Vivian's POV
The profile runs on a Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning I am, for the first time in six months, actually winning.
The headlines are different this time. Not gold digger, not snubbed again, not any of the cruel shorthand that's followed me since graduation. *Vivian Ashford opens up about survival, love, and starting over.* I read the words three times, waiting for the catch, the twist of the knife hidden somewhere in the syntax. It doesn't come. The comments underneath are kind in a way that makes me cry in my bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub in yesterday's silk robe, phone clutched too tight, scrolling through strangers telling me they're proud of me, that they see me now, that they were wrong before. My mascara runs in twin tracks down my cheeks and I don't even bot
