. This was the first time Ellery had ever been the one to extend an olive branch after a fight, but this time, I was truly exhausted.I did not have the energy to love her anymore, and I did not want anything tying us together.My finger hovered over the block button, and I blocked Ellery without hesitation.When I went to block Theo next, the cracked screen caused the phone to register the wrong input. Instead of the block option, I tapped into his social media page and landed on a video he had posted just a minute earlier.The caption read: [Keeping my heartbroken girl company tonight. We're drinking till we drop. Also accepting applications for a new groom on her behalf. Comes with a big trust fund, asks for very little in return. One vacancy.]In the video, it was just him and Ellery with their heads close together as they drank and talked about me."Theo, I just don't get it. Why is Reid so petty that he can't even make room f

Chapter 6

I had braced myself for the worst. Fortunately, the city I landed in turned out to be beautiful.After I dropped off my luggage, I opened a social media app and made a post asking locals to recommend good food and fun things to do. Recommendations poured in almost immediately, complete with specific addresses.I wandered around with no real destination, stopping whenever something caught my eye. I ate to my heart's content and took photos wherever I went. For the first time in days, I felt completely carefree.Just as I was losing myself in the moment, I received a message from Phoebe Mercer, Ellery's assistant.[Hey Reid, are you busy? If not, do you mind me asking which platform you used to book that restaurant for Ellery last time?][The client's back in town on business and specifically asked to go there again. I've tried every platform I can think of, and none of them can get a reservation. When I called, they said they're booked out for months.][The scalper prices are insa

Chapter 7

In the days that followed, Ellery came home looking noticeably more relaxed. She no longer rushed in and out. I was secretly pleased that I had been able to help her, and I started thinking about our anniversary coming up.I planned to tell her then that I had been the one behind the restaurant reservation. When the day finally arrived, I waited from morning until night, but she never came home.Instead, it was Theo's social media that told me where she was. Post after post showed Ellery renting a private yacht for him, getting him a custom-tailored suit, and tying his tie for him.When Ellery finally came home, I lost my temper completely. I started packing my things right in front of her, ready to leave, but she grabbed me and tore into me for being unreasonable.I asked her through tears, "You forgot our anniversary and spent the whole day wining and dining Theo. And somehow, I'm the one being unreasonable and jealous? Ellery, do you even have a heart... I've done so much for yo

Chapter 8

After Celeste carefully confirmed the amount of cash and the name and number on the ID inside the wallet, we agreed that I would come by the next day at noon to pick it up.The relief of getting something back that I thought I had lost put me in an even better mood. I had a long, comfortable bath and drifted off to sleep.I slept deeply and without a single dream, waking up fully rested and recharged. I pushed open the window and let the fresh air in as I washed up and stretched. The sky was clear and blue, and the day had officially begun.I left the hotel and wandered around for a while until it was time for my appointment with Celeste. I even stopped to buy a bouquet of flowers to thank her. When I arrived at the coffee shop, Celeste was in the middle of making a drink for a customer. Her slender fingers moved through every step with a grace that almost looked like a dance, and the gentle smile on her face made the whole picture even lovelier.The whole scene was almost too pr

Chapter 9

I let out a sigh, then opened Ellery's messages.Beyond the usual apologies and pleas for me to stay, there was a string of 60-second voice messages full of heartfelt confessions.She shared all kinds of things about her life while I was away, what she had been through, what she had seen and done. She told me about the scheming and backstabbing at work, and about a bonus she was about to receive.These were the kinds of things couples were supposed to share with each other, the things I used to want to hear more than anything. However, she had always chosen to share them with Theo or with her other friends instead of me.Now, she was finally ready to share them with me, but I no longer wanted to listen. All I needed to know was that she was aware I would be coming to collect my things.Once I was back, I stayed in a hotel for the time being and left the apartment search to a real estate agent. I went with them to see two or three places and settled on one fairly quickly. Over th

Chapter 10

The next afternoon, word got around that the founder's daughter would be coming in to hold a meeting with the managers. I volunteered to arrange afternoon tea for everyone.My manager, who had known me long enough that we were on good terms, gave me a quiet eye-roll but approved the request.Just as I was carrying the tea out of the break room and heading toward the conference room, Ellery appeared out of nowhere. She was holding the ring I had pulled off my finger, and she grabbed my arm right there in front of every colleague in sight."Reid, please. Take the ring back. Marry me.'"Then, she pulled out a set of car keys and a bank card and pressed them into my hands. "This is everything I have. My car, my savings, all of it. If we get married, it's all yours. I'm not asking for anything from you or your family. All I want is you."Can we just let everything that happened stay in the past? Starting today, let's give each other one more chance. Let me spend the rest of my life tak

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP