Chapter 1

The day before my engagement to Victor James, my best friend Crystal Pruitt was in a car accident.

When she woke up, she thought Victor was her fiancé.

The doctor said she couldn't be subjected to any shock.

So Victor postponed the wedding and stayed by her side as her boyfriend.

He told me: "Once she recovers, we'll get married."

And I believed him.

I went from being his fiancée to a girlfriend who couldn't see the light of day.

Until today, when Crystal's memory results finally came back.

I thought this whole farce was over at last.

But when I pushed open the door to her room.

Crystal was on her toes, straightening Victor's tie.

Victor was leaning down slightly, letting her get close.

The whole thing looked natural, like they'd done it a hundred times before.

When she saw me, Crystal snatched her hands back.

"Sorry... I just did it out of habit."

In that moment, I suddenly understood.

The one who got her memory back was Crystal.

The one who couldn't come back was Victor.

...

From the room to the parking lot, none of the three of us said a word.

The report confirming Crystal's recovery was still clutched in Victor's hand.

It should have been the happy ending everyone wanted, yet not one of us could manage a smile.

I pressed my nails into my palm and tried to break the silence.

"To celebrate Crystal getting her memory back, why don't we go buy a cake? That place we always go to."

That bakery was one we'd found in the first year Victor and I were together.

After that, on every anniversary, every birthday, even just passing by, he'd take my hand and lead me inside, smiling.

"Etta, every day with you is worth celebrating."

But this whole year.

Without him beside me, I never set foot in there again.

"Let's not."

Victor barely hesitated.

"Crys doesn't like the cream there, she thinks it's too rich. And the doctor said her diet should stay light for now, since she just recovered."

Even as he spoke, he was already opening the car door for her.

"She was talking about that upscale restaurant on the South Side a couple days ago. Let's go there."

I went still for a beat.

So it turned out.

He didn't just remember what Crystal didn't like.

He remembered every offhand thing she'd said she wanted to eat, right down to the last word.

While they talked, Crystal had already slid into the passenger seat out of habit.

Halfway down, she caught herself, went pale, and grabbed the door to push herself back up.

"Sorry... I forgot, this is your seat."

She moved to get out.

But Victor reached over and held her down, his brow creasing slightly.

"It's fine, don't fuss."

"The seat, the backrest, the headrest are all set the way you like them. Adjusting them all back now is too much trouble."

He bent down, straightened her seatbelt for her, and only then finally lifted his head to look at me.

His voice was as gentle as ever.

"Etta, you sit in the back for now, okay?"

I looked at him and said nothing.

After a while, I gave a small nod.

The instant I pulled open the back door, I froze.

The cedarwood scent that used to fill the car was gone.

In its place was a peach smell, sweet to the point of cloying.

And stuck to the dash in front of the passenger seat was a pink sticker.

Girlfriend's seat.

I stared at those two words, my eyes stinging.

Victor followed my gaze, his expression unbothered.

"Crys threw a fit until I let her put it there."

"She said it made her feel more secure, so I never peeled it off."

Secure.

Three light little words.

Yet they sank in like a splinter, leaving my chest raw.

A year ago.

When Crystal first lost her memory, she was fiercely possessive.

She wouldn't let any girl near Victor, and she certainly wouldn't let anyone else ride in his car.

Victor could only wait until she was asleep, sneak downstairs to hold me, and soothe me over and over.

"Etta, hold on a little longer."

"She's just sick. Once she recovers, I promise I'll give you the grandest wedding of all."

I lived off those brief five-minute hugs and made it through an entire year.

But it wasn't until today that I realized.

What I'd lent out was never just a passenger seat.

It was Victor's heart, tilting toward Crystal a little more each day.

The car pulled slowly out of the hospital.

The whole way.

They talked about the art exhibit they'd gone to together last month.

About the restaurant they'd eaten at a few days ago.

About the inside jokes only the two of them could understand.

I curled up in the back seat, like a ghost that had drifted in out of nowhere.

My phone buzzed. A new email from my advisor.

【Loretta Bishop, the fully funded overseas doctoral position at Thornton University this year is extremely limited. The entire department only has one spot.】

【I hope you'll reconsider and let me know your decision as soon as possible.】