Chapter 2Walked Away Before Saying I Do

I hung up without saying a word.

Was I really the one ruining everyone's fun?

Charles and I had planned to fly overseas for our engagement photo shoot.

I was so excited that I could barely sleep. For three months, I worked late almost every night to finish my project ahead of schedule so I could take the time off.

My message thread with the photography team alone was long enough to fill a book.

Just before we boarded the plane, Bethany called because she couldn't solve a practice problem. She had countless other ways to get help, but Charles still dropped everything and left.

We rarely had the chance to travel alone, and there I was, stranded at the airport with two large suitcases.

Out of 365 days a year, he spent 358 of them wrapped up in Bethany's life because they were tutoring Eva.

Even the seven days he had promised me were taken away.

I stayed at the airport until that evening, apologizing over and over to the furious photographers and the coworkers whose schedules I had rearranged.

By the time I finally sent everyone home, my face hurt from forcing a smile. Between cancellation penalties, travel expenses, and lost income, I was out thousands of dollars.

I never wanted to experience that kind of humiliation again.

Without hesitating, I called the remaining wedding vendors and the hotel.

"Please cancel everything."

There was a lot involved in calling off a wedding. Fortunately, I had planned every detail myself, so dismantling it all didn't take long.

Two days later, Bethany posted an update on Instagram from an account called BethLovesChips.

[Just two thirty-somethings trying to survive a day of babysitting!]

She even tagged Charles's old account, Chip, in the post.

Chip had been his nickname since high school, which made her username read like some kind of public confession.

Charles claimed he had forgotten the password to that account after they broke up, so he could no longer log in and change the username.

Bethany followed me using that account as soon as Charles and I started dating. She began posting carefully staged photos designed to get under my skin.

A carefully cropped glimpse of Charles's forearm. His back as he tilted his head up to drink…

I knew Eva was with them, but the posts still made my stomach twist.

This time, Bethany went even further and posted a clear picture of herself with Charles.

The post included a short video of them losing a game and getting drenched with water as punishment.

The moment the water hit, Bethany screamed and threw her arms around Charles. She pressed herself against him, leaving no space between them.

Charles didn't push her away. Instead, he turned his back to the camera, shielding her soaked clothes from view.

Whenever he was with me, he never wanted to play games. Even at a simple balloon-shooting booth at a carnival, he would start lecturing me about probability.

"Assuming the balloons are evenly spaced, and each shot has a thirty percent chance of hitting one, the odds of making five shots in a row and winning the prize are less than half a percent. Instead of wasting time on this, you could help me find more study materials for Eva."

But in the video, Charles was smiling more brightly than I had ever seen him smile with me.

Apparently, spending time with Bethany was never a waste.

In the background, Eva shouted dramatically, "Beauty and the Geek, just get back together already!"

Ever since Eva's interview went viral, people online had been trying to identify the two tutors behind the state's top SAT score.

They eventually found Bethany's account, and the comments immediately filled with people rooting for her and Charles to get back together.

Bethany never responded. She simply liked every comment saying they belonged together.

Just then, the front door lock beeped. Charles walked in, rolling his suitcase behind him, his skin noticeably tanned from the trip.

After dropping his bags by the door, he came straight over and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"Did you miss me?"

The smell of perfume clinging to him made me pull away. It was the same heavy, overpowering fragrance Bethany always wore.

Nausea rose in my throat.

Every time he came home after spending time at Bethany's house, he smelled like her perfume.

When I pulled away, Charles gave a soft laugh.

"What's wrong? Are you upset because you didn't get to see me for a few days?"

He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a small silver ornament.

"I brought you something. Beth picked it out as a wedding gift."

He handed it to me with a faint smile.

"She said doves mate for life and represent lasting love. See? You've had her wrong this whole time."

I turned the ornament over in my hand. Two doves had been engraved across the silver surface, flying in opposite directions.

A humorless laugh escaped me. "Did you even look at this?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

I held it up between us.

"These birds aren't flying together. They're flying away from each other. This isn't a symbol of lasting love. It looks more like a breakup gift."