Now, more than 20 years later, Chloe is a high school guidance counselor in New York City, but life is not what she dreamed it would be as she faces a layoff, rising rent, a situationship, and loneliness. Desperate for encouragement, she gives herself a pep talk via uplifting messages written on yellow origami paper that she folds into roses. When one of the roses accidentally finds its way to a neighbor in need of cheering up, Chloe, feeling a desire to spread kindness and optimism, begins purposely leaving them around town.

Across the city, Oliver has picked himself up from the rough circumstances that forced him to leave everything behind as a teenager—including Chloe. Now a successful financial analyst, Oliver’s past continues to haunt him. But when the city is suddenly inundated with yellow origami roses, a specific one finds its way into his hands and changes his life forever.