Chapter 1
The night before my wedding, I stared at the guest tracker for our digital invite, my fingers frigid.
2 a.m. User Jingle had visited 99 times.
The number was still climbing insanely.
I texted my husband: [What's with the heart and jingle on our invite cover?]
He replied instantly: [Silly, it means I love you.]
I stared at the words and suddenly laughed.
My name was not even close to Jingle.
Without replying, I clicked to add the frequent visitor.
I sent it directly: [Girl, you've looked at this a hundred times. Is it the dress you like, or my fiancé?]
*****
She didn't reply, which didn't surprise me.
If that mistress really had the nerve to confront me, she wouldn't be up all night stalking my wedding invite.
I sent my parents a message to let them know the wedding tomorrow morning was off.
Andrew Grant and I had already gotten our marriage license.
But with his side chick showing up right in my face, there was no way I could just act like nothing happened and go through with the ceremony.
Andrew's defense was still up on the screen.
I rubbed my brow, thinking how ridiculous this all was.
We'd been together seven years, from college sweethearts to newlyweds with solid careers.
To everyone else, Andrew and I were the perfect match.
But those suspicious visits from a stranger and the weird cover design were telling me loud and clear that Andrew was definitely hiding something.
The woman's online nickname was Jingle; the Jingle on my invite cover.
Mine was Jingelle.
When I first saw that design, I found it odd.
But Andrew had designed it himself, and I didn't want to rain on his parade.
I took a deep breath.
Is Andrew really that put out by marrying me?
Does he seriously have to show his devotion to another woman right on our wedding invite?
It was 2 a.m., and Andrew said he had to work late to wrap everything up before the wedding.
I opened up a location-tracking app I hadn't used in ages.
Andrew set it up on my phone back when we first got together.
As a civil litigation lawyer, he'd once been seriously attacked in retaliation.
Someone smashed him in the back of the head with a brick, and he ended up in the ICU for ages.
I was always worried something like that might happen again, so Andrew made this app for me.
"Babe, if I ever don't answer my phone and my location doesn't move, come find me, okay?" he'd said.
But after that, he never went out without letting me know, and he'd always send me a video from every dinner meeting.
I never needed to check his location, and honestly, I'd forgotten the app was even there.
Until tonight, my hand was shaking as I tapped Andrew's profile picture.
It showed: [Gray & Associates, office building.]
For a moment, I let out a breath and felt relaxed.
It reassured me so much, because I loved Andrew; no question about that.
But then my phone rang out of nowhere.
Andrew snapped, "You're really going to postpone the wedding over something this petty? Can you grow up for once, Lynn?
"Jingle was my cousin Carol's online nickname. She's family, so what's the big deal if she looks at the invite a bunch of times?
"Sending her that kind of message just embarrasses me!"
Before I could even get a word in, Andrew was already tearing into me.
I didn't bother explaining because I heard there was so much noise in the background.
"Where are you?" I asked.
Andrew seemed caught off guard for a moment, then answered with obvious irritation.
"Just wrapped up the case, grabbing a bite with the team," he said.
"Lynn, I'm with Andrew, starving over here!" one of the guys chimed in.
More good-natured banter rolled in from the other end.
Someone teased Andrew, "Dude, be grateful your wife's checking in on you!"
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen.
Andrew's location was still pinned at Gray & Associates' office building.
That location was a lie.
All those nights, he claimed he was working late and never came home
Did he always know I'd never catch on, even if I checked his location?
My breath grew tight, coming in short, rapid bursts.
Andrew must've noticed something was off; his tone softened a bit.
He said, "Don't be mad, just listen to me, okay? Go tell Mom we're still having the wedding as planned.
"I'll come back and be with you soon, okay?"
I managed to choke out a reply, then hung up.
I left home in the dead of night and stayed over at my best friend's place.
After I finished telling Sophie Miller everything, she looked absolutely stunned.
"They're cousins. And Carol Grant got married like seven or eight years ago." Sophie blurted out.
Seven or eight years?
A thought popped into my head, and a dry laugh slipped out of me.
"Do you remember that long divorce case Andrew was handling?" I asked.