Chapter 1

I sponsored my best friend, Chloe Taylor, who came from a really tough background, through college.

I even helped her become a teacher at a private school.

She'd always been incredibly grateful, saying I was the most important person in her life.

Until one day, when I was helping Chloe fix her laptop, I saw the photos inside.

Chloe and my fiancé, Ethan Carter, were sitting side-by-side on a ski lift.

She was snuggled up on his shoulder during a late-night movie.

They were kissing in a sunset on a tropical island.

I'd been so swamped with hospital work, constantly postponing our dates.

Turns out, she'd gone on all of them for me.

There were even their SnapChat messages from today. Ethan had sent:

"She's sleeping at the hospital tonight, so bring a few extra boxes of condoms when you come over, baby."

My hand trembled as I closed the laptop.

I grabbed my car keys and sped all the way to our shared apartment, the place we called our wedding home.

The moment I pushed open the door, the heavy scent of smoke and something else, something cloying and intimate, hung in the air.

The two on the bed didn't even have time to pull apart.

Chloe saw me first. She shrieked, her face going white as a sheet.

"Sophie..."

Ethan turned, glanced at me, and instinctively shielded her behind him.

The clothes and wrappers scattered all over the floor made me freeze in disbelief, forgetting to even breathe.

I just stood there, watching Ethan pick up the clothes from the floor, helping Chloe dress, piece by piece. His movements were practiced and gentle.

He walked her to the door, whispering reassurance. "Someone's waiting downstairs for you. I'll handle everything."

I hadn't done anything yet, but he already feared I'd lash out like a madwoman.

The spot in my chest felt hollow, like everything had been ripped out.

Only he and I remained in the room, facing each other.

I stared at the face I'd known since childhood.

We were childhood sweethearts, knew each other for over twenty years. He always said he'd be my shadow, always follow me.

But now, that face looked utterly foreign.

Ethan pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, took a drag, then looked at me.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

He was the one who cheated, so why was I the one standing here, helpless and questioned?

"Ethan, how could you two do this to me?"

He flicked the ash from his cigarette, his tone flat.

"I admit, I messed up. But Sophie, genuinely, what have you given me these past few years?"

"You always have something to do, a surgery scheduled. I ask you out to dinner, you're on rounds. I ask you to a movie, you're on call. I even had to schedule a fight with you three days in advance."

He said these words with a hint of grievance.

As if I were the one in the wrong.

As if I were the one who cheated.

"Chloe's different."

His voice softened when he mentioned Chloe.

"She cares about my feelings. She remembers what I say. She'll do the things I want to do with me."

"All those dates you missed, she went on them with me."

"In her heart, I'm the priority."

Every word was a knife, twisting in my heart, leaving me numb with pain.

"Ethan! You've known me my whole life, I've always been this way. I haven't changed one bit!"

He frowned, as if I were being unreasonable.

"Yeah, you haven't changed. But I'm tired of waiting."

I heard my own voice trembling.

"So you slept with my best friend?"

He was silent for two seconds.

"I told you, it's not her fault."

I took a deep breath and walked over.

My palm connected hard with Ethan's face.

"You're truly heartless, Ethan. How could you do this to me?"

He didn't dodge. The cigarette dropped from his fingers, sparks landing on the duvet.

He looked up, a flicker of emotion finally in his eyes.

"Enough? If not, do it again."

"Once you've vented, don't go looking for trouble with Chloe."

I opened my mouth to say something, but my phone suddenly rang.