Chapter 1 - The Five-Minute Boyfriend
A woman sitting alone at a birthday table whispered: "Could you pretend to be my boyfriend for five minutes?"
When Daniel Cross agreed, he noticed the abandoned birthday cake beside her.
On the napkin underneath it, four words were written: "Another lonely birthday again."
He suddenly realized this wasn't just about a birthday dinner.
I had spent years believing my thirty-fifth birthday would be different.
Not because I expected some huge celebration.
Not because I needed expensive gifts or a room full of people cheering my name.
I just wanted to feel like someone had chosen me.
That evening, I sat alone at a corner table inside one of the most elegant restaurants in the city, staring at a small white birthday cake with five candles burning softly on top.
The waiter had asked twice if someone else was joining me.
Both times, I smiled and said:
"No. It's just me."
The truth was harder to admit.
It wasn't supposed to be just me.
Three months earlier, my marriage had ended.
My ex-husband, Michael, had packed his things, looked me in the eyes, and told me something I never forgot.
"I think we both know this isn't working anymore."
What hurt wasn't that he wanted to leave.
What hurt was how quickly he seemed to move on.
Two weeks after our divorce was finalized, I saw pictures of him online.
He was smiling beside a beautiful blonde woman named Claire.
She wore designer dresses.
She attended expensive events.
She looked like the kind of woman people noticed when she entered a room.
And I started wondering if maybe Michael had been right.
Maybe I had become invisible.
Maybe I had spent years trying to save a marriage that only I was fighting for.
That was why I chose to spend my birthday alone.
I wanted one peaceful evening where nobody looked at me with pity.
But sitting there under the warm restaurant lights, surrounded by couples laughing and celebrating, I felt more alone than ever.
Then I noticed him.
The man at the table beside mine.
He was around my age, wearing a dark navy suit, sitting alone with a glass of wine untouched in front of him.
Unlike everyone else in the restaurant, he wasn't staring at his phone.
He was simply sitting there quietly.
For some reason, that made me laugh.
Maybe because I wasn't the only person spending the night alone.
I don't know what gave me courage.
Maybe it was the wine.
Maybe it was the fact that I had nothing left to lose.
I stood up and walked toward him.
He looked surprised when I stopped beside his table.
"I'm sorry," I said.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
I pointed toward my birthday table.
"This is going to sound strange."
He smiled slightly.
"Strange is usually interesting."
I took a breath.
"Would you pretend to be my boyfriend for five minutes?"
For a second, he just stared at me.
Then he laughed.
Not in a cruel way.
Not like he thought I was ridiculous.
He laughed because he genuinely couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"You want a complete stranger to pretend he's your boyfriend?"
I nodded.
"Just five minutes."
He looked toward my birthday cake.
Then back at me.
"Is this because someone is coming?"
I hesitated.
That hesitation answered everything.
His expression softened.
"Your ex?"
I looked away.
"Maybe."
He stood up.
"I'm Daniel."
I smiled.
"I'm Emily."
Daniel walked with me back to my table.
For the first time that night, I didn't feel like everyone was looking at the woman sitting alone.
I felt like someone had chosen to sit beside me.
We talked quietly.
He asked about my birthday.
I told him I wasn't really celebrating.
He asked why.
I almost lied.
But something about him made honesty easier.
"Because I thought my life would look different by now."
Daniel looked at me carefully.
"Sometimes life looks empty right before it changes."
I smiled.
"You always talk like that?"
"Only when strangers ask me to become their boyfriend."
I laughed.
And I hated how long it had been since someone made me laugh like that.
Then the restaurant doors opened.
I didn't notice at first.
But Daniel did.
His expression changed slightly.
I followed his eyes.
And my smile disappeared.
Michael walked inside.
Holding Claire's hand.
My ex-husband stopped when he saw me.
But he didn't stop because I was alone.
He stopped because I wasn't.
His eyes moved from me to Daniel.
And for the first time since our divorce, Michael looked uncertain.
Claire leaned closer.
"Who is that?"
Michael didn't answer.
Daniel calmly reached across the table and placed his hand over mine.
Not dramatically.
Not pretending.
Just enough.
Michael slowly walked toward us.
"What is this?"
I looked at him.
The old version of me would have explained.
The old version of me would have apologized.
But that woman wasn't sitting at that table anymore.
I smiled.
"Happy birthday to me."
Michael stared at Daniel.
Then he said something that made my entire body freeze.
Because Daniel didn't look surprised.
He looked like he had been waiting for this moment.
Michael lowered his voice.
"Daniel?"
The man beside me looked up.
And the color disappeared from Michael's face.
Because he knew exactly who was sitting beside me.
And I had no idea why.
May you like
Until Daniel reached into his jacket pocket and placed something on the table...
A photograph I had never seen before.
