Chapter 1

On my twenty-ninth birthday, the world-renowned composer unveiled his latest masterpiece at the annual music awards.

My boyfriend, Carter Hayes, named the piece "Endless Melody" on stage. He told the audience it represented his enduring devotion to the love of his life.

I foolishly assumed it was his birthday gift to me.

Hours later, at a concert across the Atlantic in Paris, the prodigy pianist Melody Scott performed the piece. Tearfully, she thanked the crowd.

"I want to thank Carter. He gave me the courage to sit at this piano again."

The camera panned to the front row. Carter was sitting there, beaming with pride as he applauded her.

I looked at my phone, staring at the twenty-four rejected calls in my call log. In that instant, I decided I was done chasing him.

1.

When Carter finally returned my call, the clock on the wall had just ticked past one in the morning. My birthday was officially over.

The background noise on his end was deafening, making his voice sound even colder. "I'm busy. What do you want?"

All the words I had prepared caught in my throat.

My eyes burned from staring at the television screen for hours. "Carter, do you even remember what day it is?"

Before he could answer, a sweet, high-pitched voice chimed in from his side.

"Carter! Stop talking on the phone and come pin my corsage!"

I sat alone at the dining table in front of the elaborate dinner that had gone cold hours ago. The candles on the cake had melted into a waxy puddle.

On the television screen, Carter and Melody looked like a match made in heaven.

It was Melody's grand comeback concert after five years in hiding, and Carter had flown across the ocean as her special guest of honor.

He went silent on the line for a moment, as if he finally remembered. His tone grew impatient. "Is tomorrow your birthday? I didn't forget. Something urgent came up today, so just open the gift I left on the counter. I have to go…"

He hung up abruptly. On the live broadcast, he walked back to Melody's side with a bright smile, taking her arm as they faced the reporters.

Melody had gained fame as a teenage prodigy, and her sudden five-year hiatus was prime tabloid gossip.

A reporter pushed a microphone toward Carter. "Mr. Hayes, you stated that this song was written for the love of your life. Does giving Miss Scott the exclusive performance rights carry a deeper meaning?"

"The piece is titled 'Endless Melody.' Is that a tribute to Miss Melody Scott herself?"

I stared at Carter's handsome face on the screen, but all I could see was the boy he used to be at eighteen.

Back then, we were just broke kids in high school. He had slipped a bent soda can tab onto my finger, blushing furiously in his faded jersey. "Justine Bailey, when I turn twenty-two, I'm going to marry you."

My face had burned under the afternoon sun as I kicked a pebble across the bleachers. "Twenty-two is too early, but thirty is too late."

"Then we'll do it at twenty-nine," he had promised. "It's a deal."

Later, we moved to the city together to chase his musical dreams. I worked three separate jobs every day to pay our rent and fund his studio time, supporting him as he climbed from an unknown busker on subway platforms to a genius composer.

He was twenty-five when he finally made it big.

He held my hands and said, "Justine, I'm still young and I have millions of fans. Getting married right now would destroy my career."

"Just wait for me a little longer. Once I have more power in the industry, I'll marry you properly."

I understood his ambition. I stepped into the shadows, becoming his silent assistant and keeping my identity as his girlfriend a complete secret.

Yesterday was finally my twenty-ninth birthday.

I had hidden a pair of simple platinum wedding bands inside the cream cake. I bought them with the savings I scraped together over the years, spending almost every penny to my name.

While I was bursting with excitement for our long-awaited milestone, Carter had acted completely indifferent.

I thought he had just been too busy to plan anything, until he introduced his new song on stage that morning.

He had stood beneath the blinding spotlight, looking tender and sincere. "This piece took five years to complete. It is the masterpiece of my life, a gift for my beloved."

The auditorium had erupted in thunderous applause. Sitting in the audience, I had covered my mouth in shock, crying silent tears of joy.

I truly believed he remembered our promise, turning our decade of love into a song for my birthday.

Instead, all I got after waiting by the table for seven hours was a careless text message: "Something came up. Not coming home tonight."

On the TV screen, Melody covered her mouth, giggling with practiced modesty. "Without Carter, I wouldn't be standing here today. When someone stays by your side for decades, aren't they already your true love?"

Carter smiled warmly at her words. "Our melody represents over twenty years of mutual devotion. Between us, we don't need petty labels like girlfriend or lover."