Chapter 1

My girlfriend had spent three years chasing the one who got away.

The night before our wedding, the two of them trashed her bride's dress together.

I wanted to call it off. She just laughed it off.

"I only wanted to make sure I wouldn't regret my youth. From now on I'm all yours, so can't you be a little generous about it?"

So I turned around and prepared a grand gift for them instead, wishing them a lifetime of happiness.

Later, she came back crying, begging me to forgive her.

I held up my hand and let my wedding ring catch the light.

"Sorry. I'm married."

Chapter 1

I was at the hotel confirming tomorrow's wedding details when a video came in from an unknown number.

I opened it. Jade Bruckner was in it, wearing her wedding dress.

A pair of large hands gripped her waist. Her skin, usually pale as snow, had flushed a deep red. The dress's heavy, layered skirt hid most of what was happening, but by the end of the clip, the once-pristine gown was filthy and crumpled.

A message followed from the same number, needling me on purpose.

[So what if you two get married? I'm the only one she's ever loved.]

My vision went black for a second. Something closed around my chest like a net, cinching tight, and for a long moment I couldn't breathe.

The wedding coordinator must have noticed something was wrong with my face, because she asked carefully, "Mr. Thelen, just to confirm, the sneakers are what pair with the main gown for the ceremony, correct?"

I snapped back to myself, and almost laughed at how pathetic I looked.

While we were planning the wedding, Jade had complained to me, pouting, about having to wear heels all day, saying just the thought of it exhausted her. To spare her the pain, I'd had a custom pair of sneakers made to go with the dress.

I'd even, just minutes ago, worried her feet might still get sore and thought about adding an extra insole.

And what had she been doing?

Using a bachelorette party with her friends as cover, she'd been wearing the custom dress I'd designed for her, tangled up with the one who got away.

That dress had cost me a fortune, made just for her.

My chest kept seizing up in waves of pain. I gave the coordinator some garbled answer and drove home in a daze.

The living room was decked out for the wedding, festive and bright. Our engagement photo hung on the wall behind the couch.

The decoration seemed to burn my eyes.

I sank onto the couch, drained, and thought about the man in the video.

I recognized him.

His name was Preston Greaves, a senior from Jade's college days, the one she'd spent three years chasing and never quite caught.

Jade's friend had mentioned him to me once before, but I hadn't minded. Everyone has fond memories from their school days, don't they?

Besides, Preston was already married. That made him old history, someone who wouldn't come between us again.

I had Jade's present and her future. We were supposed to have a bright, sweet life ahead of us.

But now, this video had shattered that fantasy completely.

I dragged a hand down my face and called Jade.

She didn't pick up.

Probably still "busy."

I called my childhood friend, Kyle Harlow instead. He'd gone to the same college as Jade.

He picked up fast, teasing me. "You're getting married tomorrow, and you still have time for me?"

I got straight to the point. "I need you to dig up everything you can on Jade and a guy named Preston Greaves. The more detail, the better. I owe you one."

He caught the strange edge in my voice and asked, worried, "Did something happen?"

I didn't answer. I just hung up, exhausted.

Two hours later, he sent over dozens of messages, some of them just him trying to comfort me.

I skimmed past those and pulled out the one that mattered: a secret social media account belonging to Jade.

An account I'd never even known existed.

She posted on it constantly, and every single post was about Preston. It might as well have been a diary of their romance.

For his birthday, she'd bought him a mechanical keyboard, captioned: [A programmer's keyboard. Every line of code hides a little love.]

Preston had commented: [Message received. Shame my ball and chain's watching too close for me to come get it.]

Jade had replied underneath: [Boo hoo, come here and let me hug you.]

I stared at the photo, a keyboard with a metallic finish. That exact keyboard was sitting on my desk right now.

It was the Christmas gift Jade had given me.

I wasn't a programmer, but plenty of my work involved typing anyway. Her gift had felt like she'd known exactly what I needed.

I'd been touched beyond words at the time.

Turned out it was only mine because Preston hadn't wanted it.

I got up and peeled the sticker off the keyboard. Underneath, faint but legible, was a small engraved P.

I kept scrolling, and felt my heart go cold, inch by inch.

Kyle texted again. [Is the wedding still happening?]

I pressed my fingers to my brow, lost, and had no idea what to do.

