Chapter 3

Serena's POV:

Nora turns around, grabs a chocolate wedding favor off the table, unwraps it and pops it in her mouth.

"Honestly though — three years ago, who would've guessed you'd end up marrying him?"

I don't respond.

She chews slowly, eyes going distant.

"You were so wrecked after Dylan. I was terrified."

"That man was something else. Made you believe he'd give you the whole damn sky. We all thought you two were a done deal."

Her voice drops. "Then Vivian showed up."

My fingers curl, just slightly.

Vivian.

I haven't heard that name in a long time.

Ethan and I had been together six months before he brought me home to meet his family. That's when I found out.

Dylan was his older brother.

And Vivian — the woman who'd destroyed my engagement — was already his brother's wife.

I was shaking so hard I couldn't stand. I turned to leave.

Ethan grabbed my hand. His voice was barely a whisper.

"Serena, give me a chance. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. What happened before — let it stay in the past. Please."

I fought it for a long time.

Every time I saw Dylan and Vivian at family dinners, my stomach turned inside out.

But Ethan — he was so good to me. He made sure I barely had to see them. At every gathering, he kept them away from me.

He said, "You don't have to deal with her. She's nothing to you."

But I didn't want to make things hard for him. He was a Moore. Vivian was his brother's wife. Holidays, birthdays — they'd always cross paths.

The better he treated me, the more guilty I felt for holding onto the past.

After months of fighting myself, one night at dinner, I picked up my glass, looked at Vivian, and smiled.

"To family."

Under the table, Ethan squeezed my hand. His eyes went red.

From then on, I played nice. Every single time.

Then Dylan died. Construction accident. There one day, gone the next.

Vivian became a widow.

"I wasn't gonna bring this up on your big day," Nora says, cutting through my thoughts with a bitter little laugh.

"I'm just so mad — I couldn't even get a spot in this wedding for me and my boyfriend, but somehow Vivian's here too?"

"And the guy she's paired with? Some college buddy of Ethan's who just got back from overseas — Lucas Caldwell!"

"What is it with men? Do they all fall for the same type of two-faced woman?"

She's getting angrier by the second. The candy box in her hand is crushed.

"Back when you and Dylan got engaged, he literally left you in front of both families — said Vivian wasn't feeling well and needed him. And what happened? He took care of her all the way into his bed!"

Her voice cracks now.

"That night, you went to the bridge alone—"

I lower my eyes. My lashes tremble.

"If Ethan hadn't jumped in after you—"

She can't finish. She swipes hard at her face.

I hand her a tissue.

"Ethan…" Nora takes it, forces a shaky smile. "He was soaking wet, shivering, lips turning blue, and he just knelt down in front of you and said, 'Don't be scared. I'm here.' You didn't even know him. Why would a total stranger do that for you?"

Her voice picks up again, lighter, that survivor's relief.

"He said he understood you. Said he'd been lied to before too. Said he'd spend a lifetime helping you heal."

"You know how bad it was? You were down to nothing — barely eating, wouldn't talk to anyone. He was the only person you'd eat for."

Nora crumples the tissue into a ball. "We all thought God sent him to save you. Three years of chasing you and he never even touched your hand. We used to joke behind his back — like, does this guy even work? But looking at it now, what kind of man can do that? He really loves you."

Her eyes are red again on those last two words.

I lift my head. Look out the window.

Then I laugh. Just once.

"He doesn't love me."

Nora goes still.

"What did you just say?"