Chapter 1

William Stone and I were at City Hall, ready to get our marriage license, when his phone rang.

He left me with just a few words. "Something urgent came up. Let's do this another day," he said.

Then, he hurried out, leaving me alone among all the couples waiting to get married.

It was all because his beloved childhood friend, Emily Lawson, had taken a tumble down the stairs and twisted her ankle.

A little while later, William texted me again: [Emily's injury is serious. I need to stay with her. Can we change the time of tomorrow's wedding?]

I had lost count of how many times he had chosen Emily over me.

But this time, I didn't get jealous or sulk and then give in like I used to.

The clerk gave me a sympathetic look and asked, "Miss, do you still want to go through with it?"

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to the man who owed me a promise.

"Yes," I replied.

*****

I sat on a bench in the lobby, staring at the reply on my phone.

It read: [Wait for me. I'll be there in twenty minutes.]

I was lost in thought when my mother, Lily Nolan, called.

"Rachel, you and William got your marriage license, right? Come to the Oceanview Hotel. Our families are having dinner together," Lily said.

I was surprisingly calm when I heard Lily's words.

"Mom, we didn't get the license. Emily twisted her ankle, so William went to the hospital with her," I replied.

I wasn't even sad anymore. After so many times, I'd grown numb to it.

Lily totally lost it.

She'd been a powerhouse in the business world for years, and it had been ages since anyone had seen her blow up like this.

Lily snapped, "Change the time? Just because he says so? We invited all these important family friends. Are we supposed to let him mess around like this? If word goes out, does he care what this does to you?"

She suddenly paused for a moment.

And then she thought about all the years I had hung on and kept compromising.

She let out a sigh.

"Rachel, what do you think? I'll respect whatever you decide," Lily said.

After hearing Lily say that, I couldn't hold it together anymore.

I hung up the phone.

Over the years, I had made a fool of myself for William more times than I could count, letting go of my own standards to keep him happy.

We met back in college, got to know each other, fell in love, and shared an amazing college life.

After graduation, with both families living in the same city, we started talking about getting engaged. Everything seemed perfect.

For a while, I thought I was the luckiest girl alive.

That was until Emily showed up.

One day after our engagement, right after we met up for our movie date, William's phone rang, and he had to rush off.

From then on, getting called away by a phone call became his new normal.

He tried to explain.

His childhood friend Emily had returned to the country, and he needed to go pick her up.

Her family went bankrupt.

Her parents died in a car accident, leaving her all alone in the world. It was heartbreaking.

Back when her parents were still around, they treated William well.

Her name was Emily.

From that day on, William kept getting called away, and the time we spent together kept getting shorter and shorter.

William was into Lego, so I spent a fortune on a limited-edition set and spent weeks building it piece by piece, so I could eagerly give it to him. Seeing his smile made all my effort feel worth it.

It turned out that whatever William was into, Emily was into as well.

Emily flashed him a sweet smile and begged for it. William hesitated, but in the end, he still handed it over.

I found out later, and it hurt so much that I ended up crying alone.

Next time we saw each other, William tried to explain himself.

"She's a friend. I couldn't turn her down. Don't read too much into it, okay? I swear, I don't have any feelings for her. Next time, I'll build one for you," William said.

And just like that, his words managed to calm me down.

William was the kind of guy who always went out of his way to take care of everyone around him.

About six months after our engagement, we went hiking with some friends, and Emily was unexpectedly there too, standing out among the group.

It wasn't the first time I had met her, but this was the first time I could see right through Emily's intentions.

Halfway up the mountain, Emily and I were lagging behind a bit when Emily suddenly bumped into me, pretending it was a coincidence.

We tumbled off the trail and rolled down the mountainside.

My arm was killing me. I couldn't even lift it. I turned to Emily, my eyes full of confusion and anger.

But instead, Emily leaned so close that her lips were almost at my ear.

"Rachel, if I told William you were the one who bumped into me, who do you think he'd side with, you or me?" Emily whispered.

When William and a few friends heard the commotion and rushed over, I saw Emily, her eyes brimming with tears, looking heartbreakingly pitiful as she sobbed quietly.

"Maybe Rachel was tired from hiking and lost her footing, so she accidentally bumped into me," Emily said.

After she finished, she gave me a timid, almost apologetic glance.

I wanted to explain, but when I looked up at William, I felt paralyzed, unable to say a word.

He didn't believe me.

William scooped Emily up in his arms and gave me a cold, superior look.

"Rachel, don't make a scene," he said.

Of course, just because I'd argued with him about Emily a couple of times before, now whenever something went wrong, it was always on me.

I was being unreasonable?

I never imagined I'd end up living out this lame trope myself.

That day, I just stood there, watching as William carried Emily away, their figures fading into the distance.

My friends looked lost, and everyone started chiming in at once, trying to comfort me.

"Rachel, we know you're not like that," one of them said.

"Yeah, don't let it get to you," another chimed in.

"William was just worried about Emily. Her hand was all scraped up and bleeding," someone else added.

I just shook my head.

"It's fine. You guys go ahead and keep climbing. I'm heading down," I said.

I was supposed to have a friend go down with me.

But I turned her down. I didn't want to kill the mood for everyone else.

No one realized my arm was dislocated, mangled, and bleeding. I bit back the pain and forced myself down the mountain alone.

I called for an ambulance myself.

While I waited, my strength gave out, and I blacked out.

Right before everything went dark, I caught a panicked voice calling out, "Rachel! Rachel!"