Chapter 2

I stared at those two messages for a long time.

The first time Mr. Delaney had offered me that position, I turned it down without hesitation. Sebastian said the four of us should stay in the same city so we could always be there for each other. He said friends who clicked on every level didn't come around often.

So I turned down the transfer from headquarters twice and stayed.

Now I realized I was the only one who'd stayed for the sake of a future together. The three of them already had a future that didn't include me.

I snapped out of it and texted my boss back. "I'll take it."

Mr. Delaney replied instantly. "Good. Once your engagement is done, come in anytime to start the paperwork."

I stared at the word "engagement" and let out a bitter laugh. There wasn't going to be an engagement.

After I finished replying, I picked the tablet back up. The messages were still refreshing.

I tapped into the chat history and scrolled all the way back, past over 2,000 messages. The earliest one was from four years ago, when Sebastian and I had been officially together for less than a month.

Wade had sent the first message in the group. "Seriously, what do you even see in Cece?"

Noelle followed up with a laughing emoji. "Right? She's so boring. All she does is work and study. Isn't it dull dating her?"

Sebastian's reply didn't come until a while later. Based on the timestamp, we'd been on a date at the movies. His response was short. "It's fine. She's a good fit."

The chat went quiet for a minute before Wade sent back a question mark. "A good fit? What does that mean?"

This time Sebastian replied fast. "She's low-maintenance, doesn't cause drama, and has a stable job. My parents like her too."

Noelle jumped in right away. "Hahaha. So basically she's easy to keep around?"

Wade lost it. "That doesn't sound like dating at all."

Sebastian sent a shrug emoji. "Might as well marry someone. Finding the right fit matters more than anything."

I stared at those two lines for a long time without saying a word.

It hit me that Sebastian really had rarely ever said he liked me. He almost never said he loved me. He'd barely ever posted a single photo of us together on social media.

Back then, I told myself he was just the slow-to-warm-up type and that some people just weren't good at showing affection. Now I knew it wasn't that he couldn't say it. I just wasn't worth saying it to.

Further down, Noelle had posted a photo of the three of them at an amusement park. She was hanging off Sebastian's arm, and Wade was throwing up a peace sign next to them.

Noelle had written underneath it, "No Cecilia Ward today!"

The other two replied one after the other.

"Bliss."

"When's the next one?"

I glanced at the date. That day, I'd texted Sebastian asking why he didn't want to go out that weekend. He told me he was swamped with work and had to go into the office.

I kept scrolling in silence through more threads, more photos, more hangouts I never knew about.

They'd gone camping by the river, road-tripped to concerts out of town, rang in the New Year together, and celebrated birthdays together. And every single time, the thread ended the same way.

"No Cecilia Ward today!"

For five years, I hadn't been excluded from just one outing. I'd been excluded from all of them.

I set the tablet down and let out a long breath, then booked a flight to Belcourt for the next morning.

The moment I finished paying, a private message from Noelle popped up on my phone. "I'm so sorry, babe! Something came up tonight and I can't come with you to try on engagement dresses!"

I'd just typed back "Okay" when Sebastian pushed open the bedroom door.

"What are you looking at on the tablet?"

"Nothing."

He hummed. "Something came up at work tonight. Let's push the dress fitting to tomorrow."

I blinked and glanced down at the tablet. Sure enough, in the three-person group, Noelle had just written, "I'm out! It's all on Sebastian now! Barbecue night, let's go!"