Wendy’s tone dripped with envy. “Hope, I never realized you were such a social butterfly back in school. You just got here and already hooked up with some elite guy.”

Beside her, Anderson Moore’s eyes hadn’t left Hope since she arrived. He had always thought she was pretty, but her beauty back then was different—dull, bland, only skin-deep. There was nothing to truly catch the eye.

Now, Hope seemed to glow from head to toe, radiant and striking.

He had thought the internet filters and beauty apps made her look dazzling. Seeing her in person proved that reality surpassed the screen.

And the woman he had once overlooked? She wouldn’t...