Chapter 1

Ever since I was little, I'd loved telling Peregrine Vale about the funny things that happened to me.

Even though he never once replied.

I never got tired of telling him.

Then, days before our wedding, the local police asked me to come in and give a statement.

That was how I learned Peregrine had filed a complaint, claiming I'd been harassing him with messages.

The police reviewed our texts and brought no charges. By the time I left the station, it was dark.

I gripped my phone, about to ask why he'd done it, when he said, "We need some distance. Stop sending me every little thing."

A moment later, his administrative assistant texted him.

He pulled out his phone and replied without hesitation.

Only then did I notice their messages going back and forth.

From good morning to good night, from work to their personal lives.

He answered every little thing. Just not when it came from me.

Fine. I wouldn't tell him anything anymore.

...

"I've got something to do. I can't drive you back."

Outside the police station, Peregrine kept his head down, typing. He didn't even look up when he spoke to me.

I could clearly see that the latest message was from his administrative assistant, Linnea Moreau.

"Peregrine, I'm at the restaurant. Drive safe. I saved you a table by the window."

Then she sent him a playful selfie.

He wrote back: "Almost there. Order dessert if you're hungry. Don't wait for me."

Then Peregrine walked straight to his car at the curb without looking at me.

He moved so fast that by the time I reached for him, my hand closed on empty air.

Before, I would have called again and again, demanding he drive me home.

I would have kept asking when he was coming home, too.

This time, I stood still and watched him drive away.

I remembered the officer who had taken my statement. Once she learned Peregrine and I were engaged, her expression softened.

"You've explained what happened," she'd said. "Don't spend your life chasing someone who won't listen to you. You have a life of your own."

She'd seen our message thread while taking my statement.

The entire screen was filled with messages from me.

What time was he coming home? Had he eaten? How was work?

I'd told him what had made me laugh that day, who I'd gone to dinner or a movie with.

He hadn't replied to a single one.

When the officer spoke to me, I brushed it off.

I'd thought Peregrine had read my messages and simply didn't feel like texting back.

Only now did I understand.

He answered everything when the message came from someone he wanted to talk to.

I stared down the street long after his car disappeared. My eyes burned, and my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe.

My mother called.

"Wen, your wedding dress came in. When can you and Peregrine go for the fitting?"

My voice caught. "Mom, I don't want to marry Peregrine."

"What? Wen, what happened?"

She sounded stunned. I'd followed Peregrine around since we were children and had once announced to both our families that I was going to marry him someday.

"Can I tell you when I get home? I need a little time."

She heard me fighting tears. "Of course. We'll talk when you're here."

I hung up, and the tears came anyway.

Peregrine had told me to stop following him. He'd called me a shadow he couldn't shake. Even then, I hadn't cried this hard.

I couldn't understand it.

If he didn't like me, why had he dated me? Why had he proposed?

Why give me hope only to take it away?

No one answered that question.