Chapter 1

I find out my husband is getting married this weekend , which is news to me, since he told everyone I died in a car crash two years ago.

I'm on my way home when I spot two of Ryan's childhood friends — guys I haven't seen in years.

I'm about to wave when their conversation stops me cold.

"Ryan's finally catching a break. He's getting hitched again this weekend."

"Good for him. His first wife was a sad story — dropped dead not long after the wedding."

I freeze right there on the pavement.

I'm dead?

Last I checked, I'm very much alive. So what the hell is this about another wedding?

Ryan and I have a son who's almost three. We got married five years ago. Who exactly is he marrying?

I stand there, quiet as a ghost — ironic, right? — and keep listening. The bride's name is Vanessa Mills. Never heard of her in my life.

I memorize the venue and the date, then slip away without a word.

That Saturday, I show up at the hotel.

The place is packed — music, flowers, guests everywhere.

I walk up to the card table, grab an envelope, and stuff two hundred dollars inside.

The girl minding the table smiles. "What name should I put on it?"

I flash her a grin — all teeth.

"Write 'the dead ex-wife.'"

She blinks at me. "That's… a weird thing to say at a wedding."

I don't bother responding. I turn and scan the room. Familiar faces everywhere — Ryan's aunts, uncles, cousins. He didn't even bother hiding this. He invited his whole family to watch him marry someone else.

My eyes drift to the family table up front, and my blood turns to ice.

Sitting right there — his parents. Richard and Linda Carter. My in-laws.

Relatives keep stopping by to congratulate them, and the two of them are glowing. Smiles so wide they haven't dropped once.

Fragments of conversation float over to me —

"Vanessa is such a sweetheart — she's the best thing that ever happened to your son. You two must be thrilled!"

Linda eats it up, beaming. "Oh, we are. Ever since Ryan met her, everything's been going his way. Not like the last one — that girl was nothing but bad luck. A curse on this family, really." She waves a hand. "But let's not ruin today talking about her…"

Her words hit me like a blade between the ribs. Six years I spent respecting these people, caring for them, treating them like my own parents — and behind my back, I'm a curse.

If I were really cursed, they'd be six feet under by now.

Richard chimes in. "I told Ryan not to marry her from the start!"

Excuse me? Her? He means me.

"Her family had nothing — no money, no connections. She brought absolutely zero to the table. The only reason she got in the door was because Ryan was young and stupid."

"That's why we made sure to do it right this time. Dropped a hundred and fifty grand on this wedding — top-shelf everything. This is the kind of daughter-in-law the Carters deserve."

So that's what I get. Back then, I knew his family wasn't well off, so I told them we didn't need anything big. A courthouse ceremony was fine. I didn't want them spending what they didn't have.

And now I'm the joke. The poor girl who wasn't worth a real wedding.

They blow a hundred and fifty grand on Vanessa's fairy tale and can't stop bragging about it.

Every cell in my body screams at me to march over there and blow this whole thing apart.

But I don't. Not yet.

This bill is coming due. Just not this second.

I turn and walk out of the banquet hall.

In the bridal suite down the corridor, Vanessa is surrounded by her bridesmaids, putting on finishing touches before the ceremony.

She notices me and smiles — warm, friendly, completely unsuspecting.

"Hey! You must be one of Ryan's coworkers, right?"