Chapter 1

1

On the night of our engagement, my fiancé was taking a shower when he suddenly shouted, "Yvonne, come in and scrub my back for me."

I was about to walk in when it hit me like a physical blow. My name isn't Yvonne.

Yvonne was his little childhood sweetheart who was crashing at our place for the night.

Before I could even open my mouth to question him, Yvonne marched from the living room straight into the bathroom. She didn't even bother to knock.

She looked at my naked husband-to-be with a look of fake annoyance. "You're a grown man, Jasper. Can't you go two minutes without me?"

I stood there, a cold laugh bubbling up in my throat. Since they clearly couldn't stand to be apart, maybe I should just step aside and let them have each other.

After three years of dating, Jasper and I had finally started planning our wedding.

Both of our families had brought over a ton of relatives, and the local hotels were fully booked. He suggested letting a few of his friends stay in our new house.

But when I got home that evening, I realized his so-called "friends" consisted of just one person.

It was Yvonne Grier, the girl he'd been inseparable from for twenty years.

I felt a knot of discomfort in my chest, but since she'd traveled so far, I didn't want to be the petty one.

I put on a smile and made sure she was settled in comfortably.

Once Yvonne was tucked away, I finally had a moment to breathe.

Jasper immediately grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the master bedroom, looking for some intimacy.

I laughed and pushed him back gently.

"You're all sweaty and gross, Jasper. Go take a shower first."

He groaned like a spoiled child. "Fine, babe. But you better be waiting for me in bed."

Then, he stripped down and strutted into the bathroom without a care in the world.

I lay on the bed, scrolling through the photos from our engagement party.

Thinking about the blessings from our elders, I couldn't stop the sweet feeling growing in my heart.

I was just about to post a photo on social media to celebrate when I heard it.

"Yvonne, come over and scrub my back!" Jasper yelled from the bathroom.

I stood up, ready to walk in, but the name stopped me cold. I am not Yvonne.

Before I could even process the thought, Yvonne came charging into the master bedroom.

She brushed past me and burst into the bathroom.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she chirped loudly. "Honestly, Jasper, you're such a baby. Are you going to ask me to warm your bed after you're married, too?"

I didn't even get a chance to say a word.

She slammed the door in my face and clicked the lock.

Jasper's voice drifted through the door, teasing and playful. "Why not? In the future, you'll not only warm my bed, but you'll also bear my children!"

Listening to their shameless flirting, my blood began to boil.

Warming his bed? Bearing his children?

They were doing this right in front of me, his actual fiancée. Did they think I was freaking blind?

I grabbed the spare key and forced the lock open.

That's when I saw her. Yvonne had somehow changed into a tiny, lace slip that left nothing to the imagination.

My fiancé was standing there stark naked, grinning at her like a happy idiot.

When they saw me burst in, Yvonne pulled a face of mock surprise. "Oh, Lyra! I didn't see you there."

Noticing my murderous expression, she quickly added a giggly explanation.

"Don't get the wrong idea. We're just joking around like we always do. Jasper's been letting me scrub his back since we were kids. To me, he's basically just one of the girls."

I let out a sharp, jagged laugh.

"Too bad I'm a bit of a germaphobe. Since you two are basically the same person, why don't you take your lady-husband and get the hell out of my house?"