Chapter 2

I stared at Madeline.

"Why would you do this to me? Wasn't everything I gave you enough?

"Every test you came up with, no matter how far it went, I played along. I did everything I could to make you feel safe.

"You spent five years testing whether I'd leave you, Madeline. And now you're the one leaving, straight into another man's arms."

She watched me hurt, and something like satisfaction crossed her face.

"Caleb, you can't force love.

"I never made you take those tests. You threw yourself at them. How is any of that my fault?"

My chest closed up. I was shaking.

"Then what was the marriage license, Madeline? What is this wedding?"

She leaned back against Trent, and he ran a hand down her hip.

"It's a piece of paper," she said. "Getting married doesn't mean you can't get divorced.

"You always said you wanted me happy. Being with Trent is what makes me happy. Are you willing to give me that?"

Mom couldn't take any more. She went down.

My breath stopped. I got to her and called an ambulance.

Madeline was smiling like she'd enjoyed it. I was the one crying.

Before they carried Mom out, I said one last thing.

"If this is what you want, Madeline, then you can have it."

She smiled and nodded. Trent pulled her against him and kissed her.

I held Mom's hand while it went cold, and the tears kept coming.

The wedding I'd spent months planning ended in sirens and wreckage.

They took Mom into the emergency room. Dad and I waited outside the doors.

Ten hours, and still no word. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I crouched in a corner of the hallway and broke down.

Dad put a hand on my shoulder. "Caleb, none of this is on you. Don't do that to yourself.

"Anyone this happened to would be in pieces.

"Your mother is going to be fine. I know it."

Somewhere in that night, still sitting outside the emergency room, I got a message from Madeline.

Congratulations, puppy. You passed the final test. Your prize is being Madeline Hart's husband.

I laughed at the screen, and I blocked every notification from her.

At dawn, the doctor finally came out.

"She's out of danger. But she needs rest, and she absolutely cannot go through another shock like that."

I let out a long breath. For the next few days I did nothing but look after her.

When Madeline got no reply, she started flooding my phone.

Hint: if you come chase me right now, I might lower myself and do the wedding over.

Caleb, why aren't you answering? Ignore me again and I'm marking the test failed.

Keep this up and I'll marry Trent for real. You can get on your knees afterward and I won't turn around.

From the moment she walked into our wedding holding his hand, we were finished.

I wrote back.

Madeline. Three days from now, the county courthouse. We're filing for divorce.