At My Ex’s Funeral, She Put Me on Trending

New York. Live on the Grammys broadcast.
Ethan Blake has just lifted the trophy when a legal notice suddenly flashes across the big screen:

“Pursuant to the will of Madeline Carter, the following is the final video she left for you.”

The entire internet thinks it’s a stunt.
Then—one second later—
On camera, Madeline appears with her hair buzzed short, a wig cap on, smiling like nothing’s wrong.
“Hi, Ethan. You’re probably on top of the world right now. So let me give you the truth back.”

And then she hits play.

Part One: The Night We Broke Up
She said, “I don’t love you anymore,” and walked away without looking back.
But the hallway security audio caught her coughing until she collapsed to her knees—
a diagnosis report clenched in her hand: terminal cancer.

Part Two: Your Breakout Anthem
The song the whole world worshipped—
its copyright registration date? One week before we split.
And the cloud account holding the original drafts logged in from one place: Madeline’s apartment.

Part Three: The Anonymous Seven-Figure Transfers
For years, Ethan’s received “mysterious funding,” wired like clockwork every month.
The sender’s name is just a single letter: M.
Except “M” died three months ago.

Part Four: The Goddess Lily Hart
She isn’t his girlfriend—she’s his “partner,” written into a contract.
The evidence Madeline left points to the same entertainment company:
they built you into a star, bought her life away, and silenced her for good.
The livestream detonates. The trending chart explodes. Sponsors drop him like an avalanche.
Ethan’s manager rushes the stage to kill the feed—too late.

Because the entire world has already heard the line Ethan feared most:

“You think I betrayed you? No. I dragged you out of hell and pushed you back into the light.”
“Now it’s your turn to go to hell.”

Chapter 1

I broke up with my boyfriend in the year he was the poorest he’d ever been.

A year later, he’d made it, and he married a sweeter, prettier, more bubbly girl than me.

On a TV show, the host asked him if he had any regrets, after sweeping the biggest awards so young.

He wrapped an arm around Lily Hart’s waist and said, “I just want to know how she’s doing, after she left me.”

The host paused, then said, “She’s doing… not well.”

For the first time that night, Ethan Blake smiled.

“Good,” he said. “That’s a relief.”

Then the host added, “But Ms. Carter left behind a box of videotapes before she died.”

Ethan’s smile froze.

The tapes were my days and nights, from the moment I walked away from him to the moment I stopped breathing.

“Before she died,” Ethan repeated.

The hand on Lily’s waist stilled.

Then he gave a dismissive little laugh.

“This your show’s big twist,” he asked, “some kind of stunt”

The host shook his head.

Behind them, the giant screen lit up with my face.

“Hey, everyone. I’m Madeline Carter. Today, I got dumped, by me.”

“Huh, you’re asking if I feel bad for kicking a gorgeous, promising, golden retriever of a boyfriend to the curb”

Onscreen, a girl with a freshly shaved head stood in front of a mirror, holding up wigs and trying to choose.

She glanced at the camera and grinned.

“Not really. It’d be way worse if he saw me like this. Seriously, can you imagine”

“Hey, why are you shaking. The shot’s all over the place.”

I reached out and steadied Tessa Palmer’s trembling hand.

Tess swallowed hard.

“I don’t want to film this,” she said, voice breaking. “I’m going to cry. I can’t do it.”

“Nope,” I said. “You promised me.”

“I need you to record every single day of my life until I’m gone.”

Tess’s words came out ragged.

“Can’t I change my mind”

“No.”

I pushed out my lower lip, half pouting.

“My grand finale deserves the best. I’m not handing it to anyone else.”

She was still crying, so I tugged lightly on her sleeve.

“Come on, Tess,” I said softly. “You’re all I’ve got in this world.”

Her sobs got worse.

“Okay,” she choked out. “Okay. I’ll film. Just… I’ll film.”

[Goodbye to the World, April 17, 2023, 9:34 a.m., Take What You Want]

Years later, I went back to the old house back home.

Tess walked behind me with her phone raised, filming.

I held Buddy’s leash and followed a narrow dirt path between fields.

A laugh drifted down from the raised edge of the field.

“So that’s why Ethan’s post had a song on it,” someone teased. “You took Buddy with you.”

I turned around.

“What song,” I asked. “I blocked him the day we broke up.”

“Ed Sheeran,” Tess said. “Take What You Want.”

We looked at each other, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I started to sing, badly and on purpose.

“Take what you want,” I said.
“I’ll carry what’s left.”
“Keep our dog,” I said.
“Even if it doesn’t fix a thing.”

Tess laughed through tears.

“He wants nothing but the dog,” she said, shaking her head. “And you wanted nothing at all, except the dog. Oh my God.”

Our laughter echoed out toward the horizon.

Then, little by little, it mixed with crying.

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