Chapter 2

At nine that night, Jade called, her voice dripping with wounded self-pity. "Tony, baby, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" I said, keeping my tone even.

"I got a little clumsy trying on the dress this afternoon and stained it. You'll need to get me a new one for tomorrow."

My chest tightened. My fists clenched on their own.

She'd played around with Preston like that, filthy and reckless, and now she had the nerve to make me clean up after her.

She even acted like it was nothing, telling me to just whip up a replacement.

She knew, better than anyone, that I'd designed that dress for her with my own hands. She knew exactly what she was asking.

She really didn't have a heart in her at all.

I took a slow breath. "Sure. I'll take care of it."

Jade laughed. "You're the best. Once we're married, let's go to Iceland for our honeymoon."

Watching the northern lights in Iceland had been Jade's wish, made on our second anniversary. Legend said lovers who saw the aurora together would never be parted.

I'd wanted forever with her, so I'd worked myself half to death, trading overtime for the vacation days, just for the chance to go with her.

But she'd always had some excuse to put it off.

Later, when she finally wanted to go, I was sent abroad for work and couldn't get away.

She'd been furious, said she'd go with a friend instead, and that I shouldn't bother her about it.

I'd felt so guilty at the time that, to make it up to her, I wired her seven thousand dollars to cover the trip.

She'd lit up with joy and showered me with every kind of sweet talk imaginable.

But now, I'd found her posts from that exact stretch of time on her secret account.

The "friend" she'd gone with had never been a friend at all. It was Preston.

In the photos she'd posted, they stood beneath a sky full of aurora, fingers laced together.

The night before they flew home, she'd photographed the messy hotel room, a used condom lying on the floor.

Caption: [Taking down the one who got away.]

My stomach turned.

Jade's voice was still going. "My friends want to throw me a bachelorette blowout tonight, so I might not answer for a while."

An orgy with Preston, more like.

I laughed coldly to myself and said, deliberately, "Perfect timing. My first love wants to meet up before the wedding too, actually."

Jade exploded instantly. "Why would your first love need to meet up right now? It's the middle of the night! What good could possibly come from a man and a woman alone together like that?"

I shot back, "And if the one who got away called you up tonight, would you go? Would something happen between you?"

Jade's voice rose, guilty. "That's a hypothetical! It doesn't even apply!

"And besides, even if it did, I only wanted to make sure I wouldn't regret my youth. After we get married, I'm all yours. Can't you be a little generous about it?"

She wanted me to wear the horns and be gracious about it too.

I laughed, and it wasn't really a laugh at all.

Jade played her trump card. "If you dare go, forget about the wedding tomorrow."

Four years together, and she always did this.

"No gift, I'm dumping you."

"Go through my phone again, I'm dumping you."

"Don't treat my family right, I'm dumping you."

I loved her, so every time she opened her mouth, I gave in without question, bent over backward to please her.

She'd always assumed I loved her so hopelessly that I could never leave.

She was wrong.

Love isn't the whole of a life. I understood that better than anyone.

While I loved her, I could forgive her anything.

Now that she didn't deserve it anymore, I could take that devotion right back.

The call ended, and Jade fired off a string of messages ordering me not to set foot outside my door tonight.

If I hadn't seen those videos and that "diary," I might still have believed she loved me to distraction.

But now I understood.

None of it had ever been real.

I didn't answer.

Just then, a knock came at the door, rapid, one after another.

I opened it, and Kyle walked in with three other groomsmen behind him.

I forced myself to sound steady. "What are you all doing here?"

He sighed. "Don't bother putting on a brave face. We already know, man."

That one sentence shattered whatever composure I had left.

A wave of tears rushed up behind my nose.

Three years of feelings. How could that not hurt?

She'd been my anchor once, the source of everything that kept me going.

I'd sworn before every god I could think of that I'd spend the rest of my life loving her.

And she'd turned out to be so unworthy of it that my devotion looked like a joke.

Kyle gripped my shoulder. "It's already happened. Whatever you want done, just say the word, and we'll make sure that bastard's own mother won't recognize him."

I covered my face and hurried into the bathroom.

Cold water hit my skin, and slowly, I pulled myself back together.

When I came back out to the living room, my phone chimed. The unknown number again.

[Nice view. She arches her back so pretty.]

The attached photo showed a hotel bathroom.

The couch wasn't big. We were sitting close together, and every one of the groomsmen saw it.

