Chapter 2

Michael noticed something was off with me and treated me with even more care. Every night, he waited until I fell asleep before returning to the guest room.

That lasted until the night before the wedding, when I woke up for some water and saw him sitting on the balcony with his phone to his ear, talking to someone I couldn't identify.

The next morning, after I finished my makeup, he suddenly pulled me into the study, locked the door, took a freshly printed set of divorce papers from a drawer, put a pen in my hand.

He said briefly, "Once a couple of years pass and people stop talking, we'll get divorced."

The word why lodged in my throat until my eyes stung. The sword hanging over my head had finally fallen.

I barely hesitated before signing my name with trembling hands. Michael carefully put the papers away and locked them up.

Looking at my pale face that even makeup couldn't hide, he softened. "You're a good girl. You shouldn't waste your life on me."

My head snapped up, and my eyes met his clear gaze. So he had known all along. Those seven years hadn't been my turmoil alone.

My family moved to Riverdale when I was ten. Michael and I went to the same elementary school, then the same middle school and high school. We were friends for eight years.

It wasn't until I saw someone confess to him at eighteen that I understood my own feelings. On the way home from school, I casually tested the waters.

He tapped my forehead. "What are you thinking? I'm not making a move on a friend." So I swallowed the confession that had almost slipped out and buried it in my heart for seven whole years.

I watched him become better and better, watched more people like him, watched him fall in love, break up, and drift farther away from me. And I kept playing the part of his most thoughtful friend, always there when he needed me.

Except for my best friend, no one ever figured out I was secretly in love with him. But now, he was telling me he'd known all along.

I didn't cry. Seven years had taught me how to hide my feelings naturally. Michael took my hand. "Let's go."

The day after we got married, Michael left on a three-month business trip. Mom and Dad cautiously fished around, worried the rushed wedding had made us unhappy.

I only said, "No. His trip had been scheduled for a long time. The timing just happened to line up."

They finally relaxed, then frowned again. "If you and Michael were together, why didn't you tell us sooner?"

I stuffed an orange slice into my mouth and mumbled, "Well, you never asked." After a full round of questioning, they finally let me leave.

On the way back, I saw a gorgeous sunset. Out of habit, I took out my phone to share it with a friend, then remembered what Michael had told me before leaving: "No matter what, we're married now.

"That's not going to change. If anything comes up, you can tell me."

So I opened our chat and sent him the photo. He replied almost immediately with a picture of the sky where he was.

I was just about to send [So pretty] when I noticed a familiar figure in the lower-left corner of his photo. At that moment, I hated how good my memory was. I recognized the silhouette at a glance. It belonged to Sophie.

She and Michael had dated for less than a year, breaking up and getting back together a few times before ending it for good. Her reason was that their values didn't match.

Michael couldn't accept it and spent the next two years trying to win her back.