She left to protect her heart. She came back to find it still belonged to him. Riley C. Flores has always been a pessimist. She doesn't believe in happy endings. She doesn't trust love. And after walking away from the only boy she ever loved, she's convinced she made the right choice. Sean Vincent Hernández was her first everything, first friend, first crush, first heartbreak. One night, one misunderstanding was all it took for Riley to leave Bulacan and never look back. Seven years later, a Christmas reunion forces her to return to the place where it all began. The kanto where they met is gone. Her friends have grown up. And Sean is there, different, yet the same. Still watching. Still waiting. As old wounds reopen and buried truths surface, Riley must face the question she's been running from: What if she was wrong? What if the love she threw away was never the problem? What if love finds its way around old wounds... to patch things up as if it was never there? A Pessimist's Guide to Falling in Love is not a story about hope. Riley doesn't know if she believes in that anymore. But it is a story about trying. About moving forward even when you're not sure where you're going. About whether love, once lost, can ever truly be found again.