Chapter 3

EMILIA

When I first moved into Tessa’s apartment, two thoughts hit me.

One: Tessa was just as high maintenance as she’d been in college.

Everything in her place screamed luxury. High-end furniture, designer décor, the kind of perfectly curated space that made you wonder if people actually lived there. I was happy she had a job that let her maintain the lifestyle.

Two: Tessa’s apartment was the most comfortable place in the world to feel like shit.

Even though she had decorated a guest room just for me, I spent most of my worst nights on her couch, wrapped in an overpriced throw blanket, drinking wine straight from the bottle.

The couch had become my safe place, which was ironic considering how many breakdowns it had witnessed. If furniture could talk, hers would probably file a restraining order against me.

And now, as I stare at the notification on my phone, I know exactly what I need to do.

Or at least, I think I do.

I walk into Tessa’s kitchen, grab a bottle of red wine, some expensive brand I don’t recognize, and collapse onto her couch. Popping the cork, I take a long gulp before daring to look at my phone again.

For months, I wanted this. I prayed for him to reach out. Now, it’s the last thing I need.

Calm down, Emilia. It’s probably just closure or whatever.

It’s not like one message could change anything.

I tap the notification. My stomach twists as I realize I never changed how I saved his name.

Babe

Babe

Babe

Babe

Babe

I stare at the screen, heart pounding.

Zane is getting MARRIED?!

The words blur for a second, like my brain is rejecting them outright. I blink a few times, but they don’t change. They just sit there, bold and undeniable.

I throw back wine at a pace that makes me dizzy.

A month-long cruise? A couples-only cruise?

I take another large gulp of wine.

Of all the ways and reasons I imagined Zane reaching out to me, this was never one of them.

Not an apology. Not regret. Not even guilt. Just… an invitation. Like I was some distant acquaintance.

I’m halfway through the bottle when the tears finally come.

Ten years.

We were together for a whole decade. And in all that time, I was never enough for him. Never someone he saw as worth marrying.

But in just seven months, he’s found his bride. Someone he adores.

Someone he’s happily planning a wedding with, when I had to beg just for him to be present for ours.

Holding a month-long cruise to celebrate their love before they even get married.

I never asked for anything that extravagant. I just wanted his attention. His love.

We started dating when we were fourteen. Every adult around us said it wouldn’t last, that we were too young to know anything about love.

Zane and I beat the odds. We went through high school together, then college. His teammates used to call me Mrs. Whitmoore.

Everyone around could see we were set to play the long game. Everyone but Zane, the person who was supposed to be playing on my side of the field.

I never even used to care about changing my last name or wearing his ring on my finger, I just wanted to be his. Forever.

That was the dream. Simple. Stupid. All-consuming.

Tess once said the only reason I wanted to marry him so badly was because everyone else expected it.

Maybe she was right.

Tess is always right.

That thought hits me just as I realize I’m wasted. The wine bottle is nowhere to be found, and in my attempt to locate it, I end up rolling off the couch and onto the floor.

Groaning, I fumble for my phone, my hands are clumsy and shaking. Tessa. She’ll know what to do. She always does.

The call barely rings before she picks up, her voice is warm and steady, like a lifeline. “Hey, honeycomb. Isn’t it a little early for a wellness check?”

“Zane is getting married.” My voice comes out in a pathetic slurp as I try to peel myself off the floor.

I blink blearily around the room. Where the hell did the couch go?

I’m still searching for the couch when—

BAM!

I slam my toe against Tessa’s coffee table.

“Shit!” I curse loudly, clutching my foot like it might fall off. The pain is sharp, but my drunken brain registers it a second too late.

In my attempt to regain balance, I miscalculate completely and fall backward—

Right onto the couch I’d been looking for.

I glare at it suspiciously. I swear it wasn’t there a second ago.

I’ll have to tell Tess her couch disappears from time to time.

“What?!” Tess practically shouts into the phone. I hear muffled voices in the background before she lowers her voice. “I’m sorry, I’m at work, but did I hear you correctly?”

“You did!” I announce dramatically. “He sent me an invitation to his wedding. And a month long couple-only cruise before the wedding, Tess! Since I clearly can’t move on, you’ll have to be my plus one.”

I cackle like a lunatic then stop abruptly.

Wait. What was I laughing at?

The sound echoes in my head, hollow and wrong.

“Tess?” I squint at the phone. “You still there?”

Her voice softens in a way that makes my stomach twist. “Yeah, I’m still here. Just… stay put, okay? I’ll be back from work before you know it. And stop drinking my wine, honeycomb, that shit’s expensive.”

She pauses. Long enough that I can hear the weight in her silence.

“And, Em… I think I have something important to tell you.”

Something in her tone cuts through the haze of alcohol like a warning.

Then the call ends.

***

A few hours pass, but Tess is still not back.

I wonder what she wants to tell me that’s so important.

Once I sober up, I take a shower, brush my teeth, and keep myself busy by cleaning her apartment.

I try not to think about Zane, but I can’t help it. I open the email again, staring at the invitation to his wedding and the couple-only cruise.

Then I see my name in the wrong spot.

My stomach turns, and I barely make it to the bathroom before throwing up.

Later, I do something even worse.

I Google her.

His fiancée is a model. Perfect. Beautiful. Everything I’m not.

Of course, he left me for someone like her.

I’m chugging water, actually following Tess’s advice for once, when she finally walks in.

Her nose scrunches as she looks around, but when her eyes land on me, she just sighs and gives a small, sad smile.

“I thought you’d be in worse shape,” she says, settling onto the couch beside me.

I lean my head on her shoulder and hold up the water bottle. “If I didn’t pull myself together, you would’ve done it for me. I’ve learned to pick my battles.”

“Damn straight.” She tugs at my hair lightly. “Wanna go out for dinner? There’s a new Thai place near my office. It’s supposed to have really good food.”

I squint at her. “You hate Thai food. What’s going on?”

She laughs, and for a second, I forget how miserable I feel. She’s beautiful and effortlessly so.

Her skin is so freakishly pale, while mine is just warm brown. Her hair is pin-straight, mine is a mess of curls. She has curves in all the right places, while I’ve always been insecure about my nonexistent ones. Her eyes are striking, while mine are just… brown.

Compared to her, I’m a plain Jane.

If I looked more like her, or like his new fiancée, maybe Zane would still be mine.

Tess sobers up quickly. “Okay, you got me. I just… I didn’t know how to say this.”