He repeated it under his breath the whole time: It was just a prank. As if words could rewind time, erase the grainy CCTV, and stop her walking away. Each repetition felt emptier than the last, until even he stopped believing himself. He knew if something had happened to her, his life as he knew it would be over.
By evening, the internet had turned the story into a storm. Thousands of posts dissected the timeline. One tweet read: “He waited ten hours. No one waits ten hours.” Another: “You don’t joke about abandoning someone.” His inbox was filled with threats and accusations. Strangers called him a monster and a coward.