Chapter 1

On our seventh anniversary, my best friend sent me a photo of herself in a hotel room with my boyfriend.

Hailey was wearing Daniel’s shirt, and Daniel was standing behind her with a towel around his waist.

Then she deleted it.

I called him immediately, but he sent me straight to voicemail. A text came through a few seconds later.

You saw it. Come to the hotel. We’ll talk.

So I went.

By the time I got there, I was soaked from the rain and felt like I was going to throw up.

The room from the picture was empty.

Then Hailey sent me a voice note.

“Erin, oh my God, relax. The picture was fake. We were just messing with you.”

I actually had to sit down.

Then another photo popped up on my screen.

A positive pregnancy test.

Eight weeks.

Hailey followed it with another message.

The picture was fake. The baby isn’t.

My hands were shaking when I called my mom.

She went quiet for a second before saying, “If Hailey’s pregnant, Daniel needs to take responsibility.”

“Mom, are you serious?”

“The baby didn’t do anything wrong, Erin. Just don’t go over there and make things worse.”

Then Hailey sent me another room number.

When I walked in, she was sitting on the bed with red eyes, one hand resting on her stomach. Daniel was standing beside her.

“We should break up,” he said. “I’m going to marry Hailey.”

I just stared at him.

“What the hell were the last seven years, then?”

He looked away.

That was answer enough.

I took off my ring and put it on the table.

“Fine. I’m done.”

Someone behind the divider laughed.

Then suddenly everyone did.

My parents came out first, followed by a bunch of our friends. Hailey wiped her eyes and started laughing too.

“Oh my God, Erin. You actually believed us.”

I looked around the room.

“What?”

“The pregnancy’s fake,” she said. “All of it was fake. It was just a test.”

One of our friends still had his phone pointed at me.

“Wait. You’re actually filming this?”

Hailey grinned. “We just wanted to see how much you really loved Daniel.”

Daniel looked more annoyed than sorry.

“Come on, Erin. You seriously thought I’d cheat on you with Hailey?”

“You literally just told me you were going to marry her.”

“Yeah. That was kind of the whole point.”

My mom touched my arm.

“Okay, honey. It’s over now. Just laugh it off.”

I pulled out my phone.

Daniel frowned. “What are you doing?”

I called our landlord.

“Hi, it’s Erin Hayes. I’m moving out. I’ll pay whatever I owe to get off the lease.”

Daniel’s smile disappeared.

“Erin, seriously?”

I hung up.

“The photo was fake. The pregnancy was fake. The breakup was fake.”

I slid my ring across the table.

“But I’m done with you. That part’s real.”

Daniel followed me into the hallway.

“Erin, wait.”

Then he pulled out a ring box.

“I was going to propose tonight.”

Inside was the exact kind of simple diamond ring I’d told him I liked months ago.

“You’re really throwing away seven years over one stupid prank?”

Before I could answer, my mom came outside.

“You should at least apologize to Hailey. She spent weeks planning all this.”

I looked at her.

“For what? Ruining it?”

Mom sighed. “You know what I mean.”

I did.

Hailey had been getting away with this kind of thing since we were kids. She once locked me outside on the balcony and laughed while I cried. Another year, she hid my birthday presents just to watch me panic.

Mom always said the same thing.

She’s just kidding. Don’t be so sensitive.

Daniel used to stick up for me.

Eventually, he started saying it too.

When I got home, I started packing.

While looking for our lease, I found a hidden folder on Daniel’s laptop.

7-YEAR LOVE TEST

Inside was a spreadsheet with everyone’s job.

Hailey: hotel photo and fake pregnancy test.

Dad: book the rooms.

Mom: tell everyone cheating was my biggest fear.

Daniel: break up with me.

Friends: film my reaction.

Then I saw the bets.

Cries in under 3 minutes.

Takes off ring in under 5.

Asks Daniel to take her back in under 10.

Hailey bet on when I’d cry.

My mom bet I’d call her first.

Daniel had written:

She’ll come back. She always does.

I stared at that one for a while.

Then I moved my half of the money out of our joint account and packed my passport, laptop, and work files.

Six months ago, I’d turned down a design job in Copenhagen because Daniel didn’t want to do long distance.

I found the recruiter’s old email.

I know it’s been a while, but is the position still open?

The reply came twenty minutes later.

It is. If you’re still interested, you can start next week.

I typed back:

I am. When do you need me there?