Chapter 1

The night before my wedding, I drive forty miles to pick up my fiancé's mistress and bring her home myself.

"Addie, let Cass have the wedding tomorrow. "

When Julian sees us, he actually exhales in relief.

"Addie, I promise you're still my wife, legally. Cass can't handle stress. She needs it. Once she's settled, I'll marry you properly."

Julian takes my silence for a yes. He doesn't even look back as he leads Cassidy upstairs to pick out a wedding dress.

I don't get angry. I just calmly pick up my phone and drop one line into a group chat.

[I'm short a groom for tomorrow. Any takers?]

My phone explodes.

Every one of Julian's so-called best friends is in there, fighting to be the one to walk me down the aisle.

I smile.

See, Julian? If you won't marry me, plenty of men will.

I mute the chat and set the phone down.

"Miss Whitlock." Mr. Brennan, our butler, clears his throat. "Mr. Hayes is asking you to bring out the wedding gown."

He pauses, then forces himself to finish. "He said you won't need it tomorrow. Let Miss Lane wear it."

That gown.

Six months of sketching. A year of flying around the world. Every stitch, hand-finished by me.

No one knows better than Julian how much of me is sewn into that dress.

And now — because Cassidy wants it — I'm supposed to just hand it over?

"Tell him," I say evenly, "if he wants it, he can come down here and beg me for it himself."

Thirty minutes later, the front door slams open.

Julian walks in with a dozen bridal consultants trailing behind him, each holding two designer gowns.

He drops onto the couch, lazily twirling a strand of my hair between his fingers.

"Addie. Our wedding can wait. Cass likes your dress — just let her borrow it."

He gestures at the consultants. "Pick one you like from these."

"Or don't. After Cass is done with yours, you can wear it for our wedding. I don't mind."

Cassidy bursts out laughing. She throws herself into Julian's lap.

"Julian, you're awful. You're the one who told all of Manhattan Addie'd never wear secondhand. And now you want her in a dress I've already worn? She's going to hate me."

Julian doesn't even blink. He smiles and pats her head.

"She's not that petty. She's been with me ten years. Who else is she gonna marry?"

I keep my eyes lowered.

In the group chat, the men are still going at it, each posting Instagram Stories about the wedding tomorrow — captioned with photos of suits, cufflinks, custom shoes.

Julian sees it too. He laughs under his breath.

"I'm the one getting married tomorrow and these idiots are pulling all-nighters with their tailors. More dressed up than the groom."

He casually drops a voice note into the groomsmen's chat: [Relax, boys. Tomorrow's casual. Eat, drink, have fun. Just one thing — make sure you call Cassidy by her name, with respect.]

He doesn't notice that no one replies.

He shifts Cassidy in his arms, then lazily reaches a hand toward me.

"Addie, where the condoms? You know how clingy Cass is — she wants me every night. And if she doesn't get her way, she loses it."

"But I promised you. My first child will come from you."

I pull the corner of my mouth into something like a smile.

That promise. He remembers only half of it.

Ten years ago, under a sky full of fireworks, twenty-year-old Julian had sworn he would marry only me. That my wedding would be his first. That my child would be his first.

Ten years later, everything has changed.

I drop the smile quickly. Tell Mr. Brennan to go pick up a box of condoms for him.

Pleased with my obedience, Julian scoops Cassidy up and heads for the stairs.

"Oh, and Addie — sleep in the guest room tonight. Cass wants me all to herself. She's a nightmare in the morning, so have the MUA wait outside the door. She can start once Cass wakes."

"Julian."

He stops on the staircase, turning his head with a faint frown. Make it quick.

I look him in the eye, one word at a time.

"The wedding's still on tomorrow. If you won't be the groom — I'll find someone who will."