Prologue

Prologue - 

Five Years Earlier

I should have known something was wrong the moment Vanessa volunteered to help with the wedding.

My stepsister had never volunteered for anything in her life, not unless there was something in it for her.

Yet somehow, I ignored every warning sign.

The late-night phone calls, the strange excuses to be in every room with him, the moments Jason seemed distracted whenever she walked into a room.

I ignored all of it because I was stupidly happy.

In six days, I was supposed to become Mrs. Natalie Bennett.

I had spent months planning every detail.

Jason and I weren’t perfect, but we’d spent three years building a life together. Or at least I thought we had.

“Nat?”

I looked up from the seating chart spread across the dining table.

My father stood in the doorway, looking sober for once..

“Jason called,” he said. “He said he’s running late.”

I smiled.

“When isn’t he?”

Dad chuckled. “Fair point.”

Neither of us knew that would be the last time I smiled that day.

Three hours later, I found myself standing outside Jason’s apartment.

He wasn’t answering his phone, and normally I would’ve ignored it.

But we had a meeting with the caterer in less than an hour and I needed his approval on the final menu.

I used the spare key he’d given me years ago.

“Jason?”

No answer.

I stepped inside.

My stomach tightened. 

A woman’s heels sat beside the couch. What scared me most was that I recognized those very expensive, red heels. 

“No.” I whispered to myself. 

My heart immediately started racing.

No. Not her. Not Vanessa.

I slowly walked deeper into the apartment, afraid of what I would find.

Then I heard it.

Laughter, mixed with moans coming from the bedroom.

I slowly reached for the knob, already feeling tears run down my cheek. 

I opened the door and saw two surprised, yet unremorseful faces. 

My fiancé and my stepsister.

For a moment, nobody moved or spoke.

The entire world stopped for me. I slowly placed my hands over my mouth, desperately trying to catch my breath.

Then Vanessa smiled, as if she’d been waiting for this moment all her life. 

As if I was the fool who had finally arrived to collect the punchline.

“Natalie—”

Jason sat up immediately.

I couldn’t hear the rest. My ears were ringing.

I looked at Jason, then at Vanessa. Then back at Jason.

And suddenly everything made sense.

Every excuse, every cancelled plan, every suspicious glance, every single lie made sense now.

“How long?”

My voice sounded strangely calm. I wiped my eyes and stepped closer. 

Jason froze.

“Natalie, please—”

“Oh please!” Vanessa cut in. “What are you begging her for?” 

I ignored her, even if every bone in me wanted to pounce on her and rip her selfish self to shreds. 

“How long?” I repeated. 

Vanessa crossed her arms. “A year.”

The answer shattered whatever remained of my heart. A whole year? And she had been helping me plan my wedding with a smile. 

While helping me choose wedding decorations, while standing beside me during dress fittings, while pretending to be my sister…she was having an affair with him. 

I laughed.

Jason climbed off the bed.

“Natalie, listen to me.”

“No.”

I stepped backward.

My entire body felt numb.

“You don’t have to explain.”

“It isn’t what you think.”

That almost made me laugh again. Because it was exactly what I thought. I could see it with my own eyes.

I didn’t even know which hurt more between both of them. I had been with him for three years and I had been with Vanessa all my life. She was selfish, there were times were she was pure evil but I would’ve never guessed she was capable of this. 

I turned and walked away.

Neither of them called after me. I even stood outside the door expecting Jason to run out to give some kind of explanation but he didn’t. And I knew Vanessa wasn’t the one telling him to. He didn’t want to beg and I knew it.

With tears falling from my face, I ran out to my car and sped off. I wasn’t even sure where to go but I just drove. 

By the end of that week, the wedding was cancelled, and by the end of that month, I had cut off almost everyone. They all knew what was happening but stayed quiet. My dad was a weak drunk who rarely treated me like his daughter. My mother had been in and out of my life since I was a kid but somehow she still knew about them and supported them. 

I moved in with Mia after that. She was my only friend. 

I slept on the couch, even if she practically begged me to sleep in the bedroom. I lost all will to do anything. I took a break from work, I was eating breakfast by 10PM and rarely taking a shower. I was miserable. 

And during it all, Mia was the only one who was there. 

Until I decided I was done being sad. I picked myself up that night, got ready and went to the club. 

Ther

e, I met a man who kept staring at me. Or at least that was what my intoxicated self chose to see. 

I made my move on him. 

I wish I didn’t.