Chapter 1

The day before Valentine's Day, my friend Chloe Barrett complained in the group chat.

"Why did Amelia have to pick February 14 of all days? Valentine's Day only comes once a year. Who doesn't want to spend it with their partner?"

Two minutes later, my parents messaged me.

Margaret Ashford: You've always been selfish, Amelia. Everything has to be about you.

Richard Ashford: Change the date. Today.

One complaint from Chloe, and my parents were demanding I reschedule my wedding.

In the end, I caved and moved it to February 18.

On the morning of February 14, I remembered I'd left my ring box in the dressing room at Hale Manor.

When I arrived and headed toward the dressing room through the side entrance, I found the hall packed.

At the center of the stage, my fiancé, Julian Hale, stood in a charcoal suit, his body turned slightly to the side.

He had his arms around a woman in a champagne-colored gown.

He bent down and kissed her.

The woman was my sister.

Vivian Ashford.

Chloe was clinging to my mother's arm like they were the real mother and daughter.

"Thank God we kept Amelia from showing up and ruining everything."

"Amelia is such a headache," my mother said. "She just had to schedule her wedding on the same day as Julian and Vivian's baby's christening. Thank goodness she changed it."

The guests burst into applause.

I stood frozen in the shadows of the back hallway.

My family, my friend, and my fiancé had all been lying to me.

And I'd had no clue.

I'd been planning my wedding to Julian like a complete idiot.

I wiped my tears, pulled my phone from my purse, and started recording.

Then I opened my messages.

I'd kept that number for four years.

I'd never called it.

I typed one line.

Are you free to get married on February 18?

Send.

My phone buzzed almost immediately.

"Of course."

More messages came through, one after another.

"I'm in Zurich. I'll book the first flight back."

"Where are you?"

I hesitated, then sent a smiley face.

Onstage, Vivian lifted the baby out of the bassinet and held him up for the guests to see.

That tiny face was the spitting image of Julian.

My father stood up and raised his glass.

"Our Vivian has been through so much."

His voice broke halfway through.

He wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand. My mother, crying too, handed him a tissue.

Everyone raised their glasses.

The sight made me sick to my stomach.

A year ago, Vivian had been three months pregnant and had refused to name the father.

She'd cried as she showed me the only photo she had of him on her phone.

It was a blurry photo of a man's back.

I'd taken that photo to the investment bank where she was interning and questioned every man I saw going in or out.

Security threw me out.

It was raining when they shoved me down the steps.

My arm hit the stone edge of a planter, leaving a long gash.

I fractured a bone in my lower leg.

Twice, I tried to get up in the rain.

Twice, I failed.

Julian was the one who took me to the hospital.

He stayed by my bed all night, holding my hand.

"Let Vivian deal with her own problems. Look what you've done to yourself. Do you have any idea how much it kills me to see you like this?"

Only now did I realize the man I'd been searching everywhere for had been sitting right next to my hospital bed.

The baptism began.

Julian stood beside Vivian with a hand on her waist.

My mother sat in the front row, hands clasped against her chest.

My phone buzzed.

Chloe had posted in the wedding group chat.

"The christening went off without a hitch. Finally got rid of Amelia, that pain in the ass. Who does she think she is, hogging Valentine's Day?"

Two minutes later, she realized she'd sent it to the wrong chat and deleted it.

Then she posted again.

"Sorry, wrong chat."

I stared at the words, the corner of my mouth twitching.

So they had another group chat too.

What Chloe didn't know was that I'd already screenshotted it.

A low hum came from the speakers behind me.

The enormous screen at the front of the hall lit up.

A title appeared.

"New Parents: Our Four Years Together"