The line went dead as Marvin hung up without giving Christina the chance to say another word.

She sat there, the phone still pressed to her ear, her mind utterly blank. Marvin's parting words echoed through her skull like a relentless drumbeat.

"Christina, by giving him up, you didn't just lose a relationship—you lost everything."

"No," she whispered to herself, gripping the phone tighter. "No, my judgment wasn't wrong. Andrew was lazy. He had no ambition. We didn't match anymore—I made th