At dinner, my brother sneered, ‘still single, huh? must be lonely being a failure.’ my parents chuckled – so i smiled and said, ‘funny coming from a guy whose rent i’ve paid for 3 years. not anymore, by the way.’

My name’s Derek.

I’m 31 and I work in software development. Nothing glamorous, but I’m good at it.

I live alone. I make a comfortable income, and I’ve been lucky enough to carve out a peaceful little life for myself in the city.

I like quiet mornings, long bike rides, and tinkering with old video game mods on weekends.

I’m single, yes, not by some tragic accident. Not because I’m undatable, as my family sometimes jokes, but because after a particularly messy breakup in my mid-20s, I decided I’d rather be alone than with someone who made me feel small.

Apparently, that mindset never sat right with my parents.

See, in my family, my younger brother Connor is the golden child.

He’s 28. Charming in a greasy car salesman kind of way.

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PART 2
Connor stared at me from across the ballroom.