Chapter 1

Jeremy's POV

Tara Diaz's expression shifted from nonchalance to sheer panic as she instinctively hid her phone behind her back.

"Is Madeleine getting married today?" I asked.

Her silence was answer enough.

I didn't even know what emotions were churning inside me. I only heard myself say, "Take me to see her. We were together for ten years, after all."

The pain in my chest was agonizing, as if someone had carved it open. We'd been together for ten years—four years of dating in person and six years of a long-distance relationship.

I'd brought up getting married more times than I could count, but she always used distance or the fact that her promotion prospects were bleak as an excuse to say no.

She once told me, "Jer, I'll only marry you when we can afford a house in Shoreville."

So I'd worked myself to the bone, and finally, I'd saved enough.

I'd come here planning to surprise Madeleine with the news, only to walk straight into this instead.

The whole way up, Tara looked like she wanted to say something but kept stopping herself. It wasn't until we reached the ballroom on the third floor that she, after much debate, finally said, "Maybe… we shouldn't go in."

I pushed open the heavy doors, and the soft swell of romantic music came drifting out.

On either side of the entrance were photos of Madeleine Petty and another man, documenting their relationship from the day they met until the proposal. Every milestone was meticulously framed and displayed.

Mixed among them were photos with friends, and even my childhood best friend, Sid Beale, was in them.

I quickly did the math and realized that their relationship spanned a full five years.

Looking around the ballroom, nearly everyone there was a mutual friend of ours. And even among the groomsmen were my best friend, Sid, and several of my closest buddies.

As it turned out, everyone knew. They knew that Madeleine had never been some low-level office worker, and they knew she was getting married today.

I cross-referenced the timeline in my head.

When Madeleine had been vacationing overseas with Richard Morris, I'd been drinking until I nearly vomited blood at a business dinner trying to close a major deal.

While they were taking grand, lavish wedding photos in Gulenburg, I'd been pulling back-to-back shifts at the company for weeks, working so hard I nearly collapsed.

Yet, no one had told me any of this was happening.

I could almost picture it now. To my face, they pitied me for working so hard, but behind my back, they sneered at how I didn't know my limits.

While I agonized over whether I should spend 20 dollars on a discounted jacket, Richard's wedding suit alone had cost tens of thousands of dollars.

The wedding favors Madeleine casually handed out were each worth over 10,000 dollars, yet she'd always pretended to be broke whenever she was with me.

The more I thought about it, the more unbearable the pain in my heart became.

It wasn't until the bride and groom came down to make their rounds to toast their guests that Madeleine finally noticed me. Her expression finally registered a slight change.

Richard looked at me in confusion. "This is…?"

"A college classmate," Madeleine answered nonchalantly.

I stared at her in disbelief. Yet, her gaze remained firmly fixed on Richard.

Richard smiled and clinked his glass against mine. "Since you're Madeleine's classmate, you've definitely got to have another drink with us. Thank you for coming today."

A bitter laugh escaped me. Ten years together, and Madeleine wouldn't even admit who I really was.

Suddenly, my phone chimed with a text from her.

"I'll explain everything later. Just be good for these next few days."

The next second, a non-disclosure agreement landed in my inbox. The gist of it was that if I ruined her marriage to Richard, I'd be liable for massive financial damages.

And what made my blood run cold was that I'd somehow already signed my name on the document.