They were all close friends of mine. Furious, they looked ready to go kill Preston on the spot.

I talked them down, numb by then. "I don't want to dirty my hands on trash like that. Let me think of something else."

Years of my life invested in this relationship. I'd wanted it to end with some dignity.

But it seemed like they were determined not to let me have even that.

All night long, my phone wouldn't stop buzzing.

At first, it was the unknown number. Then it switched to messages sent straight from Jade's phone.

Suggestive photos. Videos too explicit to look at.

She'd send them, then delete them seconds later, tossing off some careless excuse: [Oops, my finger slipped on the wrong sticker.]

I stared at the screen full of "this message was deleted" notices, my heart shredded to pieces.

What did they think I was? Some piece in their game?

I gripped the phone tighter, and whatever affection I had left for Jade finally ran out completely.

They had no decency left to spare me. Why should I spare them any face in return?

Chapter 3

I didn't sleep at all that night.

I downloaded every photo and video the unknown number had sent me, then cut them together with screenshots from Jade's secret account into a single video.

I dug up Preston's information, found his wife's phone number, and called to invite her to the ceremony.

Then I reached out to the most-followed local livestreaming platform and paid them to broadcast my wedding live.

By the time I finished, the sky had gone fully bright.

I drove to the hotel. When I arrived, Jade was already in hair and makeup.

Her face looked awful, like she hadn't slept.

The moment she saw me, her expression turned cold. "What took you so long? Do you have any idea I didn't sleep a wink last night, all because of you?"

Because of me?

I said nothing.

I didn't even feel like exposing her lie.

She must have sensed something was off, because her tone softened.

"Why aren't you saying anything? I know I snapped at you just now, but I'm just really nervous; it's my first wedding and everything."

I gave her a thin smile. "I won't be looking after you anymore, starting now."

Jade froze for a second, then shot up out of her chair, glaring at me.

"What is that supposed to mean? I said a few words to you and now this? You do remember this wedding was your idea, right? You're the one who pushed for it."

She was blaming me. Blaming me for forcing her to marry me.

Except it had been her idea in the first place. She'd suggested us building a future together.

And now she'd flipped it around, making it sound like I'd forced her hand, while letting another man provoke me over and over without a shred of shame.

Did she really think I couldn't survive without her for the rest of my life?

She was wrong.

I was still willing to go through with this wedding, but only because I wanted her to understand there was a price for what she'd done.

I wasn't some toy she could summon and dismiss on a whim.

Jade's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Is this about not appreciating something once you've already got it?"

I looked back at her, calm, and held out the large bag in my hand. "I brought the dress."

Her expression eased a little. "Good, at least you're not completely useless."

She opened the bag, and her face went stiff. "What's this?"

"There wasn't enough time. I couldn't find anything else that fit."

Jade was quiet for a moment. "Whatever. It's your wedding, not mine. If you're not embarrassed, why should I care?"

The ceremony began soon after.

Soft music drifted through the hall, and the crystal chandeliers scattered light everywhere.

I stood on the platform, watching Jade walk toward me, feeling nothing at all.

This was a scene I'd imagined a thousand times before.

I used to feel nothing but pure joy at the thought of marrying her, so happy I could barely put it into words.

Now, all I felt was disgust.

Jade's father placed her hand in mine.

"Jade is a good, well-raised girl. You're lucky to have her, son. You'd better treat her right from here on out."

He kept going, offering more heartfelt advice, and Jade looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

She played the part so well.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she loved me desperately.

It reminded me of a conversation we'd had once, dreaming about the future together.

I'd told her that when the wedding actually came, I probably wouldn't be able to hold back tears.

Jade had scoffed. "You should feel lucky to be marrying me. Crying would be normal. But I'll never let you live it down."

Well, Jade, the man standing here now wasn't going to cry. Not a single tear.

I only hoped that in a few minutes, she wouldn't either.

We joined hands and walked into the ceremony.

The officiant's voice rang out. "Mr. Tony Thelen, do you take Ms. Jade Bruckner to be your wife, to love and stay by her side through sickness and health, poverty and wealth?"

I didn't answer right away.

Jade's face darkened. "Why aren't you saying anything? Do you not want to get married anymore?"

I smiled at her and let go of her hand.

Then I took the microphone from the officiant and spoke, loud and clear.

"I don't."