Chapter 1

On Halloween morning,

I woke up to find that my best friend, Serena Shaw,

and my husband, Ethan Holloway,

had shaved my head bald.

"You'd make the perfect jack-o'-lantern—round, bald, and glowing."

I didn't break down crying like I used to.

I didn't demand to know why they'd done this to me.

I simply held up the Venmo screen on my phone to my husband.

"Twenty thousand. Send it."

This was the seventh time this month.

Ever since Serena had been diagnosed with cancer,

Ethan had treated her bucket list like the most important thing in the world.

She wanted to know what it felt like to be a bride,

so he ripped my wedding dress off me in front of everyone at our wedding.

She wanted to go on a honeymoon,

so he locked me inside the house and flew off to an island with her.

I'd gone from crying and demanding answers to feeling completely numb.

Eventually, I started putting a price on everything.

That same night, at the Halloween party,

Serena suggested a shot game.

When it was my turn, my shot glass was filled entirely with wasabi.

Everyone else got liquor.

I was the only one who got wasabi.

Ethan didn't stop her.

While tears streamed down my face from the burning heat,

Serena laughed and snapped humiliating pictures of me.

I wiped away my tears and held my phone up to Ethan again.

"Forty thousand this time."

The smile on his face froze.

"Is money seriously all you think about now?"

I didn't argue.

What he didn't know was that with this forty thousand,

I would finally have all $800,000 of my inheritance back.

And that would be enough for me to leave him—

and this pathetic excuse for a marriage—behind.

...

I kept the Venmo screen raised and repeated myself.

"Forty thousand. Send it."

Ethan's expression darkened.

Serena immediately put on that soft voice she always used when she wanted to pretend she was defending me.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have insisted on the whole Halloween thing."

"I'm sorry, Luna. When I'm dead, your hair will grow back..."

The second she said that, Ethan's expression softened.

He sighed, pulled out his phone, and sent the money.

"Serena doesn't have much time left. Do you have to put a price tag on everything? When did you become so heartless?"

Heartless.

Last month, we'd gone camping in the Pocono Mountains.

In the middle of the night, Serena suddenly decided she wanted to watch the sunrise.

Without a second thought, Ethan loaded up all the gear and drove away with her.

He left me asleep in the middle of nowhere.

A violent storm hit that day.

I came down with a high fever and started bleeding heavily. I nearly lost the baby.

I was stranded in the woods for two days before a park ranger finally found me.

And now he was calling me heartless.

Ding.

My phone notified me that the $40,000 had arrived.

Ethan's voice was thick with disappointment.

"Isn't money what all these tantrums are about? You got it. Happy now?"

Money?

He seemed to have forgotten.

When we first got together, he was a broke college student who could barely afford to eat.

When he started his company, I invested the entire $800,000 inheritance Dad had left me before he died.

Now I'd finally gotten every dollar back.

I'm done.

Serena suddenly picked up her phone and gasped.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Luna!"

"I meant to send your photo to Ethan, but I accidentally posted it in the GroupMe!"

The group chat was already exploding.

"Holy shit, is that Luna White? What the hell happened to her?"

"Her head's so round and shiny, she really does look like a jack-o'-lantern lmao."

Tyler, one of our old classmates, tagged Serena.

"Serena, we all heard about your diagnosis. What else is on your bucket list? We've got your back."

Serena gave Ethan a shy glance, then lowered her head and typed.

"Actually... there is one thing I've always regretted."

"If it's possible, I want Ethan to be my husband. Just for three days."

Everyone in the group started tagging Ethan.

"Do it! Do it!"

"You two were always the perfect couple anyway. If it weren't for Luna, you would've ended up together."

"Exactly. Luna was always the third wheel. What's the big deal about lending her husband for three days?"

Back in college, Serena and Ethan had been everyone's idea of the perfect couple.

They were in the same research group and constantly talked about technical things I couldn't understand.

All I could do was trail behind them, grabbing their meals from the dining hall and saving them seats.

Ethan looked at the messages and shook his head with a smile.

He didn't hesitate for even a second.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Serena immediately sent a string of heart emojis.

"He said yes!!!"

The group chat filled with congratulations.

I stood, picked up my bag from the couch, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

Ethan hurried after me and grabbed my arm.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you two are together now, I shouldn't stick around and keep being the third wheel, should I?"

Ethan rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"Can you stop being difficult?"

"It's only three days. Serena just wants to experience this before she dies. You can stay in the guest room for a few nights."

"She doesn't have much time left. Can't you just give her this?"

I turned toward the living room wall.

A massive wedding portrait hung there.

Ethan and Serena.

Serena had said she wanted to experience taking wedding photos, so I'd been expected to step aside.

She had already moved into our house, too.

Because she said she was afraid of being alone, Ethan stayed with her every night until she fell asleep.

I pulled my arm from his grip and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Ethan, I'm not being difficult."

"Let's get a divorce."