Chapter 1
I thought I was surprising my husband with an anniversary gift. Instead, I came home early and overheard a phone call that shattered a lifetime of memories with one sentence. The worst part wasn't what he said. It was realizing our entire love story suddenly had another version.
I married my best friend.
That's not just something people say about us. Matthew and I were friends before we were anything else, long before either of us understood what "anything else" even meant.
I married my best friend.
Our mothers became friends when we were toddlers, and our families lived next door to each other.
Some of my earliest memories have Matthew beside me.
Preschool.
Science fairs.
Birthday parties.
He was the kid who shared his crayons when mine broke.
I was the kid who saved him a seat at lunch.
He was the kid who shared his crayons when mine broke.
When someone made fun of my oversized glasses in fourth grade, Matthew shoved the boy into the dirt.
"I don't care if I get detention," he muttered afterward. "Nobody gets to make you cry, Ashley."
That was Matthew.
Protective. Patient. Steady.
Everyone adored him.
Especially me.
"Nobody gets to make you cry, Ashley."
I wasn't nearly as fearless.
If a teacher asked for volunteers, I stared at my desk.
If someone complimented me, I assumed they were just being nice.
My father loved me more than anything, but he had a habit of rescuing me before I ever had the chance to struggle.
If I hesitated over a decision, he made it for me.
If I doubted myself, he'd rush in with the answer.
I wasn't nearly as fearless.
Everybody called it love.
Eventually, I called it proof.
Proof that other people trusted themselves more than they trusted me.
Then I got good at almost.
I almost ran for student council.
I almost auditioned for the school play.
I almost applied to the college I secretly wanted.
Matthew was the only person who ever noticed the pattern.
Everybody called it love.
"You always stop yourself right before something good happens," he told me one afternoon during sophomore year.
I laughed.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
He only smiled.
"Someday you'll realize I do."
By high school, everyone expected us to end up together.
They were right.
"Someday you'll realize I do."
***
One Friday night after football practice, Matthew walked me home beneath the streetlights.
"I've been pretending we're just friends," he admitted.
"So have I," I whispered.
He kissed me before I could lose my nerve.
College only made us stronger.
The day we graduated, he got down on one knee outside the little diner where we'd spent years studying together.
"I don't want to imagine another chapter without you," he said. "Will you..."
"I've been pretending we're just friends."
"Yes," I answered before he'd even finished asking.
He laughed.
"At least let me finish the question next time."
Five years later, we owned a cosy house only three streets from where we'd grown up.
Every morning started with coffee together.
Every evening ended on the same couch.
"At least let me finish the question next time."
***
Three weeks before our fifth wedding anniversary, I decided Matthew deserved something special.
He'd mentioned a watch months earlier while we wandered through a jewelry store downtown.
He hadn't bought it.
I quietly memorized the model.
After weeks of saving, I finally ordered it.
The shop called on a Monday morning.
After weeks of saving, I finally ordered it.
I told Matthew I had an important meeting after lunch.
Instead, I used a vacation day.
Driving across town, I couldn't stop smiling.
The small black gift bag rested on the passenger seat during the trip home.
I imagined his face when he opened it.
Maybe he'd tease me for spending too much.
Maybe he'd kiss me before thanking me.
I imagined his face when he opened it.
I parked in the driveway just after two.
Matthew's car was there.
Odd.
He usually didn't finish work until five.
I unlocked the front door as quietly as I could.
Then I heard my name.
My hand froze on the knob.
I heard my name.
Matthew stood in the living room, talking on the phone.
"...don't worry." He laughed softly. "She walked right into my trap back in high school."
Every muscle in my body locked.
Then he spoke again.
The smile disappeared.
"I've been working on this since we were teenagers," he added.
The gift bag slipped against my leg.
"She walked right into my trap back in high school."
My fingers tightened until the paper handles dug painfully into my skin.
Who was he talking to?
What trap?
Why did it involve me?
Silence stretched between his sentences.
Then his voice grew quieter.
"I kept everything."
A chill raced through my body.
Everything?
"I kept everything."
I edged closer without thinking.
The hardwood floor creaked.
I stopped breathing.
Matthew didn't notice.
He continued pacing.
"I honestly wasn't sure she'd ever believe she could do it."
My stomach twisted.
Make it where?
"I honestly wasn't sure she'd ever believe she could do it."
He chuckled.
"No... no, she still doesn't know."
Blood rushed loudly through my ears.
I wanted to burst into the room.
I wanted to demand answers.
Instead, I stayed hidden.
Fear rooted me in place.
"No... no, she still doesn't know."
His next sentence shattered something inside me.
"If she'd figured it out earlier, the whole thing would've fallen apart."
My heart raced.
What had he been hiding?
I leaned forward, desperate to hear more.
Then he said the words that sent me stumbling backward toward the front door.
"My plan is about to work."
His footsteps stopped.
"My plan is about to work."
I never heard the rest.
I couldn't.
Panic swallowed every rational thought.
I rushed outside before he could see me.
By the time I reached my car, tears blurred the windshield.
I sat there shaking so violently I couldn't fit the key into the ignition.
I never heard the rest.
A lifetime.
Our entire relationship.
Every birthday.
Every anniversary.
Every promise.
What if none of it had been real?
I drove aimlessly for almost an hour before parking beside a quiet lake.
The wind rattled the bare trees.
What if none of it had been real?
My phone buzzed.
Matthew.
I let it ring.
A text appeared.
Where are you? I thought I heard your car a while ago. Are you okay?
Another message arrived less than a minute later.
May you like
Ashley? You're scaring me.
I stared at the screen until it dimmed.
