Chapter 1

The gentle rocking of the train had lulled me to sleep hours ago, but something pulled me from my dreams—an emptiness beside me where Trey should have been. I blinked in the darkness, my hand reaching across the cool sheets of his berth. The digital clock on the wall glowed an eerie 3:07 AM, its red numbers casting a faint crimson hue across our private compartment.

"Trey?" I whispered, though I knew he wasn't there.

Perhaps he couldn't sleep and had gone to the observation car to watch the moonlit landscape pass by. That would be just like him—restless before big events. Our wedding was only two weeks away, and this trip to Colorado was meant to be our last adventure as an engaged couple before becoming husband and wife.

I slipped from beneath the covers, the cool air raising goosebumps along my arms. My silk nightgown—a gift from Trey for this trip—whispered against my skin as I moved. I should probably just go back to sleep, but something tugged at me, an uneasiness I couldn't name.

I grabbed my thin robe and stepped into the narrow corridor, careful not to make noise. The train swayed gently as it curved through what I imagined were mountain passes, the rhythm almost hypnotic. Most of the compartment doors were closed, soft snores and the occasional murmur filtering through.

The observation car was empty—just moonlight streaming through the panoramic windows, illuminating vacant seats. I frowned, a flutter of worry stirring in my chest. Where would he go at this hour?

I continued forward, my bare feet silent on the carpeted floor. My nightgown caught on a door handle, and I carefully untangled the delicate fabric, not wanting to tear it. As I moved through another sleeping car, the flutter in my chest grew heavier.

Then I heard it—a soft laugh. Blair's laugh. My best friend since college, the person who had helped me pick out my wedding dress, who was supposed to be my maid of honor.

I froze, telling myself it was nothing. Blair was probably just having trouble sleeping too. Maybe they'd run into each other and were chatting. That's all.

But my feet carried me forward anyway, toward the private compartment at the end of the car where the sound had come from. The door wasn't fully closed—a sliver of golden light spilled into the dark corridor.

I didn't mean to spy. I just wanted to join them, to be included in whatever midnight conversation had drawn them both from their beds.

What I saw through that narrow opening shattered my world in an instant.

Trey's back was to the door, his bare shoulders unmistakable to me after years together. Blair's arms were wrapped around him, her head tilted back in pleasure, her dress pushed up around her waist. Their bodies moved together in a familiar rhythm that turned my blood to ice.

"We shouldn't," Blair whispered, though her actions contradicted her words completely. "What if she wakes up?"

"She won't," Trey murmured, his voice husky with desire. "She sleeps like the dead. Always has."

The casual cruelty of his words hit me like a physical blow. I pressed my hand against my mouth to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape. My engagement ring caught the light from their compartment, the diamond suddenly seeming gaudy and false.

I backed away silently, my body moving on autopilot while my mind struggled to process what I'd seen. The silk of my nightgown—his gift—suddenly felt like it was strangling me. I wanted to tear it off, to scream, to burst into their compartment and demand answers.

Instead, I retreated to our compartment, my legs trembling so badly I nearly collapsed before reaching the door. Once inside, I slid to the floor, my back against the closed door, and finally allowed myself to feel the full weight of what I'd witnessed.

My fiancé. My best friend. The betrayal was so complete, so perfect in its devastation, that I couldn't even cry. I simply sat there, shaking, as the train continued its relentless journey forward, carrying me toward a future that no longer existed.