Chapter 1

At my pre-wedding bachelorette party, my fiancé casually took the juice in front of me and handed it to my best friend, then put her glass of hard liquor in front of me instead.

"Your period's got two more days to go, and you're allergic to milk, so drink the juice first."

Ada Wiley pouted.

"You even remember exactly when my period is. You're such a shameless flirt. Careful, or Harper won't want you anymore."

Nathan leaned back into the couch and teased her offhandedly.

"If you weren't Harper's best friend, I wouldn't bother with you at all."

"Please. You're the one who has to stick his nose in everything!"

The two of them started bickering like no one else was in the room.

I sat in an unremarkable corner, the words "I'm allergic to alcohol" jammed hard in my throat.

Seven years dating Nathan, and he remembered his best friend's period, remembered she was allergic to milk.

But he'd forgotten I was allergic to alcohol.

Just then, a server came in carrying a gift box.

"Congratulations to Mr. James and Miss Stephens on completing our restaurant's '999 Couples Check-In' achievement."

"This is a commemorative gift from us. May the two of you last forever."

Inside the box was a pair of solid gold wine bottles.

One engraved with "Golden Boy," the other with "Perfect Match."

Ada bumped Nathan's shoulder and giggled behind her hand.

"See, I told you this one would be easy to hit. Perfect timing, I'll give it to you and Harper. Consider it my wedding gift to you two!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"You use the two of us checking in to win the prize, then hand it to me for my wedding, and you still want it for free?"

"Well, who told you to come with me every time?"

"Only because I was afraid you'd get drunk alone and lose your mind."

The two of them fell right back into bickering, oblivious to everyone else.

Anyone could see it. The "Mr. James and Miss Stephens" the server had named looked far more like the couple about to get married.

I took out my phone and typed into my notes:

"The hundredth thing I won't forgive Nathan for——"

When I finished, I stood and left.

One concession after another had only fed Nathan's nerve to push further.

If that was how it was, then I was walking away.

......

For the three hours after I left the private room, I didn't get a single message.

Not until I'd finished writing my resignation letter and was about to tap "submit" did the special ringtone sound.

It was Nathan calling.

The second the call connected, his voice, thick with drink, crackled through the line into my ear: "Harper, come open the door. You left me out here."

Every time Nathan got drunk he clung to me, needed me to take care of every little thing myself.

I used to think it meant he depended on me, that he loved me deeply.

Until an anniversary a month ago, when I got off work early and heard him at our door, telling his buddy: "You mean Harper? She really is like a proper live-in nanny, smart and dutiful too, perfect wife material to bring home."

"Besides, she's been with me ten years. How many ten-year stretches does a life get? I owe her that much, don't I? Marrying her was only a matter of time."

Ten years of a long-distance-love marathon, and all it came down to was "I owe her that much."

As if I were dead weight.

And he, out of duty, couldn't bring himself to cast me off.

The busy tone after the call cut out pulled my thoughts back to reality.

Staring at the dark screen, I remembered how Nathan always waited for the other person to hang up first whenever he was on the phone with Ada, even though his bill ran over every month. He still insisted on letting her hang up first.

But me, his actual girlfriend, he'd always cut off the second he'd said what mattered, not wasting a single breath.

I'd questioned it before, but he always said: "Ada's your best friend of many years, practically half a mother-in-law to me. Of course I have to respect her, in case she gets upset and trips us up when we get married."

But he never once considered whether I might be upset.

As if that just wasn't on his radar.

The moment I opened the door, a shadow dropped over me, half of Nathan's weight slumping against me.

A heavy wave of liquor hit my face.

"Harper, look what I brought you."

He held up a box of Black Forest cake, eyes shining as he angled for praise: "I got it specially for you. Do you like it?"

That bakery was one Nathan and I used to go to all the time back when we were head over heels, and it was a long way from the party.

"Why?" I couldn't help asking.

"You left so early, barely ate anything. Don't go hungry."

Nathan's words were so gentle.

Like the perfect boyfriend, attentive down to the last detail.

But if I hadn't seen Ada's post before I went downstairs, I might have believed him.

Two minutes earlier, I'd felt my phone buzz, and opened it to Ada's latest post.

The caption read: Ada wants it! Ada gets it!

The photo was Ada holding a six-figure cake, flashing a peace sign at the camera.

Beside her sat a Black Forest cake bagged in clear plastic, the bag marked with the word "Freebie."

This wasn't the first time Nathan had given me a giveaway.

I'd screamed about it, made scenes, argued.

But he always told me, unnervingly calm: "Sure, these gifts are cheap, but I gave them to you with my own hands, some of them I even made myself. Aren't they worth more than the ones with a price tag?"

I came back to myself and helped Nathan back to the bedroom, got him settled.

The Black Forest cake on the coffee table, I threw into the trash.

The resignation letter on my phone, I'd already tapped submit.

Nathan, your love is too scattered and thin.

I don't want it anymore.