Chapter 1

When Nora Hayes, my fiancee, went to get the ninth form, I left.

I got into the car and waited for half an hour before she finally came out.

The moment she opened the door, she sounded half annoyed, half apologetic. "Nathan, why didn't you wait for me? I've been under so much pressure lately. I just… accidentally wrote the wrong name a few times."

I gave her a bitter smile. "Take me to the hospital. Ryan's waiting for me there."

This time, she didn't make me wait another half hour.

"Okay," she said immediately.

She probably didn't even realize it, but the moment she heard Ryan Bennett's name, the corners of her lips lifted into an unmistakable smile.

Once we were on the road, Nora connected her phone to the car's Bluetooth. An unfamiliar, upbeat song suddenly blasted through the speakers.

It was exactly the kind of music Ryan liked. The first time Nora had heard his playlist, she'd scrunched up her nose and complained, "It's so loud."

Now, without me even realizing it, his playlist had somehow become hers.

When she noticed me frown, she quickly switched to the country songs she usually listened to.

A little awkwardly, she explained, "The last two times Ryan came to the hospital to see you, he rode with me. He said my music was too boring, so he changed it to his playlist."

I simply hummed in acknowledgment.

At a red light, Nora poured me a cup of water from the thermos she always carried.

I took it and drank. It wasn't the familiar 113-degree water she used to keep ready for me, and I didn't ask why.

I'd already seen the notification that had popped up on her phone: "Ryan's stomach hurts. He needs to drink hot water."

Before she could notice where I was looking, I turned my eyes away.

My legs felt cramped and sore in the suffocating space, almost as much as my chest hurt. I shifted in my seat.

Nora noticed immediately. She set the thermos down and slid the passenger seat back another inch, giving me a little more room.

For a moment, I almost asked, "Had you adjusted this seat for Ryan when I wasn't around?"

The question made it all the way to my lips, but I swallowed it.

What difference would it make? After all, Nora would have a perfectly reasonable explanation ready, just like she always did.

Like last week, when she picked me up after I was discharged from the hospital, I noticed her collar was saturated with the cedarwood scent Ryan always wore.

It was eight in the morning when she arrived, and I couldn't stop myself from wondering if the two of them had spent the entire night together. So I asked.

"There was a storm last night," she explained. "Ryan's stomach was hurting, so I drove over in the middle of the night to bring him some medicine."

I had simply said, "Oh."

I didn't ask whether the scent on her clothes had rubbed off from his pajamas or his bed. It didn't matter anymore, anyway.

We passed a restaurant on the way.

Nora pulled over, got out, and came back with a bowl of chowder. She made sure it was loaded with seafood, with no onions or anything too strong or spicy.

I pushed it aside.

"Why aren't you eating it?" she asked.

"I can't."

She looked at me, puzzled.

"I'm allergic to seafood," I said. "You forgot again."

The word "again" slipped out before I could stop it.

Six months ago, Ryan had come to my place for the first time and made shrimp chowder. I'd taken one bite and ended up in the hospital. Then two weeks ago, when Ryan brought food to visit me, I'd picked out every piece of seafood he liked and pushed them to the edge of my plate.

After that, Nora swore she'd remember. And yet, here we were. She'd forgotten something that could have landed me in the hospital, but somehow, she remembered every food Ryan disliked.

When we got out of the car, I noticed Ryan standing at the hospital entrance, waving at me. The next second, Nora instinctively hurried toward him, the smile on her face widening the moment their eyes met.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer? You've got dark circles under your eyes." Her voice was soft, almost tender, as though she was trying not to let too much of that tenderness show.

I'd spent three months lying awake every night back then, until the sleepless nights left dark circles beneath my eyes. She'd noticed them, but never once asked about them. Yet now, the moment she saw the dark circles beneath Ryan's eyes, she immediately started worrying about him.

The wind wasn't even strong, yet my eyes suddenly stung. I blinked hard, forcing the burning sensation away.

Ryan merely gave her a gentle smile before walking over to me and asking, "Did you two finally get the marriage license?"

He knew perfectly well we hadn't, yet he asked anyway.

"Nora said we'd do it another day."

The smile on his lips faltered when he heard that.

As we talked, Nora handed him a paper bag. A white label with black lettering listed the order—one box of chocolate cookies, two seafood pies, and one slice of blueberry cake with less sugar. The name on the order was Ryan Bennett.

It was from a famous pastry shop in Riverton City. The shop required orders to be placed in advance, and it happened to be right next to the chowder restaurant where Nora had stopped earlier.

I stared at the bag for a moment, realizing that the chowder she'd bought for me hadn't been something she'd gone out of her way to get. She'd simply picked it up along the way. In fact, the pastries she'd ordered for Ryan were the ones she'd gone to get.

I watched them walk side by side.

I then pulled out my phone and typed a single message: "The wedding is on hold. The groom has been replaced."