My name is Ben, and I am the man who makes her feel loved by someone who doesn't care. Sarah has been dating Jason for three years. Jason is a "minimalist," which is just a fancy word for a man who never buys her a birthday card. Every Christmas,...
My name is Sam, and I am the reason she is leaving me behind. Maya wanted a job at a prestigious firm in London. For a month, I spent every evening acting as the hiring manager. I researched the company’s history, prepared 50-page dossiers ...
My name is Nicolas, and I have spent three years learning a language I now wish I didn't understand. When Elena decided to move to Tokyo for a year, she begged me to come with her. "I'll be so lost without you, Nic," she said. I quit my job in Ly...
My name is Caleb, and I am a human ATM for a dream that doesn't include me. Sienna wanted to be an influencer in Los Angeles. She had the look, but not the capital. For two years, I worked two jobs—one as a data analyst, the other as a nigh...
My name is Viktor, and I am an exile from the world of ideas. In Berlin, academic integrity is the bedrock of your reputation. Lara was my lab partner. She was brilliant but scattered. For her final dissertation, she accidentally included three p...
My name is Andre, and I am the man who handles the mess so she can stay clean. Camila was getting married in Rio. She was stressed beyond belief because her fiancé, a wealthy but useless man named Paulo, had forgotten to secure the venue's...
My name is Marcus, and I am the developer of my own displacement. Sophie had a "vision" for a new social networking app in San Francisco. She had the charisma; I had the code. For eighteen months, I worked sixteen-hour days. I built the back end,...
My name is Hassan, and I am the man who taught her how to be loved by someone else. In Dubai, image is everything. Zara wanted to break into the elite social circles, but she was shy and unsure of herself. I spent two years "polishing" her. I bou...
My name is Tariq, and I am the ghost in the laboratory. In the competitive world of Singapore’s biotech scene, a research grant is the difference between a career and a dead end. Nadia was struggling. Her data was sound, but her writing lac...
My name is Oscar, and I am the curator of a beautiful lie. I live in Madrid, and I’ve known Elena since we were children. She’s been dating Roberto for two years. Roberto is a charming, hollow man who treats her like a footnote. I&rsq...
My name is Elias, and I am a prisoner to a debt that bought someone else's freedom. In Vancouver, the housing market is a nightmare. Clara desperately wanted a condo—a place to "start her life." But her credit was trashed from student loans...
My name is Matteo, and I spent three months breathing in dust and chemical strippers for a ceremony I wasn't invited to. Lucia had an antique vanity that belonged to her grandmother. It was rotting, infested with termites, and the mahogany was bl...
My name is Simon, and I am the silent hand behind the perfect words I wish I were hearing. In the corporate offices of Sydney, competition for the "Project Lead" role was fierce. Isla was my main competitor, but I never saw her that way. To me, s...
My name is Leo, and I am the muscle for a heart that doesn't beat for me. Moving day in Berlin is brutal, especially when you live on the fifth floor of an apartment with no elevator. Elena was moving in with her boyfriend, Marc. Marc "hurt his b...
My name is Kenji, and I am the "break glass in case of emergency" guy. In the neon-soaked streets of Tokyo, I am the person Yuna calls when everything goes wrong. Last night, it was her laptop. She’d spilled coffee on it, and her final univ...
