Chapter 1

On My Pre-Wedding Camping Trip, My fiancé Ethan's closest friends announce that we’ll be drawing names for tents.

Ethan and his childhood friend Ava draw the same two-person tent.

I draw a beat-up old tent.

I look at Ethan, but he doesn't seem bothered.

“You drew it, so you have to live with it. That tent is still good enough to sleep in. Don't be so delicate. The guys don't like high-maintenance women.”

He pauses, then adds, “Besides, Ava and I grew up together. She is one of the guys. Sharing a tent isn't a big deal.”

That night, it starts pouring.

My tent leaks badly. When I go to the car for a dry towel, I find Ethan and Ava asleep inside together.

Ava clings to him, her voice small and aggrieved.

“If I hadn't broken up with you back then, would you have ended up with her?”

It takes Ethan a long time to answer. “There's no point asking that now.”

Then my phone buzzes.

Two messages pop up in our camping group chat, then are quickly deleted. But I see them.

[It's raining. Ethan and Ava are having a little private time in the car. Nobody go bother them lol.]

[Perfect. Let Nora in that crappy tent get soaked. If she hadn't shoved her way in, Ava would still be Ethan's girlfriend.]

The messages are from Ethan's best friend.

I grip my phone so tightly that my nails dig into my palms.

So the invitation was just an excuse. They brought me here to put me in my place and haze me.

Fine.

This trip, which I paid for in full, is over.

So is my relationship with Ethan.

…

“Why are you standing out there?”

The car door opens a crack, and Ethan's voice drifts out over the rain.

I’m holding the dry towel I just pulled from the trunk.

“My tent is leaking. I came to get a towel.”

The car goes quiet for a couple of seconds.

“Got the towel? Then go back. Don't stand out here in the cold.”

His voice is calm. “Ava just fell asleep. Don't wake her.”

I look down and give a mocking smile.

The second I turn around, I hear Ava shift in her seat. She mumbles something.

Ethan's voice immediately softens. “It's okay. I'm right here.”

The rain comes down harder.

My one-person tent is at the edge of the campground, and half the zipper is broken.

Water keeps pouring through the gap. My sleeping bag is already soaked.

I sit on the sleeping pad and wipe my wet hair.

Then I open the camping app and pull up our reservation.

I select all the gear and campsite fees for the remaining four days and cancel the reservation.

A message pops up:

[After cancellation, the campground will clear the site and collect the remaining gear by 2 p.m. tomorrow.]

I confirm the cancellation.

The rain doesn't let up for the rest of the night.

By morning, it finally starts to ease. The campground slowly comes alive.

Jake and Mason are the first ones out of their tents.

“Well, look at you, Nora. Up early?”

Jake stretches and looks down at my soaked pants. “Last night's rain was brutal. Did that tent hold up?”

I stand up and roll up my soaked sleeping bag. “Fine.”

Ethan and Ava get out of the car.

Ava has Ethan's black rain jacket draped over her shoulders.

With everyone looking at her suggestively, she clears her throat.

“The tent was freezing last night, so Ethan said the car would be warmer with the heat on. We ended up sleeping in the car.”

Then she finally notices me. Her eyes widen when she sees my soaked pants.

“Nora, why didn't you come sleep in the car with us?”

Ethan walks over and hands me a cup of warm milk, frowning slightly.

“Didn't you get a towel last night? How'd you still end up like this?”

I ignore him and start packing up my sleeping pad.

He sets the milk down with a sigh.

“Drawing for tents is how we've always done it. You drew the one-person tent. There wasn't much I could do.”

I scoff. Right. Nothing he could do?

Ava is cold, so she gets to warm up in the car.

I get stuck in a tent that leaks, and I'm the one who has to follow the rules.

What a joke.

Seeing my expression, Ethan steps closer and softens his voice.

“When we get home, I'll take you shopping and we'll get that jewelry set you wouldn't splurge on. Call it making up for this.”

That's always how he does it.

He hurts me, then gives me something sweet to make up for it.

But I don't need it anymore.

I zip up my bag and shake my head. “No, thanks.”

Ethan studies me, suspicion crossing his face.