Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Three days after our engagement, I stumbled across an Instagram post from my fiancé's childhood best friend.

【In ten days, the boy who confessed to me ninety-nine times is going to become someone else's husband.】

In the picture, my fiancé was carrying piles of luxury shopping bags, trailing behind her through a packed mall in downtown Chicago.

I clicked on the comment section.

【Wait, did the childhood best friend plus first love trope actually lose?!】

【He's getting married next week and he's still spending his afternoon carrying her bags. She definitely didn't lose!】

【I feel terrible for the bride. I bet money he pulls a runaway groom stunt at the altar with confession number one hundred.】

Looking at the divided comments, I quietly tapped the heart icon to leave a like.

None of them knew that in ten days, I was going to willingly step aside.

The fake death service I had hired was already finalizing the details.

While my fiancé and his best friend spent every waking moment mourning their unrequited romance, I was silently counting down the hours until I broke free for good.

On the third evening after our engagement, Chase's friends threw a party.

I drove to the downtown lounge to pick him up.

The door to the private VIP room was slightly ajar, and bursts of laughter drifted out.

Through the crack, I saw Chase sitting shoulder to shoulder with his childhood friend, Mia Dawson, looking intimately close.

Mia was playfully pinching Chase's cheek.

My heart dropped.

Then I heard Chase gently pull her hand away. "Mia, stop. I'm engaged now."

"You need to respect boundaries, or my fiancée will be upset. I don't want to make her unhappy."

The corners of my mouth curved upward, and I was just about to push the door open.

Then one of Chase's buddies asked, "Why are you suddenly marrying Nina anyway?"

"Didn't you say you were just messing around with her?"

I froze on the spot.

I instinctively held my breath.

Chase glanced at Mia with an indifferent expression. "My mom was pushing me hard. Nina is quiet, pretty, obedient, has plenty of money, and no living parents."

"She's the perfect daughter-in-law in my mom's eyes."

Right after he finished speaking, Mia gasped in pain.

She had accidentally cut her finger on a cocktail stirrer.

Chase immediately grabbed her hand with visible panic in his eyes. "How could you be so clumsy!"

Mia pouted, pulling back. "Didn't you just say we need boundaries? Let go of me!"

Chase sighed helplessly. "You've rejected my confessions ninety-nine times, and now I'm not even allowed to care about you? Fine, I was wrong. Let me see the cut."

With that, he lifted Mia's injured finger and gently pressed his lips against it.

One of his friends chuckled. "After all these years, watching you two together is still sickeningly sweet."

"Why didn't you guys just tie the knot... instead of letting an outsider get lucky?"

An outsider.

I silently turned that word over in my mind.

I suddenly remembered the strange, knowing looks his friends had exchanged the first time Chase introduced me to them.

Back then, Chase had smoothly covered for them: "They're just stunned by my luck for landing such a gorgeous girl."

Looking back now, it hadn't been admiration at all.

The conversation inside continued.

Chase carefully wrapped a bandage around Mia's finger and sighed. "Mia said she doesn't want to be tied down by marriage. I respect her choice."

Mia burst out laughing and slapped Chase's shoulder with an easy grin. "Nina doesn't have many close friends here anyway. I'll just be her maid of honor, and you can pretend you're marrying me."

"Doesn't that sound thrilling?"

She winked at Chase. "You'll always be there for me, right?"

Chase fondly ruffled her hair. "I'll always be there. I'm your permanent safety net."

Chase's friend let out a low whistle.

"Just don't get caught."

"A woman's intuition is terrifying. If she finds out and makes a scene, nobody wins."

I stood numbly in the hallway.

After watching them for a long moment, I turned around and walked away in silence.