Chapter 1

I'd been in love with Daniel for six years.

However, the day before our engagement party, I discovered that he had used his food delivery app to send meals to the same woman, every single day, for the past ten years.

I quietly had my assistant, Lily, book me a flight out of town for the next day, then just sat back and watched Daniel put on his show.

On the day of our engagement party, I disappeared, and Daniel went crazy looking for me.

*****

Daniel Foster went to a shower, and then his phone kept ringing.

I picked it up and answered.

"Mr. Foster? Your delivery is here," the voice on the other end said.

"Just leave it at the door," I replied.

After ending the video doorbell call, I opened Daniel's food delivery app without even thinking, curious about what he'd ordered.

It was a bowl of soothing risotto and a couple of side dishes, and in the note, it read: [Risotto is good for your stomach. Take care of yourself.]

Suddenly, I flustered, like I had just caught a glimpse of some looming disaster.

I tapped on the order details and saw that he ordered food for someone in a city thousands of miles away.

I forced myself to stay calm as I flipped through Daniel's food order history.

He'd taken care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner for someone else every single day.

No matter which order I clicked on, each had a thoughtful note attached.

For a moment, I was totally dazed.

Daniel and I had been together for six years. Had he ever treated me with even half this care?

Whenever I skipped meals because of work and ended up with stomach cramps, Daniel would barely glance at me, give a slight frown, and say, "Drink some water."

That was it. I'd honestly thought his tiny bit of concern was something special.

I sat there stiffly on the bed, staring at Daniel's phone in my hand as its screen went dark.

Later, Daniel stepped out of the bathroom with water streaming down his hair, and his gaze immediately locked onto his phone.

"Emily, who said you could look at my phone?" Daniel demanded.

My eyes flickered away, and I asked tentatively, "Um, the delivery guy called. He said you placed an order. Are you hungry or something?"

Daniel wiped the drops off his face. "No. Must've been a mistake," he said, sounding impatient.

The room went quiet. Daniel picked up his phone and scrolled for a bit. Then he suddenly chuckled to himself at something.

I kept my eyes glued to him, catching every tiny reaction he made.

He was so happy.

But my heart just kept sinking.

Finally, Daniel noticed me staring. For a split second, he looked flurried, but then he shrugged it off and said casually, "Chad and others invited me to the pool hall. You wanna come?"

He'd asked me before, but I'd always turned him down because of work.

This time, I just kept my eyes on the laptop, and after a long moment, I let out a dry chuckle. "Sure. But let's not stay out too late. We've got to get our marriage license tomorrow."

Daniel glanced at me and said half-heartedly, "Alright, got it."

*****

We walked into the underground parking garage, one after the other, like total strangers.

I watched Daniel's back, and for the first time, it hit me that we weren't as close as I'd thought. After all this time together, we'd never even held hands.

Every time I tried to reach for his hand, Daniel would pull away, saying he couldn't stand sweaty palms.

But then, his Twitter profile had this photo of two hands intertwined as the background.

Almost without thinking, I reached out for his hand.

Daniel halted and turned, towering over me. "Emily, I've told you that I really can't stand holding hands. Sweaty palms just gross me out."

I nodded silently.

The pool hall wasn't far from home. It was less than a ten-minute drive.

When Daniel pushed open the door, his friends burst out with way more excited cheers than usual.

"Daniel, look who's here!" one of them shouted.

"You won't believe this. It's gonna drop your jaw!" another added.

Whether Daniel's jaw actually dropped or not, I couldn't care less, but when I showed up, his friends looked like they'd seen a ghost.

Standing in the doorway, I scanned the crowd and met the gaze of a woman clutching a pool cue.

On instinct, I grabbed Daniel's arm, but he shoved me off fast.

Without a second thought, Daniel jogged straight over and stood face-to-face with her. "Anna, you're back!"