Chapter 1

On my wedding night, right as everyone was gathering to crash the bridal suite.

I got a message out of nowhere: my best friend had lost her boyfriend and slit her wrists at home.

I apologized to Max Henson and tore off to her place like a madwoman.

But when I got there, she wasn't hurt at all. She locked me inside the room instead.

My phone suddenly buzzed. Someone had dropped a video in the groomsmen's group chat.

Max's so-called girl buddy, Eileen Swanson, was sitting on his lap, giggling as she planted a hickey on his neck.

"Ever since we were kids, I've been part of every big moment in your life."

"So naturally I get a piece of the wedding night too~"

My friend called through the door.

"We were only looking out for you. We knew you'd get jealous and make a scene, so we sent you off."

"The game everyone planned for tonight is pretty wild. You're too conservative, you can't loosen up, you'd only kill the mood. That's why Eileen stepped in for you."

"If there were really anything between her and Max, it wouldn't be you standing there as the bride, would it? So quit throwing a fit."

And on the screen, Max sat there with his hands tied.

He didn't stop her. He lowered his head instead, all cozy about it.

One by one he undid the buttons on Eileen's blouse, losing himself in the game, having the time of his life.

Just like that, I lost every ounce of interest in crashing anything.

If Max thought it was fine to let his girl buddy take my place on our wedding night.

Then I could let someone else take his place at the marriage office.

...

My eyes landed on the designer jewelry box on the nightstand.

It was a brand Eileen liked to buy.

I spoke to my friend through the door.

"Melinda Donaldson, if you don't let me out, I'm dropping these earrings in the toilet and flushing them."

A second later, the door opened, just as I knew it would.

Melinda stormed in, beside herself.

"Give those back! Eileen gave them to me for getting you out of the way!"

Ha. So that was it.

I looked at her, and all I felt was let down.

"So you sold out your own best friend, for a pair of earrings?"

"When your boss was harassing you, I stood up for you, I got you into a better company. Is this how you repay me?"

Melinda rolled her eyes and yanked the jade bracelet off her wrist, hurling it down at my feet.

"Nadia Sullivan, don't flatter yourself. Eileen already told me the truth. She's the one who put in a word with my boss for me!"

"Eileen said this cheap birthday present of yours is just glass. Not even worth ten bucks. And you have the nerve to call yourself my best friend?"

"The earrings she gave me are worth close to a hundred grand. That's what a real friend does!"

"Besides, those two have known each other way longer than you've known him. It's totally normal for old friends to share each other's big moments. You're the only one making a thing out of it. I did this because I was worried you'd blow up and Max would call off the marriage, and you'd lose yourself a rich husband. What right do you have to blame me?"

I looked at the bracelet shattered in pieces, and it struck me as ridiculous.

Cheap glass not worth ten dollars?

That was something I'd bought at auction. It was worth over a million.

As for that boss at her company, he probably didn't even know who Eileen was.

Melinda was the first real friend I made in this city.

I'd always thought that between friends, there was no need to put a price tag or a name on a gift.

Turns out I'd poured my whole heart out to a dog.

I picked up the earrings and dropped them into the toilet, and while Melinda shrieked and dove after them, I left.

By the time I got back to the bridal suite, the master bedroom was full of cheering.

That video accidentally sent to the group had already been deleted.

But I still walked in on the show.

Max and Eileen were sitting on the wedding bed, playing a game where they had to French kiss for five minutes without coming up for air.

One of them bare-chested, the other down to a camisole, both their necks covered in kiss marks.

A full five minutes passed before they broke apart, a thread of saliva still stretching between their lips.

The moment they saw me push the door open, the air froze.

Eileen shrugged and drawled at Max, dripping with sarcasm.

"Sonny, your little jealousy jar is back. Game's over now. Aren't you going to go smooth her over? Don't make it look like we wronged her or something."

Max pulled me out to the living room and asked, low.

"Nadia, why'd you come back before I even came to get you?"

"A wedding's a big deal. The guys just wanted me to have a good time. They were worried you're too shy to let loose, that they might upset you by accident. That's the only reason Eileen played those games for you. There's nothing to it."

I looked at his face, not a flicker of guilt on it.

"On our wedding night, you send off your own bride, then French kiss another woman and let her leave hickeys on you, and you call that playing a game?"

"Max, do you take me for an idiot?"

Before he could get a word out, Eileen had already changed and come strolling over.

She held out a red silk slip dress to me.

"Here, this is yours. Max and I were playing strip-the-clothes-off just now and he nearly got me down to nothing, and I didn't bring pajamas, so I borrowed this for a bit."

I'd picked that out with such care for tonight.

The romantic tenderness I'd imagined never came. All I felt was sick.

I threw the slip straight into the trash.

Eileen's face darkened.

"Daughter-in-law, what's that supposed to mean?"

My voice came out cutting.

"Max's parents died a long time ago. So which grave did you crawl out of, playing family with me here?"

"My meaning couldn't be clearer. I'm saying you're a filthy little mistress. Get out of my house. Now."