Prologue “This shirt. I need this shirt. And these jeans.” Hailey said aloud to herself. She reached toward a dress and stopped: It was the same dress that her ex-husband, Ethan, had bought her on their one year anniversary, and yet the same one she was wearing on the day of the divorce. Hailey looked at the dress and felt a pang of nostalgia. The memories of their first anniversary flooded back — the sweet smell of roses, his soft whisper in her ear, and that dress. As she held it in her hands, her fingers traced the fabric, feeling the smoothness of it. Little did she know that this dress would become a part of her future, a constant reminder of the good times and the inevitable bitterness to come… On a whim, she added it into her bag.

Chapter 1 Hailey was walking to her terminal when she saw Ethan. She froze, her heart skipping a beat. What is he doing here!? She thought. It felt like the universe was toying with her. The last five years had been a careful choreography of avoidance—Going to the same coffee shop, mutual friends, and even places she loved but knew he frequented had been strategically bypassed.

He looked up from his phone just as she was about to turn on her heel and pretend she hadn’t seen him. Their eyes met, and an electric shock of recognition surged between them. His blonde hair was messier than she remembered, as if it had been ruffled by a restless night, and that mischievous smile was still carved into the corners of his lips.

“Hailey,” he said, a bemused expression creeping across his face, as if he couldn't quite believe it was her.

“Ethan,” she replied, striving to keep her voice steady while her heart raced. So much history lay in that one syllable—love, laughter, the gut-wrenching pain of their separation. It was surreal to see him now, standing in the airport, as if they had just walked off the set of their shared life rather than years of silence and resentment.

The announcement for boarding their flight echoed through the terminal