Chapter 1

I stared at the pet ID tag in my palm. Jocelyn Porter's name was engraved across its surface. Humiliation closed around my throat like an invisible hand, leaving me barely able to breathe.

"Here, boy! Come here!"

Someone in the private room whistled, calling to me as if I were a well-trained pet. I instinctively looked up, and the room erupted in laughter.

"Ha! He actually looked!"

"Jocelyn, you really have trained him well. One little call, and he responds!"

Someone even held out a hand toward me, deliberately imitating a dog trainer.

"Bobby, come on. Shake!"

The smile vanished from Jocelyn's face. She set her wine glass down hard and swept an icy gaze across the room.

"Enough.

"Just because I joked about him doesn't mean the rest of you get to use him for your entertainment."

Everyone fell silent at once.

Jocelyn took my hand and softened her voice.

"They’ve had too much to drink. Don't take it personally."

Marvin Smith, however, snorted with laughter. "Everyone’s just joking around, Bobby. Why are you so worked up?

"What's wrong with being a dog? Dogs are loyal.

"Even if their owners kick them around, all it takes is one little wave, and they come running back, tails wagging."

Jocelyn frowned.

"Marvin, enough."

"Fine, fine. I'll stop." He leaned back against the couch and raised both hands with an innocent smile, though no remorse showed on his face.

I pulled my hand away sharply. One thought filled my mind: I had to get out of here.

Someone called my name behind me, but I kept walking.

I was twenty when I met Jocelyn. My mother had just died.

My father had passed away years earlier, so when it came time to handle my mother's funeral arrangements, I had no one to turn to for advice. Jocelyn stayed by my side through every form and every arrangement.

During the three months I kept waking up in the middle of the night, she answered my calls again and again.

Marvin, meanwhile, had been her childhood sweetheart and lifelong companion.

His father had died saving Jocelyn's father.

Even after Jocelyn took over her family's company, she kept Marvin by her side. She said the Smith family had once saved the Porters, and that debt of gratitude could never be forgotten.

Marvin was two years younger than she was. No matter how outrageous his behavior became, Jocelyn always had the same excuse.

"I've always thought of him as a little brother."

Marvin had already ruined our wedding three times.

The first time, he hid our wedding rings. He refused to return them until most of the guests had left.

The second time, he put on my wedding tuxedo before the ceremony and posed for pictures, asking Jocelyn, "Do I look like your husband?"

I demanded that he take it off, but she accused me of humiliating him in front of everyone. Then she abandoned our guests and left with him.

The third time, just before the ceremony, Marvin burst into tears and claimed he had dreamed about his father. He said he could not bear the thought of watching Jocelyn marry someone else.

Every time, Jocelyn would scowl and tell him to stop acting like a child. However, whenever Marvin really kicked up a fuss, she would turn to me and try to talk me down.

"You’re the one who’ll spend the rest of your life with me. What’s the harm in letting him have his way just this once?"

Our wedding was postponed again and again.

I had just left when my phone rang. Marvin's voice came through the line, frantic and almost shrill.

"Bobby, get back here! Now!

"Jocelyn suddenly got a stomachache. She just threw up blood! Where’s her medication?"

I did not even have time to question whether he was telling the truth. My body reacted before I could think.

After all those years, worrying about Jocelyn had become second nature.

I ran all the way back. By the time I shoved open the private room door, my fingers were trembling.

"Jocelyn!"

Everyone was sitting comfortably in the same seats as before, smiling as they looked at me.

Jocelyn was lounging on the couch. When she saw me return, she gave a satisfied nod.

After a brief silence, the entire room burst into laughter.

"Marvin wins!"

"Eleven minutes! Faster than an ambulance!"

"Jocelyn called it! Her dog could run to the other side of the world, but all his owner has to do is call, and he comes right back!"

I froze in the doorway.

Only then did I finally understand. They had been waiting for this moment all along, eager to see me make a fool of myself.

I had actually come running back, just as they expected.