Chapter 1

1

"Savannah, that blind date you mentioned last time? I want to meet him."

My sister sounded surprised on the phone. "Why the sudden change of heart? Weren't you just saying you'd never marry anyone but Carter?"

Thinking of my bold declarations from a few days ago made me feel ridiculously stupid.

"Just consider it me waking up from a dream."

"Alright. The guy is coming back from overseas early next month, so I'll let you know."

I hung up and set a reminder on my phone.

There was still half a month until early next month.

My dream was over. It was time to return to reality.

Just as I finished setting the reminder, my bedroom door opened.

Carter walked in with a gentle, caring smile. He handed me a small cake box. "I waited in line for three hours to buy this for you. Try some."

I took it and opened the box.

Sure enough, it was strawberry shortcake.

I pushed the cake aside casually. "I don't feel like eating cake today."

Carter sat beside me and pulled me into his arms. "Who made my Celine mad? Tell me, and I'll go teach them a lesson."

I gave a bitter smile.

We had been together for three years. I had told him countless times that I didn't like strawberry cake.

My favorite was dark chocolate fudge cake.

But every single time, he brought home strawberry.

At first, I thought the chocolate ones were just sold out.

Until a week ago.

Carter went to take a shower and left his phone on the table. A notification popped up on the screen.

It was a post from an account named 【Selene_hehehe】.

【Out of all the desserts, my favorite is still the strawberry shortcake from Spring Street!】

This account was his only special notification.

Seeing that name gave me a strange, sinking feeling.

The pronunciation of her name was exactly the same as mine.

I used my own phone to search for 【Selene_hehehe】. I obsessively scrolled through all her posts from the last three years.

She was an optimistic, cheerful girl who traveled the world. She was beautiful and trendy.

She seemed to be living abroad, but was coming back soon.

Her real name was Selene.

Celine and Selene. The spelling was different, but they sounded exactly the same.

A bizarre feeling washed over me right then.

It all clicked when I accidentally discovered Carter's secret account handle: 【Strawberry_Shortcake】.

It was weird for a grown man to use such a girly username. It wasn't his style at all.

But then I understood.

Selene had posted that her absolute favorite thing was a 【Strawberry_Shortcake】.

He threw away his pride and crossed his own boundaries just to pretend to be her favorite thing from a humble corner of the internet. That was it.

It was in that moment I finally understood why he pursued me so passionately three years ago after just one meeting.

I understood why he always treated me with such tender care, constantly calling me his sweet Celine.

I understood why he only bought strawberry cake, even though I protested so many times.

He wasn't calling me Celine. He was calling out for Selene.

Carter didn't notice my mood and kept coaxing me gently. "Are you upset because of your time of the month? Eating something sweet will make you feel better. This bakery is amazing, just take one bite?"

A heavy rock seemed to crush my chest. "I told you, I don't like strawberry cake!"

Carter froze, looking a bit shocked by my sudden outburst.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

He answered it, and his shock quickly turned into a look of pure joy. "Okay, I'll be right there."

His hands were shaking slightly as he hung up.

He rushed out so frantically that he knocked over the potted plant by the door.

Watching his taillights speed away, I opened my phone to check 【Selene_hehehe】 out of pure intuition.

She had just posted a picture outside the Seattle airport.

The caption read: 【Finally landed! Strawberry_Shortcake, I missed you to death!】

So today was the day Selene returned.

I quietly locked my phone and let out a long breath.

It was time for me, the substitute, to make my exit.