Chapter 2

When Georgia found out Ethan and Charlotte had already been married, she decided to host an anniversary family dinner for them before my wedding.

She also wanted an anniversary video made, documenting their seven years together. I was still the one in charge of this. After all, all the family memories from the past seven years were stored in my albums.

Ethan pushed the laptop toward me. "Change the opening video for the wedding. Swap it out for the anniversary video. Use the one of Charlotte and my anniversary instead."

I opened the photo album. It was packed with photos and videos of Ethan and me.

The pictures included ones taken on our first date, when Ethan was waiting for me outside the movie theater, and all those late nights we spent together in the office when his startup was struggling.

Also, on the day he landed his first investment, he was spinning me around in excitement. There was also the video of him kneeling on the beach, asking me to marry him.

At that moment, he gripped my hand tightly, his eyes unwavering. He promised, "Olivia, you're the only one I'll ever marry. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

Charlotte watched from the side, her eyes reddening with tears. She said, "I'm not going to take her wedding from her.

"But I can't sit at my own anniversary dinner and watch my husband propose to someone else." She sounded genuinely upset.

Ethan didn't delete the anniversary video but personally went in and changed everything. He erased every trace of me from the footage.

The clips of me supporting him during his startup were edited so it looked like Charlotte had always been the one by his side.

Those late-night shots of me sorting his files got replaced with Charlotte, as if she was the one helping him through his rough patches.

Even the vows and speech I wrote for our wedding were lifted straight into their anniversary video, word for word.

I reached out and covered his hand to top him. "You can't use these words. They were meant for you and were written for you."

Ethan frowned. "Words about love are all pretty much the same. You don't need to draw such clear lines. Charlotte's my wife, too. What's the harm in her using a few vows?"

I watched as he edited me out of every memory, erasing my presence from every single moment. Suddenly, seven years felt like nothing at all.

For him, it only took a few hours to rewrite everything we'd been through.

On the day of the anniversary dinner, the big screen slowly lit up.

Guests watched the seven years of footage I'd shot, and everyone couldn't stop talking about it.

"Charlotte and Ethan are so sweet together."

"They've been by each other's side since they were young."

"Seven years and still, they are so in love. That's so rare."

I stood by the soundboard, keeping quiet and letting everyone believe what they wanted. Deep down, I knew every frame on that screen was once my life and memories.

But now, Charlotte was the one everyone saw in those videos, the one who'd spent seven years by Ethan's side.

At the end of the video, Charlotte stood in front of the screen and read out the vows I'd once written. "Thank you for being with me through these seven years.

"And for every year to come, I still want to be right by your side."

Ethan knew exactly whose words those were. But he still held her hand. Ethan said, "Thank you, Charlotte. From now on, I'll stay by your side every year."

Someone noticed me standing alone by the soundboard. He asked, "Who's that?"

Ethan answered on my behalf, "She's the one who always takes our family photos. She's also a longtime friend of mine and Charlotte's."

We were in love for seven years. With a single line, Ethan made me another old friend.

The screen finally froze on the title of the anniversary video: [Ethan Rowe & Charlotte Lane: Seven Years Together, One Year Married]

They didn't take my footage. They used the seven years I'd documented to make it look like Charlotte was the one by Ethan's side the whole time.