Chapter 4

After a quick cleanup, Jacob and I headed out.

By the time we got there, the funeral was already packed.

The second we stepped out of the car, someone rushed over.

"Jacob..."

Wendy.

Black dress, tear-streaked makeup—she looked heartbreak-pretty.

Jacob went straight in, wrapping her up like it was instinct.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

She buried her face in his chest, barely holding it together.

"I don't know what I'd do without you."

They clung to each other like no one else was real.

To anyone watching, they looked like the grieving couple.

Wendy—daughter of the deceased—wasn't even inside with her dad.

She was out here, wrapped around someone else's fiancé.

Old me might've snapped. Thrown a few sharp words her way.

Now? I just walked right past them and into the hall.

I came to pay respects, not watch their drama play out.

Jacob saw. His jaw tensed.

He looked like he wanted to say something—

"Jacob, sit with me for a while," Wendy murmured, tugging him back.

He gave her that soft, familiar smile.

"Okay."

Barely a few days in, and they were already glued together.

I saw them slip off to a corner but didn't bother stopping them.

I headed inside, nodded to a few people, and paid my respects.

"Nina, thank you for coming."

Mrs. Lynn stood beside me—eyes red, voice soft, grief laced with guilt.

"About Wendy and Jacob... I was against it at first," she said. "But Jacob's always been loyal. He insisted on honoring my husband's dying wish. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle."

She sighed, like that somehow made it better.

But all I heard was the same old spin—

Jacob and Wendy weren't selfish, they were "honorable."

And if I didn't buy that?

I was the problem.

I stayed quiet. Just listened.

She took my silence as permission to keep going.

"Jacob's a quiet boy. He only really opens up around our family. What he did... it came from gratitude. Please don't hold it against him."

I almost laughed.

Part of me wanted to ask, 'If your husband ran off to have another woman's baby, would you just smile and take it?'

No way. No woman's that forgiving.

But I was already planning to swap the groom. No point dragging it out.

"It's fine. I understand," I said.

She blinked, then smiled, clearly relieved.

"That's wonderful to hear. You really don't need to overthink things. I'm sure Jacob's heart still belongs to you. He loves you."

'He loves me?'

I shook my head.

Maybe the old me would've clung to that.

Now? It was a joke.

If he loved me, how could he agree to something that insane?

If he loved me, did he think of me while hooking up with someone else?

If he loved me, why couldn't he marry me after all those years?

I'd been like some loyal little follower, chasing after him for years—grateful for every crumb he tossed my way.

Mrs. Lynn just kept going, praising how thoughtful Jacob was, how devoted Wendy was.

She even threw in a few lighthearted stories about the two of them—like I wasn't the one he was engaged to. Like her daughter hadn't helped wreck everything. Like she didn't owe me a single ounce of guilt.

Jacob stuck close to Wendy the whole service.

He already looked like one of them.

Once the guests started clearing out, I figured it was time to bounce too.

But just as I reached the car, the passenger window rolled down.

Wendy sat inside, all soft-smile and fake guilt.

"Sorry, Nina. I want to stop by the burial site again—just to make sure everything's perfect."

I raised a brow.

Nothing weird about her wanting to check on her dad's grave.

But why apologize to me?

Mrs. Lynn slid into the car like it was hers.

Next to them, I felt like the tag-along.

I reached for the back door.

Click.

Locked.

My brows pulled together. "What's this supposed to mean?"

Wendy let out a sigh, still not looking at me.

Instead, she grabbed Jacob's hand and said, all emotional,

"Jacob, I just... I hope, for this moment, it can be just the three of us—me, you, and my mom. Is that okay?"

He didn't even open his mouth before Mrs. Lynn jumped in.

"What are you saying? Jacob is Nina's fiancé."

"So what?!" Wendy snapped, tears streaming. "Jacob's been family since college. Now that my dad's gone, I don't want some outsider there for something so personal. Is that so wrong?"