Chapter 1

On our wedding day, Nicholas Godfrey promised he would love me forever.

But less than three years later, a younger woman started showing up by his side.

He brought her into our circle, letting his buddies think she was his love.

With the same lips that had kissed me a thousand times, he whispered to her the same sweet words he once told me.

I didn't cry or scream. I simply went to the hospital, alone, and ended the pregnancy.

Then I mailed him the divorce papers—along with the abortion report.

I heard that on the day he got the package, Nicholas—always so calm and composed—completely lost it with regret.

*****

The day I found out I was pregnant, I stood outside the OB-GYN's office, clutching the test results, and called Nicholas.

The phone rang for ages before someone finally picked up.

I parted my lips, about to speak, when a woman's unfamiliar voice came through the phone. "Hi, Nicholas is in the shower right now, so he can't come to the phone. Is there something I can help you with?"

Her voice was soft and sugary, carrying that unique innocence and harmlessness only the young have.

But her words made my heart drop, and in that instant, all my defenses crumbled.

I hung up the phone in a panic, terrified that if I waited even a second longer, I'd burst into tears right then and there.

So it was true. All those rumors going around in our circle—they were real.

He really had fallen for someone else.

Nicholas and I had been together for ten years, married for three.

Thinking back to our wedding day, Nicholas stood there in a designer suit, holding my favorite white roses, promising he'd love me and only me, forever.

I could still hear his words now.

But now, he was not the same man anymore.

*****

I didn't even remember how I got home.

When I finally snapped back to reality, I was sitting on the couch in the living room.

I hadn't eaten anything, just curled up on the couch, clutching the test results, waiting for Nicholas.

But I waited and waited, and he never came home.

It wasn't until late at night that he finally called me.

He sounded drunk, his voice all soft and cutesy on the other end. "Babe, did you call me earlier? What's up?

"I miss you so much, babe. Why haven't you come to pick me up yet?"

Babe. It had been so long since he last called me that.

My nose tingled, and I almost blurted out that I was pregnant.

But the next second, I heard his buddies joking around in the background.

"Yo, who's Nicholas calling 'babe' over there? Is it Cynthia?"

"Cindy, you better come get your Nicholas. He's been saying he's dying to see you since just now."

"He can't even go a minute without you these days."

So that was it. He had meant to call that woman, Cynthia.

He called her "babe."

His friends called her by her nickname.

He'd already brought Cynthia into our circle.

I was the only fool who refused to believe it.

Suddenly, my heart hurt so much it felt like something inside me was breaking apart, like a part of me was dying.

I stared at the phone in my hand—at some point, the call had ended—and I dug my nails deep into my palm, holding on as if that was the only thing keeping me together.

I didn't snap out of it until I felt my nails pierce my skin, warm blood seeping out.

I glanced out the window at the waning moon and let out a silent, bitter laugh.

Then I ripped the pregnancy report on the table to shreds.

*****

I'd already heard the gossip—Nicholas was totally bewitched by some recently graduated intern.

Back then, we were in the middle of a pretty intense cold war.

We'd only been married for less than two years, but for some reason, Nicholas suddenly started getting annoyed with me.

He said I'd lost myself after we got married, just orbiting around him all day.

But he was the one who said his stomach was acting up and asked me to quit my job and stay home just to take care of him.

So I went out and got a job.

But then, at a business dinner, he saw me there socializing with the general manager, and he lost it in front of everyone.

He yelled that I was supposed to be a proper wife, not out working and making him lose face.

I was so hurt. I just couldn't understand why he was so angry.

Wasn't it because he complained I lost myself being a housewife that I went out and got a job in the first place?

So why was that still not okay?

Thinking about it now, he must have already stopped loving me back then.

No matter what I did, it was always wrong in his eyes.

Nicholas and I had a huge fight, and after that, we just fell into this strange, unspoken cold war.

He stopped trying to comfort me, and I stopped giving in to him.

That was when Cynthia entered the picture.

She was pure and adorable, radiant and lively—just like the younger me.

Word got around fast in our circle—nothing really stayed a secret for long.

Some people, out of concern, would quietly tell me that Nicholas had a young secretary by his side who looked almost exactly like I did.

But then they'd reassure me, saying Nicholas probably just saw her as a replacement for me, that he was only after something new and messing around for a bit. They said it was just a phase, and he'd get over it soon enough.

But even with all their reassurances, I didn't want to face the truth. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the man who once loved me so deeply could really fall for someone else.

Even after all the breakups and makeups, all the arguments and drama, it never crossed my mind that he'd actually cheat on me.

So it wasn't until last night that I finally learned her name—Cynthia Levine.