Chapter 1

On the eve of our wedding, I stumbled upon Ryan Cooper following an account called Chasing Love Diary.

In its pinned video, he was tenderly ruffling a girl's hair, saying, "All right, you win."

I didn't pretend to be dumb or make a scene. I just held my phone up to him, demanding an explanation.

But he just stared at the screen in silence. It wasn't until my eyes welled up with tears that he snapped out of it and pulled me into a hug.

He explained, "She's had a crush on me since she was 13. I only see her as a little sister, really. It's nothing."

We were each other's first love, together for ten years, from high school sweethearts to our wedding day. Asking me to give up on him now? I couldn't accept it.

We took our documents and headed to the civil registry as planned.

We were one photo away from making our marriage official when his phone rang.

A man said, "Ryan, Lily tried to kill herself when she heard you were getting married today."

The camera shutter clicked, capturing a photo with only me in the frame.

With red-rimmed eyes, I said behind Ryan, "If you leave now, we are over."

I saw Ryan's body go rigid.

Then, another urgent voice came through his phone. His steps quickened, and in the end, he never looked back.

*****

Watching those videos spanning seven years, my eyes brimmed with tears.

All of them were about Ryan.

There were videos of him taking the girl to the supermarket for snacks.

There were times he made time, no matter how busy he was, to watch her compete.

And there were clips of him holding her hand as he taught her to draw.

Most of these looked like they were secretly filmed.

There were even clips where Ryan's face was not shown, but the intimacy between them was so obvious that anyone could feel it.

My hands were shaking so badly I nearly dropped my phone. For a moment, I just wanted to slap Ryan across the face and yell at him to leave.

But then the marriage registration papers sitting on the table yanked me back to reality.

My mind kept flipping between all those little moments from our seven years together and the happy daydreams I had about our life after getting married.

We loved each other so much, and I'd felt so happy with him so many times. Why, of all times, did this have to happen right before our wedding?

I picked up my phone, then set it down again. For a second, I just wanted to pretend I hadn't seen anything.

But in the end, my pride just wouldn't let me pretend nothing happened. I woke Ryan up, shoved my phone in his face, and said, ''Explain this.''

We got together back in high school; we were each other's first love.

We'd been together for seven years, and he was so good to me. I never doubted he loved me.

So I figured maybe I should give him a chance. What if it's really not what I think?

I turned the volume all the way up, and the girl's lively, bubbly voice echoed through the whole bedroom.

Ryan acted like he didn't care at all, as if this was no big deal and he didn't owe me any explanation, even after I'd caught him red-handed.

The silence dragged on, and my heart just kept sinking. In the end, I couldn't hold back anymore, and a fat tear dropped straight onto Ryan's hand.

Maybe my tears finally snapped him out of it, because he suddenly pulled me into his arms.

Ryan said, "She's Ethan Rowan's sister, Lily Rowan. She works for me now.

"I went to Ethan's place during the summer after senior year of high school, and that's when I met her. She was only thirteen, and she said she was going to win me over."

That memory came rushing back; he used to joke about it with me, saying he told her he already had an amazing, gorgeous girlfriend. He'd even laugh and ask if that made him a stand-up guy.

Honestly, back then, I just thought Lily was just a kid in junior high. What did a kid like her know about love anyway?

But I never thought she'd keep at it for so long, keeping a vlog for seven years about chasing after Ryan, and even joining his company after she graduated from college.

Ryan said, "But trust me, I only see her as a kid sister. Nothing more.

"You're the only one I've ever loved. Always."

Ryan's voice was honest, and when he looked at me, his eyes were filled with nothing but love.

After seven years of loving him, I just couldn't let go. So in the end, I forced myself to trust him.

The next day at the marriage registration office, the photographer patiently guided us.

"Come on, let's see those smiles. Once we snap this picture, you two are officially married," the photographer said.

I held Ryan's hand and couldn't help but smile, feeling truly happy.

In that split second, Ryan's phone started ringing just as the photographer clicked the shutter, and when I saw the photo, I was standing there all by myself.