Chapter 1

I froze in place. My brain went blank.

The guests whispered. My mother pushed up out of her seat, her face gone ashen.

Nathan didn't even glance at me. He bent down to straighten the hem of Vivien's dress.

"We agreed to wait until after the ceremony."

"I couldn't wait," Vivien said, and gave his arm a little shake. "Why should she get to wear the dress and stand next to you?"

"I'm the one who knew you first."

Nathan sighed. He looked up at me. There was nothing in his face — no guilt. Nothing.

"Juliet. I'm sorry."

"But Vivien's telling you the truth."

"We've been together two years. Every time you came home, she was the one reminding me to go meet your flight."

"Every gift you ever sent me, she picked out for you."

"That diamond on your finger —" he pointed, "— I went to choose it with her. It just ended up on your hand."

My tears hit the floor.

Mom rushed the steps and grabbed Vivien's wrist. Her voice shook.

"Have you lost your mind? She's your sister."

Vivien pulled her hand away and let out a short, cold laugh.

"Sister? She took my life from me for twenty-six years, Mom. I'm just taking it back."

"Don't forget — she was the baby the hospital handed to the wrong family. She's the impostor."

Vivien's words dug in, clean as a blade.

She wasn't wrong.

I wasn't the Thornes' biological daughter.

Twenty-six years ago, St. Mary's Hospital had mixed up two newborns. I'd taken Vivien's place and been raised in the Thorne house.

The truth came out when I was ten. My biological parents came for me — dirt-poor, unable even to cover my school fees.

The Thornes, with their bottomless kindness, kept me anyway.

At the same time, they brought Vivien — the daughter they'd never known, a girl who'd drifted from place to place — home.

From that day on, Vivien was my sister.

She was good to me. Everyone thought she was the kindest girl in the world.

Only now did I understand: all that kindness had been patience. She'd been waiting for the right moment to take back what she believed was owed her, with interest.

"Juliet," Nathan said, level. "Vivien's right."

"I've been in love with her the whole time."

"The only reason I was ever with you was because she asked me to. She said she was worried about you being alone overseas. She asked me to look after you."

I looked at Nathan. The man I'd loved for three years.

Three years together. Two of them long-distance.

Every time I flew home, he was there at the gate.

Every time I got sick, he'd stay up to video-call me across the time zones.

I'd thought that was love.

Turns out it was just my sister's concern.

"So —" My voice cracked, dry. "What now?"

"So today's ceremony," Nathan said, "we pretend it didn't happen."

He pulled out his phone and swiped to a photo.

Vivien, curled up against his chest. Both of them smiling.

The timestamp was two years ago.

The same night he'd told me he loved me for the first time.

"That night, after I left your place, I went to Vivien's. She cried for hours. She said she couldn't bear to give you up to me. I spent the whole night talking her down. Eventually, she smiled."

He spoke all of this tenderly. His eyes soft.

But that softness had never been for me.