Chapter 3

It’s late, and the streets are empty.

I follow his location on my phone all the way to the hotel.

Room 2208. They haven’t even closed the door all the way. Through the gap, I can see them all over each other right there in the entryway.

Nolan has Juliet pinned against the wall like he’s starving for her.

"Jules, I want a daughter. One just as beautiful as you."

Juliet’s voice is soft, almost pained.

"What about Wren? We can’t be this selfish…"

Nolan buries his face in her neck.

"She’s got nothing on you anyway. And she can’t even have kids… She gets the wedding. You get the marriage license. I’ll talk her into it. You and Milo won’t have to settle for less."

I stand there in the shadows and watch my tears drip onto the carpet.

Six years together. We used to cram into a studio apartment with a leaky ceiling.

When his startup was at rock bottom, I got pregnant by accident. We couldn’t even afford a prenatal visit.

He held my hand and said, "If we have the baby now, it’s just gonna suffer right along with us."

I hadn’t even decided what to do yet. The next day, I was back at his office hauling boxes up four flights of stairs because the building had no elevator.

On my ninth trip, my foot slipped, and I fell all the way down.

There was so much blood. And just like that, my baby was gone.

The doctor said I’d probably never get pregnant again.

I can’t take another second of this. I push the door open and walk in.

"Don’t worry about settling. I’ll make this easy for you."

They whip around in a panic.

Juliet goes white. She shoves Nolan away, shaking all over.

"Wren… what are you doing here?"

"Let me explain. I didn’t… it just happened…"

I look at their half-undone clothes, and my chest feels like it’s about to split open.

"It just happened? What just happened?"

"You just happened to fall for your best friend’s fiancé? You just happened to end up in his bed? And then you just happened to have his kid, who’s four years old now?"

"Juliet, are you really that shameless?"

I bite my lip so hard I taste blood. That’s when it finally sinks in. This isn’t a nightmare. This is real.

I’ve known Juliet for eight years. I’ve loved Nolan for six.

In college, when I couldn’t afford to eat, Juliet gave me her birthday money. She shared everything she had with me, down to her last pack of tissues.

After she had a baby with her so-called overseas executive, I felt so bad for her that I took care of her every single day, for years.

I gave up my own sleep just so she could get some.

And all this time, my best friend and the man I love most have been raising a four-year-old behind my back.

Juliet is sobbing so hard she can barely stand.

"Wren! I couldn’t help how I felt! You don’t get to talk to me like that!"

Then she runs out.

Nolan starts after her on instinct. Then he stops, turns back, and grabs my wrist.

"Wren, you went way too far this time."

"Yeah, I have feelings for her. But at the end of the day, I chose to marry you, didn’t I?"

I’m shaking. I yank my arm free.

"Chose me? To keep babysitting your kid for free, without even a marriage license?"

The more upset I get, the calmer he gets.

"If I were you, I wouldn’t pick now to throw a tantrum."

"Your dad’s bypass is next week. I’m the one who flew his surgeon in from overseas."

"Jules doesn’t want to see you get hurt. So if you want your dad’s surgery to go smoothly, you’ll walk down that aisle and keep your mouth shut."

Then he walks off down the hall after her.

My heart is still raw from the betrayal. Slowly, it goes numb.

The summer I was twenty, I took Nolan’s hand and believed we’d last forever.

I never could’ve imagined that one day, he’d hold my father’s life over my head.