Chapter 3

"That way you won't have to be jealous, and you won't be an outsider either."

I looked at Nadia.

"From now on the three of us can keep living together, just like this."

"Are you two happy now?"

I ignored the stunned looks on their faces and went back into the bathroom in my room.

I sank myself into the tub, filled with hot water.

My phone buzzed on the counter. A message from my mom.

"Ginny, your dad and I bought our tickets. We'll land at your place tomorrow afternoon."

I stared at the text, and the tears came all at once, thick with hurt.

To save money for me and Aaron, my parents were only coming a day early, saying that way we'd save on hotel costs.

I'd talked to Aaron about having them come a few days sooner.

Aaron had said only:

"As long as they make it on the wedding day, that's fine."

Back then I'd thought he just didn't know how to be around my parents.

Now I knew it was because he didn't care.

This wedding was nothing to him but a ticket back to his own world.

I dried off, took my cold medicine, and had just lain down on the bed.

A voice came from the door.

"Ginny, are you asleep?"

Nadia pushed the door open and came in.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said today. I was just scared that once you and Aaron got married, you wouldn't have time for me anymore."

"These three years, I've seen everything Aaron's done for you. I really do want you two to get married."

Aaron came in behind her.

A bowl of chowder in his hands.

"Nadia already knows she was wrong. She pushed through her cramps to make you your favorite seafood chowder."

I closed my eyes.

"I'm tired. I want to sleep for a while."

Aaron set the bowl on the nightstand and reached out to feel my forehead.

"No fever."

He tucked the blanket around me and pulled Nadia away with him.

"Eat a little before you rest. I'll be right out in the living room. Call me if you need anything."

I closed my eyes.

Every little moment with Aaron rose up in my mind.

The day we met, I was walking home from a night shift when a drunk came at me with bad intentions, and Aaron appeared out of nowhere and saved me.

To thank him, he suggested I buy him dinner.

And after that, all the chance run-ins, the same tastes in everything.

Before I even realized it, I'd fallen in love with him.

So many coincidences, and I never once doubted them. I even thought it was fate, the real thing, written for us.

Now the details I'd made myself overlook came into focus.

No wonder the drunk turned and ran the second Aaron showed up.

When I wanted to call the police, he stopped me, saying it would hurt my reputation if people found out.

That drunk was a scene he'd staged.

No wonder he knew every single thing I liked.

Knew all of it down to the last detail.

Because in front of their system, I had no secrets at all.

Early the next morning.

I got a screenshot from my mom of a delayed flight.

【Ginny, the airport says nothing can take off because of the weather. We might not be able to fly out at all today.】

【We'll keep looking for another way to get to you.】

【Don't worry. Your dad and I will make it to your wedding with Aaron no matter what.】

I wrote back.

【Getting there safe is what matters most. The wedding can be postponed.】

Aaron caught sight of the conversation on my screen and frowned.

"The wedding's set for tomorrow. How can we postpone it?"

"Ginny, this is our wedding. As long as we're there, that's enough. It doesn't matter whether your parents come."

I looked at him, not believing what I'd heard.

"Doesn't matter?"

"Worst case, we have Nadia set up a livestream on her phone so they can watch. You can't make everyone's work go to waste over the two of them, can you?"

"The person I'm marrying is you, not your parents. You know how long we've been planning this wedding. Don't blow this out of proportion."

His careless tone landed like a slap across my face.

In that moment, my chest went tight, choked with it.

Suddenly I wanted to laugh. I'd thought that after three years together, he'd have at least a shred of feeling for me. But all he'd ever had was use.

Maybe my face had gone too pale.

He sighed, stepped closer, and held me gently.

"All right. I'll find a way to bring your parents here for our wedding."

"Just wait and be my bride tomorrow with an easy mind. Leave this to me, okay?"

That night, just as I was about to call my mom, a call came in from a number I didn't know.

"Is this Virginia Donaldson? Your parents took an unlicensed cab and were in a crash on the road. They died on the spot. Please come to the funeral home as soon as possible to identify the bodies."