Chapter 1

Every other bride in the boutique had brought her fiancé. I was the only one there alone.

The bridal consultant looked genuinely disappointed. "Ms. Graham, are you sure you want to return the dress? It looks beautiful on you."

According to the contract, canceling the order meant losing half my deposit.

I didn't hesitate. "I'm sure. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Before I left, she said, "I'm sorry we won't get to see everything come together, but I still wish you and your fiancé a lifetime of happiness."

I gave her a calm smile. "Thank you, but unfortunately, he's dead."

I ignored her stunned expression and walked out of the boutique.

Once I was outside, I opened the photo gallery on my phone and deleted every picture of myself in the wedding dress.

I had handled the entire wedding planning process alone for the past three months, including every dress fitting. From the original design to the choice of fabric, I personally compared every option, right down to the smallest bead and crystal.

The dress went through more than a dozen revisions, and I sent Charles Hicks photos after every fitting.

His responses were never more than a few words.

[Looks good.]

[I'm busy. You decide.]

[Eva needs help with a practice problem. We'll talk later.]

If that was all he had to say, then calling him dead wasn't far from the truth.

Once, after finally losing my patience, I called him.

Charles apologized right away and, for once, gave me detailed feedback on the latest photos of the dress.

Then Bethany Long's voice cut in from the background.

"Look, Charles. I told you my method was faster. You lost the bet, so pay up!"

Charles let out a helpless laugh. "Alright, alright. You're always right."

Eva Long giggled in the background. "If you two keep acting like this, I'm seriously going to start rooting for you to get back together."

She said it loudly enough that I could hear every word.

I told Charles before that Eva's constant jokes about him and Bethany getting back together made me uncomfortable, but he only laughed it off.

"She's just a kid messing around. Don't read so much into it. Trust me, I'm more interested in a math problem than I am in my ex."

But as I listened to Charles and Bethany laugh and bicker so naturally, humiliation burned through me.

Charles was still laughing when the call abruptly ended.

We had been on the phone for barely a minute, and I had spoken for maybe ten seconds. The rest of the call had been the two of them bantering as if I weren't even there.

I stared at the wedding dress photos I had taken with so much excitement and realized that getting married no longer felt all that important.

Back in the present, I opened my messages and texted Charles.

[When are you coming home?]

[I want to talk about the wedding.]

Before I could send the second message, his reply appeared.

[Seriously? I already told you I'm taking Eva on a graduation trip. Stop acting like there's something going on.]

A moment later, he called, his voice tight with barely restrained irritation.

"Eva finally made it through the SAT. She wants to relax and have some fun. Don't ruin this for her."

Bethany leaned closer to the phone, laughing.

"Julia, don't get the wrong idea. We're only taking Eva on a trip. Charles and I practically killed ourselves helping her study, so we thought we deserved a break too. Besides, you have nothing to worry about. He's not nearly smart enough for me."

Charles let out an incredulous laugh and moved the phone away from her.

"Oh, really? Who spent all four years of high school throwing a fit because she could never beat me for the top spot?"

"Please! I always crushed you in reading and writing."

"Hey, what are you doing? Stop rubbing sunscreen on my arm!"

Once again, they started bickering before I could get a single word in.