Are Tears Lighter Than Snowflakes?

By the time I rushed back to the Marblecrest Hotel, Isaac Bancroft was holding Serena Calloway's hand and reciting his vows.

"From the day I met you, every road in the rest of my life has led back to you."

My breath caught.

I had written those words myself.

I spent three nights revising them because I wanted seven years of love to fit inside a single sentence.

Only last night, Isaac had held me and promised those words would be spoken to me at our wedding and no one else.

Now he hadn't changed even one word.

He was giving every syllable to Serena.

The applause died the instant the guests saw me.

Isaac released Serena's hand and instinctively started toward me.

"Rachel, go back to the hospital for now.

"When the ceremony is over, I'll explain everything."

I lost control and rushed forward.

"Explain it now!

"Why is she wearing my wedding dress, my ring, and standing beside the man who was supposed to marry me?"

Isaac stepped in front of Serena, impatience flashing in his eyes.

"Because this wedding was planned for Serena from the beginning."

One sentence was enough to freeze me where I stood.

I had spent an entire year preparing for this wedding.

But Isaac was telling me something else.

This wedding had never belonged to me.

He looked toward the diamond veil resting over Serena's hair and spoke calmly.

"Serena chose that veil a long time ago.

"She was abroad and couldn't come back for fittings, so I had you confirm the size for her."

I stared at him.

"And the dress?"

"Hers too.

"The original pattern was drafted to Serena's measurements."

The cold went all the way through me.

No wonder Isaac had refused to alter the waistline and insisted that I lose weight to fit the dress instead.

For six months, I barely ate dinner properly so I could squeeze into it.

Only now did I understand that I had never been the intended bride.

Serena linked her arm through Isaac's and looked at me with pity.

"Rachel, don't blame Isaac. I'm the one who asked him to pursue you.

"I had to go overseas for treatment back then, and there was a chance I wouldn't come home.

"Your ex had just dumped you, and you weren't sleeping."

Compassion appeared in her eyes at exactly the right moment.

"I couldn't stand watching you suffer, so I asked Isaac to take care of you for a while.

"I made the breakfast menus he brought to your apartment.

"I picked the restaurant for your first date.

"Even the words he used when he confessed his feelings were taught to him line by line by me."

My throat felt sealed shut.

Isaac had pursued me for ninety-nine days.

I once recorded every tiny thing he did during those ninety-nine days in a journal.

Those details had made me fall for him again and again.

Apparently none of them had ever belonged to me.

Phoebe Langdon came over holding up the skirt of her bridesmaid dress.

"Rachel, hiding this from you was wrong.

"But Serena has suffered far more than you have.

"She watched the person she loved stay with you for seven years and never once tried to break you apart.

"She's already been generous enough. Don't keep pushing her."

I looked at the woman who had called herself my best friend for more than a decade.

"So you knew too?"

Phoebe nodded.

"We were afraid you couldn't handle it.

"You can be extreme when you're hurt. If you learned that Isaac truly loved Serena, none of us knew what you might do."

Every person in the room stood on Serena's side.

They all looked at me with the same guarded expression.

As though I were not the person who had been deceived for seven years.

As though I were the unstable woman who might destroy my sister's happiness at any second.

My phone buzzed inside my purse.

It was Diane Whitaker, the director of the overseas design project that had offered me a position three months earlier.

[Rachel, the permanent-placement deadline closes tonight.]

[We are still holding the last seat on the flight for you.]