Chapter 1

Victoria’s phone home screen had a counter, and for three years, I watched it tick from 001 to 999.

The night before our wedding, I curiously asked her what it meant.

She just stared silently at her phone for a long time, then faintly smiled, "Nothing, it won't be there starting tomorrow."

In the middle of the night, she didn't even have time to change out of her pajamas. Her eyes red, she said she needed to go out for a bit and told me to get some sleep.

After she left, I opened the hidden folder on her computer for the first time.

Nine hundred ninety-nine videos, nine hundred ninety-nine condoms. The password was the date we got together, and also the date she broke up with Leo.

The cover was a screenshot of their chat. They had agreed that after breaking up, they would completely forget each other once they’d used up the thousand condoms they had stockpiled.

Today marked exactly three years since their breakup, and it was also the last night before our wedding.

I spent six hours watching all nine hundred ninety-nine videos. Dawn broke, leaving just one hour until the wedding.

I dialed the number I’d kept hidden for three years.

"If you show up within an hour, we'll go and sign the marriage papers."