Chapter 1

Three years ago

It was the night before my wedding.

Everyone was celebrating at the pre-wedding party, laughing, drinking, and dancing.

Everyone except the man I was supposed to marry.

Axel, my fiancé.

I had looked everywhere for him. I pushed through the crowd, checked the rooms downstairs, and even asked a few people if they had seen him.

Nothing.

I was beginning to think he had simply stepped out when I decided to check one last room.

As I got closer, I heard strange sounds coming from behind the door.

I stopped.

My heart suddenly started beating faster.

Why was someone in there?

I reached for the door handle and pushed it open.

Then everything inside me went still.

“Axel!”

My voice came out louder than I expected.

There he was.

My fiancé.

And with him was my best friend.

Sophie.

For a few seconds, I couldn't move.

I just stood there, staring at them as they hurried to cover themselves.

This couldn't be real.

Not Axel.

Not Sophie.

Not the two people I trusted the most.

“Emma…”

“Please, Emma. It's not what you think. It just happened and… it was never meant to be like this,” Axel said, stumbling over his words.

I stared at him.

“How was it meant to be, Axel?”

My voice shook.

“You're having sex with my best friend, and you have the audacity to tell me it's not what I think?”

“Emma, he's just having fun. Today is his last day of being a bachelor. He's going to be all yours from tomorrow,” Sophie said.

I looked at her in disbelief.

Was she seriously trying to justify this?

I had known Sophie almost all my life.

I had trusted her.

I had shared my secrets with her.

And now she was standing in front of me after betraying me on the night before my wedding.

Axel and I had been together for two years. I had loved him with every part of me. I had been faithful to him.

And this was what I got in return.

The worst part was that something inside me told me this wasn't their first time.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks.

I wanted someone to tell me I was dreaming.

I wanted to wake up and find myself back in the party, surrounded by people celebrating my wedding.

But I wasn't dreaming.

This was real.

I wiped my tears and walked away.

I didn't scream.

I didn't fight them.

I didn't even ask for an explanation.

I simply returned to the party with one thought running through my mind.

The wedding was over.

Axel thought we could somehow get past this and still get married.

He was wrong.

I'd play along.

I'd let everyone show up tomorrow.

I'd put on my wedding dress.

And then, at the altar, I would call off the wedding myself.

Maybe it wouldn't take away the pain.

But at least Axel would understand what he'd lost.

I left the party without looking back.

Everything happened so fast.

One moment, I was a woman excited about getting married.

The next, I was walking away from the man I had planned to spend my life with.

My fiancé had betrayed me.

My best friend had betrayed me.

And suddenly, I didn't know who I could trust anymore.

That's it.

I'm done with friendships.

I found myself at a hotel bar.

I didn't even remember deciding to go there.

I just knew I needed somewhere quiet enough to forget what had happened.

“Vodka, please,” I said as I slid onto a barstool.

The bartender served me a shot.

I drank it immediately.

“Keep ’em coming.”

I stared at the glass in front of me, trying to silence the thoughts in my head.

Then I noticed him.

A guy sitting a few seats away, running a hand through his curly hair while staring down at his drink.

He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Heartbreak?” I asked.

He looked at me.

“Mm-mm.”

He took another sip.

“Lost my dad. He'd been sick, and while I was running around trying to save him, I lost a major business deal.”

His voice became quieter.

“Then my dad died.”

Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten.

His pain was different from mine, but I understood it.

“So you came here to forget?” I asked.

He looked at me.

“You?”

“Betrayal.”

I swallowed hard.

“My wedding was supposed to be tomorrow. I caught my fiancé fucking my best friend.”

He was quiet for a moment.

Then he raised his glass.

“So we both came here to drink the pain away?”

I nodded.

“Cheers to that.”

Our glasses touched.

We talked.

About pain.

About loss.

About betrayal.

About the people we thought would never hurt us.

The more we talked, the less the rest of the world seemed to matter.

And somewhere between the alcohol, the tears, and everything we were trying to forget, we made decisions we would both regret—and remember—for years to come.

The next morning came slowly.

I opened my eyes and immediately felt something was wrong.

I turned my head.

A guy was sleeping peacefully beside me.

I froze.

My heart dropped.

It was the same man from the bar.

I stared at him, trying to remember what had happened after our conversation.

But most of the night was a blur.

I covered my mouth with my hand.

What had I done?

Did I just have sex with a stranger?

I didn't even know his name.

And yet, somehow, I had allowed myself to cross a line I never thought I would.

Then another thought hit me.

My wedding.

I still had a wedding to call off.

I quickly got dressed and left the room.

As I walked away, my mind was a complete mess.

The betrayal.

The stranger.

Last night.

The wedding.

Everything was crashing into me at once.

How had my life fallen apart in a single night?

I had lost the man I loved.

I

had lost my best friend.

And now I had woken up beside a man whose name I didn't even know.

I had no idea that this stranger would become far more important to me than I could ever imagine.

Not then.

Not three years later.

Not when fate brought us together again.