HER BOYFRIEND SAVED HER IN HIS PHONE AS “FREE DINNER”—SO SHE CANCELED HIS BIRTHDAY RESERVATION AND LET HIS CARD GET DECLINED IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

the reply.

Then she heard his voice again in her memory, from weeks ago in the bedroom.

“Free food, free Ubers, free trips, free gifts. It’s like having an emotional scholarship.”

The words landed again with clean cruelty.

She locked her phone and placed it face down on the table.

Across town in Manhattan, Diego Ramirez was already sweating through his continue reading …