Seven Years of Love Seven Minutes of Truth

Chapter 1 Chapter 1

While scrolling through Instagram, a photo caught my eye.

Looking past the row of glamorous people in the foreground, I noticed a young man lounging on the sofa behind them, casually absorbed in his phone.

His hand, propped against the sofa, partially obscured his face, but I could still make out his distinctive profile the strong nose bridge and defined brow.

I hesitated, then opened my gallery to compare the photos I had of Alex. The resemblance was uncan

After some deliberation, I messaged Victoria Bennett, a college acquaintance I only interacted with through likes.

"Hi, could I ask who this person is?" I sent her the photo, noticing she'd deliberately blurred that particular section.

Her response came surprisingly quick.

"Why are you asking about him? Trust me, he's not someone you should be curious about."

"No reason,” I replied. “He just looks a bit like my boyfriend."

The similarity was striking. I knew every detail of Alex's face - I could even sketch the exact curve of his frown from memory.

Victoria's messages came flooding in.

“Emma, are you dreaming? Even my husband can barely get a word in with him. How could your boyfriend, making what – three grand a month? - have any connection to someone like that?"

"What, finally coming to your senses? Planning to dump that boyfriend of yours who has nothing going

for him?"

I cut off her snide remarks with a cute thank-you gif. “Just asking. That's all."

Victoria had always been competitive. Ever since freshman year when my makeup-free photo beat hers in the unofficial campus beauty rankings, she'd turned everything into a competition.

Later, she married the heir to a Fortune 500 company, while I devoted myself to my relationship with Alex, a supposedly struggling young professional.noveldrama

That's when she graciously allowed me access to her social media, as if granting me a window into her

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Seven Years of Love Seven Minutes

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superior world.

Switching to Alex's chat, I asked, "Coming home soon?"

My contact, saved as

Alex,” replied quickly.

He sent a photo of his office conference room, followed by a sad kitten emoji.

"Still working overtime. Don't wait up, get some sleep."

“You're working so hard! Love you” I responded with a couple of hugging and kissing emojis before tucking my phone away contentedly.

This made sense.

This was my boyfriend – Emma Walker's Alex – just another working-class guy living paycheck to paycheck. How could he possibly have any connection to Victoria's world of privilege?

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