Chapter 2

"Everyone's throwing us a party tonight. You should come."

Fiona laid a white dress on my bed.

I looked up from the boxes I was unpacking in the spare room.

"Celebrating what?"

She touched the ring on her finger.

"Our wedding. It may be fake, but everyone insisted on celebrating. You're my best friend. If you don't come, people will think it's strange."

I had seen that ring before.

Three months earlier, Julian had asked if I wanted a round or square diamond.

I chose round.

But he came home with a square-cut stone, claiming the sales associate had made a mistake and promising to exchange it before he proposed.

Now it fit Fiona's finger perfectly.

Just like the white slippers, maybe the ring had never been meant for me.

I pushed the dress back toward her.

"I'm not going."

Julian appeared in the doorway.

"Everyone there has known us for years. What are you hiding from?"

I looked up at him.

"How do you plan to introduce me? As your girlfriend? Or as your wife's best friend?"

His fingers froze over his cuff link.

"The way we always have."

I laughed.

For years, people had joked that Julian and Fiona belonged together. I was always the third wheel stuck between them.

Julian never corrected them.

Whenever anyone asked about the boyfriend I kept claiming to have, Julian simply looked down at his phone.

So I knew exactly what "the way we always have" meant: pretending we'd never been together.

I closed my eyes and reached for the last excuse that might save me some dignity.

"I'm not feeling well."

Julian lowered his voice. "Chloe, don't ruin tonight."

Fiona tugged at his sleeve.

"If she doesn't want to go, let it go. We shouldn't force her."

Julian looked at me like he was the only reasonable person in the room.

"She has to come. USCIS may ask our friends about us during the interview. If they find out you and I were together, the officer may suspect that I married Fiona just to get her a green card."

My hand tightened around the hanger.

"You want me to tell them we were never together?"

His tone remained firm.

"We only need to keep our story straight."

I scoffed.

"Can we erase our four years together too?"

Impatience flickered across his face.

"I'm not asking you to deny those four years. I'm only asking you to say we've always been friends."

Just friends. Friends who shared a bed and built a life together. Friends who kissed and held each other.

Friends who met each other's parents and promised each other a future.

I could not say it.

Even then, part of me was still waiting for him to take it back.

He did not.

After Julian went to change in the main bedroom, I pulled our lease from the bottom of a box.

Only my name appeared under "Tenant."

I photographed the lease and payment records, logged into our joint account, and exported nearly four years of transactions to a new folder.

Every monthly transfer from Julian was labeled "utilities and living expenses."

I encrypted the folder and shut the laptop.

By the time I reached the party, everyone else had arrived.

Fiona sat beside Julian with the ring on her finger and two matching red mugs in front of them.

Someone called out, "Julian, you and Fiona hid this well. We used to tease you about being a couple, and neither of you ever admitted it."

Fiona's cheeks flushed.

"Don't be ridiculous. We only decided to be together recently."

She glanced at me and paused before continuing.

"If Julian hadn't been in such a hurry to propose, I never would've married him this soon."

Julian added,

"I couldn't wait to make Fiona my wife."

My fingertips brushed against my glass. It was ice-cold.

I quickly pulled my hand away.

One of our friends laughed and asked,

"Chloe, you're with them every day. You honestly never noticed?"

Julian looked at me too.

His gaze was calm, but the warning in it was unmistakable.

I finally understood what he meant by keeping the story straight.

This wasn't just something I had to hide for a month.

He wanted me to erase our relationship with my own words.

Fiona touched my arm lightly.

"Chloe, they're asking you."

I raised my head.

"I did notice."

Julian went rigid.

I looked around at all the curious faces and continued. "Every time a stranger got it wrong, neither of them corrected it. Of course I noticed."

The table went quiet.

"Then what exactly are you and Julian to each other?"

Julian answered first. "Friends."

He didn't even hesitate.

Someone laughed. "That explains it. Chloe, you were always tagging along with Julian. I thought you had a thing for him. Turns out you were just keeping an eye on your best friend's boyfriend."

I heard different versions of the same joke all night.

Every friend we ran into talked about how close the three of us were and laughed about me always being the third wheel.

And every time, I had to pretend Julian and I had never been together.

Otherwise, I would look like the other woman trying to come between a married couple.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I rushed out of the private room.

Julian came after me.

He stopped when he saw me crying.

His hand rose instinctively to wipe my tears away.

My throat tightened. Even after everything, I gave him—and whatever was left of us—one last chance.

"Julian, will you divorce her? Please?"

His hand stopped before it reached me.

"Chloe, are you really going to ruin this for us tonight?"

I hurried to explain. "I only—"

"Enough."

Julian took my hand.

"Fiona and I just got married. What do you gain by giving everyone a reason to gossip about her?"

I looked at his hand around mine.

He used to wrap his hand around mine.

Now, even with a door between us and everyone else, he touched me like he was afraid someone might see.

"And me?"

He rubbed his forehead.

"Once we're divorced, I'll tell everyone about us and make things right with you."

I pulled free, my fingers curling into my palm.

"Make it public how?"

"Tell everyone you're dating your ex-wife's best friend?"

Julian's hand slowly fell to his side.