Chapter 1
On the night before my wedding, I stumbled onto my best friend, Sophie Brooks' secret social account.
Inside were ten years' worth of dates with my fiancé—every kiss, every rendezvous, even photos of the two of them tangled up on my bed.
The newest post was from yesterday: [Tomorrow, I get to watch the man I love marry my best friend. How thrilling.]
I shut off my phone, kept my cool, and called the wedding planner. "For tomorrow's ceremony," I said calmly, "we're changing the program. We'll start by playing a video."
*****
I had been with Edward Lawson for ten years, and my best friend, Sophie, was my one and only bridesmaid.
On the night before the wedding, I sat at my vanity, going over the guest list again and again, terrified I'd mess something up.
My phone lit up with a new post from Sophie—a photo of the two of us in our wedding dresses. Her caption read: [My youth, my girl. Be happy tomorrow.]
A whole crowd of mutual friends jumped in to like and congratulate us.
Smiling, I tapped "like," and accidentally brushed over her profile picture, opening her page. The system popped up a "People You May Know" suggestion. The very first profile showed a dim, grey sea as its avatar. The username was: [Sophy.]
On impulse, I clicked in.
It was an account I'd never seen before, and the timeline only showed posts from the last six months.
But the pinned post at the very top ignored that rule—its date went all the way back to ten years ago.
The photo was a bouquet of bright red roses.
I was stunned. It was the first bouquet Edward ever gave me.
The caption underneath was just one short line: [He said the flowers were for Anna, but he was mine.]
I froze.
My hands started shaking so hard I nearly dropped my phone.
No way.
Something had to be wrong.
Sophie was my best friend. We'd known each other since we were toddlers. She watched Edward and me together from school uniforms to wedding gowns. How could she ever...
I forced myself to breathe, to calm down, and kept scrolling with trembling fingers.
The second post was from nine years ago. A movie ticket stub for Titanic 3D Re-release. The caption read: [He watched the premiere with Anna, then stayed for the midnight show with me. He said, "You jump, I jump."]
That day, Edward and I did see the movie together. I remembered that after the credits rolled, he told me something urgent had come up at work. He rushed off after dropping me off at home.
It turned out that his so-called emergency was just going to watch the movie again with Sophie.
The third post was from eight years ago. It was a photo taken in a hospital. Sophie had an IV in one hand, and her other hand was being held tightly by a man. On that hand was the Casio sports watch I'd given Edward for his birthday.
The caption read: [My stomach hurt so much I thought I was dying, but thank goodness you were here. He said I'm never allowed to skip meals to lose weight again. It breaks his heart.]
That day had been my birthday. Edward told me he had to go on a business trip and had a cake and gift delivered, and told me to celebrate on my own.
Sophie also said she had to visit relatives out of town and couldn't keep me company.
It turned out they were together.
On my birthday, he stayed in the hospital, comforting my "sick" best friend.
It felt like a giant invisible fist was crushing my heart. I could barely breathe from the pain.
I didn't dare scroll any farther, but my fingers moved on their own, sliding down like they'd gone mad.
Photo after photo, caption after caption—each one a poisoned blade slicing apart twenty years of trust.
They kissed on the same beach Edward and I once walked together.
They had candlelit dinners in the restaurant where he and I first made things official.
They even took cozy photos in front of the suitcase I packed for Edward's business trip.
Sophie was wearing Edward's shirt. Her caption said: [Anna has great taste. This shirt looks so much better on him than it does on me.]
My stomach flipped over and over. I ran to the bathroom and threw up so hard the world spun. But nothing came out except bitter bile.
The newest post was from just yesterday. In the photo, Edward and Sophie were wearing the groomsman and bridesmaid outfits I had designed myself.
Sophie leaned sweetly against Edward's shoulder, smiling like she'd found heaven.
Edward gazed down at her with a tenderness I had never seen.
The caption read: [Tomorrow, I get to watch the man I love marry my best friend. How thrilling.]
I collapsed onto the icy bathroom tiles, trembling all over. The glow from my phone lit up my pale, almost ghostly face.
Behind that photo was the bedroom I had decorated for my wedding night. They were on the bedspread I'd carefully chosen, dressed in the outfits I'd designed, making a mockery of my trust.
Ten years.
A full ten years.
I had been played for a fool by the man I loved most and the friend I trusted most.