Swipe Left on My Trash Ex

Three months before our wedding, my fiancé Ryan decided to share some news on social media. He posted pictures of a marriage certificate—his and my stepsister Chloe's—along with a photo of her very pregnant belly.

The caption said: "Legally welcoming our little one into the world."

Chloe commented with a shy, blushing emoji.

My own mom liked the post and wrote: "Once the baby arrives, I'll help take care of it so you two can enjoy newlywed life."

I couldn't stop myself. I commented with a single question mark.

Almost instantly, Ryan blew up my phone.

"She's just borrowing my name for a year so the baby has my last name. Once it's born, I'll come back to you."

"Don't be so dramatic. My mom said we should only get our marriage certificate after you give me a son anyway. This way we do the wedding first, paperwork later."

I just replied, "Mm." Then I went through all my social media, deleting every post with Ryan in it, and made a new one:

"Need a new groom. Any takers?"

Ryan was the first to comment.

[Olivia Young, have you lost it? I'm just doing this for the baby—why are you making a scene?]

[You don't actually think this post will make me jealous, do you? That's pathetic. Stop causing trouble, and don't take it out on Chloe.]

Chloe quickly jumped in under his comment.

[Sis, Ryan just wants our child to be legitimate. I'm not trying to steal him. After your wedding, my baby can call you mom too.]

My mom privately messaged me, scolding me for being ungrateful.

[You get a ready-made family without any of the pain. Chloe's doing you a huge favor—you should be thanking her.]

A bunch of Ryan's friends ganged up in the comments, too.

[You and Chloe are sisters anyway, so what's the big deal? How about Chloe gets him Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and you get Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday! 😂]

They were all laughing, treating it like some big joke.

I stood there frozen, tears burning my eyes until they spilled over and dripped onto my phone screen.

They were the ones in the wrong. But somehow, they'd twisted it around to make me the problem.

How insane was that?

These people weren't worth my tears.

I wiped my eyes angrily and kept scrolling. That's when I saw a comment that stood out from the rest.

It was from Ethan Shaw: "Can I be your new groom?"

Ethan and I grew up together. After college, I stayed here; he went abroad for grad school. We'd drifted apart after I started dating Ryan, and it had been years since we last talked.

While I was still staring at his comment, my phone rang. It was Ethan.

"Olivia, I've liked you for a long time."

"You know I've never been able to stand your stepsister, so I'd never get mixed up in something like this. I don't have a messy friend group either. All these years, I've just been focused on building my career—no ex-girlfriends, no drama."

As he spoke, a file came through on my phone. I opened it. It was a contract transferring all his assets and shares to me.

Before I could even process it, he kept going, his voice a little nervous.

"Olivia, this is everything I have. It's all my sincerity. Will you give me a chance?"

My eyes welled up. I suddenly remembered when we were kids—our teacher gave him two pieces of his favorite candy. Even though he wanted them so badly, he saved both and gave them to me.

He'd always given me his whole heart.