Chapter 2

Through the haze, I thought I saw Julian freeze for a second before he disappeared from sight.

I didn't know how I made it home.

I collapsed onto the couch and stared at the apartment I had decorated piece by piece for our life together.

All these years, it felt like I was the only one trying.

After a long while, I pulled an old tin box from the drawer. The lid had started to rust.

Inside was a thick stack of keepsakes—ticket stubs, movie receipts, and Polaroid photos of the two of us. And at the very bottom, nine letters.

They were love letters he had written me. We had promised to open them together on our wedding day.

But I had secretly peeked at every single one, and they all started the same way: [Nevaeh, I love you.]

Every word dripped with sincerity.

Now, all that proof of love felt like a silent joke at my expense.

The front door clicked open.

Julian stood in the entryway, holding Anna's hand.

The moment our eyes met, he instinctively let go.

Julian spoke first. "Anna got a bad scare, and I'm worried those guys might track her down. She's going to stay here for a few days until things settle."

I stared at him in disbelief, and rage burned straight through every rational thought I had left. "This is our home, Julian!

"You're so worried about her being followed, but you didn't think bringing her here puts me at risk, too?

"I'm always the one giving things up. I'm always dead last with you. So tell me, am I supposed to hand you over to her too?"

I looked past Julian, and my eyes landed on Anna.

I pointed at her and snapped, "Anna, if you have any shame left, get out. Now."

Julian's expression turned ice-cold. He grabbed my arm, dragged me back into the room, and pinned me against the wall. His grip was so tight that my wrist went numb with pain.

He said through clenched teeth, "Stop making a scene. She's like a sister to me. You've always been so kindhearted. You'd take in a stray off the street, but you can't make room for a girl as fragile as Anna?"

Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.

Something softened in his eyes, and he reached up to wipe the tears from my face.

He pulled me into his arms, and his voice dropped to a murmur. "Today was my fault. I shouldn't have left you at the bridal shop, and I never should have laid a hand on you."

He added, "But I couldn't stand by and watch someone bully her. You understand that, don't you?"

I shoved him away and looked him dead in the eye. "Do you really see her as nothing more than a sister?"

Julian let go of me and turned his head, his gaze shifting away.

Deep down, even he didn't believe his own words.

I pressed on. "When her toilet broke, you dropped everything to go fix it, even though you're a germaphobe.

"When she got sick, you walked out on our movie night and stayed with her until morning.

"The second anything goes wrong in her life, you lose your mind.

"Do you think I'm blind? Do you think I haven't noticed every single one of these things?"

The dim light cast shadows across his guilty face.

Anna walked in with red-rimmed eyes, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her shirt.

She whispered, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I made you two fight, and I'll go now."

Before either of us could respond, she turned and ran out, crying.

Julian gave me one long look, then walked out the door without hesitation.

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and watched them below, tugging at each other on the sidewalk.

Anna threw herself into Julian's arms and gazed up at him with wide, wounded eyes.

She whispered, "Julian, I made a mistake. I can't live without you. Can we try again?"

Julian swallowed hard, like he was fighting to hold himself back.

He said quietly, "I have a girlfriend, and we're getting married soon."

But Anna refused to give up. She grabbed his collar and pressed her lips to his.

She breathed, "You know you still have feelings for me. Why won't you admit it?"

Julian stood there. He didn't push her away or say a word, but his body told a different story.

Something inside me went completely still.

I turned around, dragged myself to the bed, and collapsed onto the mattress.

I woke in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat from a nightmare.

I had dreamed about what life would look like after marrying Julian.

His lingering feelings, his refusal to let her go, and how it all spiraled into an affair.

In the dream, I had become a bitter, hollowed-out wife, ground down by the daily grind until all I did was scream and fight.

There was nothing left of who I used to be.

Julian didn't come home that night, and I forced myself to stay calm.

My phone buzzed with a notification. Julian had posted something new on Instagram.

[I don't want to lie to myself anymore. I think I'm still in love with her.]

He had blocked me from seeing it.

But what he didn't know was that I had created a second account a long time ago to test whether he actually cared about me, and I had added him from that one.

I stared at the screen and felt my lips twist into a hollow smile.

So what was I to him? A safety net? A lovesick fool who couldn't take a hint?

Whatever love I had left for him seemed to drain out of me all at once.

I looked down and typed a reply to my mom's text.

[I'll be at the wedding next week. Right on time.]