The Night I Thought He Would Propose, He Played a Joke Instead, So I Gave Him One Back!

The irony was a physical weight in the room. His friends, who had heard his boastful version of our anniversary disaster, began to snicker. They knew Ryan’s ego, and they knew exactly why I was doing this. The mockery he had directed at my career had been turned back onto his vanity, and he couldn’t handle the sting. He sputtered for a moment, unable to find a comeback that wouldn’t make him look like a hypocrite, and then he stormed out, slamming the door so hard the black balloons shivered.

Most of the guests filtered out shortly after, the tension finally breaking into awkward departures. But one of Ryan’s oldest friends, Mark, stayed behind to help me clear the plates. He handed me a glass of water and looked at me with a sad, knowing smile. “You know,” he said softly, “we all thought he was being a jerk at dinner. He told us about the ‘promotion’ plate like it was the funniest thing in the world. You deserved a lot better than a guy who laughs at your setbacks.”

I thanked him, and as the door closed behind the last guest, I sat in my quiet apartment. There was no ring on my finger. There was no “dream home” by the lake. But as I looked at the “Congrats” banner, I felt a lightness I hadn’t felt in years.

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