Chapter 3

When he finally found me, he broke down.

He stood there and cried.

"Yvonne, please don't go."

"Since you left, my whole world has felt empty."

"I think I've been falling in love with you — and I didn't even realize it until now."

"I've already lost someone once."

"I can't lose you too."

How could a girl who had never been loved turn down a confession like that?

Especially when she had been quietly in love with him for years.

So I gave up my spot. I stayed by his side.

An illegitimate nobody, suddenly becoming Mrs. Crawford.

For a while, I was genuinely happy.

I thought I had finally found something good.

I thought that even someone like me deserved to be loved.

But fate doesn't stay kind for long.

While I was decorating our new home, I found a letter.

It was something Ethan had written to Clara. A confession, tucked away and forgotten.

"Clara, I miss you so much."

"My family keeps pushing me toward this arranged marriage. How am I supposed to forget you?"

"The woman they want me to marry is Yvonne — your stepsister, the one you always said you couldn't stand."

"When she and I get married, do you think you'll be so annoyed you'll come back to haunt me in my dreams?"

"Honestly, I hope you do."

"At least then I'd get to see you one more time."

Tears had blurred parts of the writing. Some of the middle was unreadable.

But the last line came through perfectly clear.

"Clara, I promise you — no matter who's beside me, you are the only one I will ever love."

His feelings for me were a lie.

His feelings for Clara were the truth.

He confessed to me out of defiance. Out of distraction. To fulfill a family obligation and find someone presentable enough to stand beside him.

Love had nothing to do with it.

Everything I had built my life around collapsed in an instant.

My world went back to rubble.

Even my voice, when I finally spoke to Zoe, came out broken.

"I spent the whole night trying to convince myself to pretend I never found it. To keep going like nothing happened."

"I had everything I used to dream about. I told myself I should be grateful."

"But today — the moment Ethan said Clara's name out loud — I realized I can't do it."

Silence on the other end of the line. Then, a screenshot appeared.

A flight booking.

"Go. Don't come back."

"I'll figure out how to cover for you with Ethan."

"Safe travels."

My vision blurred. Then the car door opened.

Ethan hadn't noticed my tears — his eyes went straight to my phone screen.

"Why are you looking at flights? Honeymoon planning?"

"Rome or Paris? Your pick."

Neither.

I wanted somewhere without Ethan. Somewhere without any of this.

I was afraid he'd read my face.

So I smiled and steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Just browsing. Oh — can you stop at the light up ahead?"

"I want to grab some macarons. Your grandmother loves them."

Ethan smiled.

The kind of smile that came from finding a lost necklace.

And from having a fiancée who remembered his grandmother's favorite treat without being asked.

"You're so thoughtful. I really did find the perfect daughter-in-law for this family."

For the family. Not for himself.

After all this time, I finally heard what had always been hiding inside that joke.