THE PEONIES ON THE FLOOR WERE JUST THE BEGINNING OF A BRUTAL TRUTH

The phone vibrated against the bare granite counter, the bright rectangular screen flashing the words Mom - Video Call over and over again like a flashing neon warning sign. The rhythmic buzzing sounded deafening in the hollow, empty apartment.

Maya stared at the screen as if it were a venomous snake. Her fingers curled into the fabric of Zoe’s denim jacket, her knuckles turning white.

"Are you going to answer that?" Zoe asked quietly, her previous anger replaced by a sudden, heavy wave of sympathy. She walked over and rested a hand on Maya’s shoulder. "Because if you don't, she’s going to call every hospital and police station in the city by sunrise."

"What do I even say?" Maya whispered, tears spilling over her lashes again and tracking hot down her cheeks. "How do I tell my mother that Isaiah left me because I confessed to my friend that I’m still in love with an ex who just flew in from out of town like a cliché romance movie villain?"

"Don't call me a villain," Corey muttered, though there was no real bite to it. He stepped toward the counter, his hand hovering near the phone. "Tell her the truth. Or at least part of it. Tell her the wedding was cancelled because you realized you couldn't go through with a lie."

"The truth?" Maya let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "My mother doesn't care about my emotional journey, Corey! She cares about the non-refundable deposit on the ballroom and what her bridge club is going to say!"

The video call stopped ringing abruptly, plunging the room into a brief, terrifying silence. Maya let out a ragged breath, thinking the crisis had been temporarily averted.

A second later, the phone buzzed again. Not a call this time, but a barrage of text messages flooding in all at once.

Mom: Maya, why did the catering company just call me to say the reception is cancelled?

Mom: I am sitting in baggage claim at JFK and your father looks like he’s about to have a stroke. Pick up your phone right now.

Mom: Isaiah’s mother just called me crying. What did you do?

Maya closed her eyes tightly, the walls of the empty apartment seeming to close in around her. The illusion of control she had spent three years building had vanished completely, leaving her completely exposed.