Chapter 1

I was checking my bank app and spotted a transfer from three years ago in my transaction history.

The recipient was Aaron Wells.

The amount was 15 thousand dollars.

The note was from me. [Last tuition payment. Good luck.]

I stared at that note for a long time.

Back then, I scraped together that money from three different jobs.

Today, his wedding invitation arrived.

The bride was my best friend, Samantha Parker.

She personally mailed the invitation.

I recognized it was from Samantha because there was a smiley face drawn on the back of the envelope.

She'd been doodling that same smiley face ever since college.

She used to draw it on my birthday card.

She'd sketch it on notes stuck to our fridge when we were roommates.

And now, she'd drawn it on the wedding invitation for her marriage to my ex-boyfriend.

[On the 28th of this month, Aaron Wells and Samantha Parker cordially invite you to their wedding.]

I flipped the invitation over.

There was a handwritten note on the back.

[Bailey, you must come. We can't wait to see you.]

I stared at that little squiggle at the end.

My phone buzzed.

It was a message from Samantha.

[Did you get the invitation?]

I didn't reply.

She sent another message.

[Bailey, please don't be upset. You know how unpredictable relationships can be. If you come, I'll make sure you get the best spot.]

I set my phone face down on the table.

Outside, the sky was already dark.

I sat alone in my rented apartment.

It was only 195 square feet.

I'd been living here for four years.

There used to be two of us here.

Aaron and I.

He spent his three years of graduate school living here.

We both slept in the same bed.

With just 195 square feet, there wasn't even space for a desk, so Aaron would end up lying on the bed, studying his research papers.

I'd get up at six to help out at a breakfast joint, rush to the office by eight, and after clocking out at seven, I'd go straight to my evening shift at a coffee shop.

I worked three jobs.

Each month, I managed to pull in four thousand dollars.

My rent was one thousand dollars.

I also paid for his tuition, living expenses, and textbooks.

Whatever was left barely covered my own meals.

"Just wait till I graduate," Aaron used to say. "Things will be better then."

I believed him.

He'd promise, "When I get a job, I'll pay you back twice as much."

I believed that, too.

On his graduation day, I took a half-day off work to be there for his ceremony.

He was dressed in his graduation gown, grinning from ear to ear.

I stood in the crowd, snapping photos.

Samantha was there, too.

Samantha squeezed in, hooked her arm around Aaron's, and said, "Come on, let's take a picture together."

I held up my phone and snapped a picture of them.

Aaron smiled like it was nothing.

Samantha was practically glued to his side.

I didn't give it a second thought at the time.

Thinking back now, they looked like a couple in that photo.

After graduation, Aaron landed a job at an ad agency.

He was making 2,500 dollars a month.

He said, "Let's save up for now."

I agreed.

Three months later, he invited me to dinner.

I thought he was finally going to propose.

But instead, he said, "Bailey, I just don't think we're a good match."

It was raining that day.

I remembered it so clearly because I'd left my umbrella at the coffee shop.

I walked the distance of two subway stops in the rain.

I didn't cry.

I just felt cold.

Two months later, Samantha posted on her social media.

It was a photo of a hand with a ring on it.

The caption read: [Looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you.]

The first comment was from Aaron. [Having you for the rest of my life.]

I tapped on Samantha's profile picture.

She'd changed her profile picture.

It was a photo of her and Aaron together.

At that moment, I had to admit, something inside me just broke.

But I closed her feed.

I didn't call her.

I didn't demand answers.

I didn't make a scene.

It was because deep down, I always thought I just wasn't good enough.

I thought I wasn't worthy of Aaron.

That idea stuck with me, haunting my mind for an entire year.

Until today, when that wedding invitation landed in my hands.

And suddenly, it hit me that something about all this just didn't feel right.

Something just felt off, but I couldn't say exactly what.

But it was like there was a splinter lodged in my chest.

I picked up my phone and started scrolling through my chat history with Samantha.

I started from the latest and scrolled backwards.

I scrolled for a long time.

And then I stumbled across a message.

It was from three years ago.

That was back when Aaron was still in graduate school.

It was from Samantha.

[Bailey, Aaron has been really stressed about his thesis lately. I've been keeping him company at the library while he studies, so you don't need to worry about him.]

My reply back then was: [Thanks, Samantha. He's so busy that he hasn't even texted me back.]

She replied with a smiley face.

It was the exact same smiley face as the one on the back of the wedding invitation.

I stared at the screen.

Three years ago.

Aaron was in graduate school.

I was working my ass off.

And Samantha was keeping him company at the library.

And just like that, I finally understood what that splinter in my chest really was.