Chapter 1

Three days until the wedding.

My fiancé, Liam, just changed the groom's name on our marriage license at the county clerk's office.

He changed it to Ethan White―the boy next door I grew up with.

All because of Chloe, his late best friend's sister, and her so-called "ultimate loyalty test."

I stood outside the private room of his bachelor party, peering through the crack in the door. I could see them all drinking and laughing.

Someone jeered, "Dude, you really changed the name to Ethan? That's Ava's childhood sweetheart."

"Aren't you afraid she'll find out and actually marry him out of spite?"

Liam leaned back on the sofa, swirling the whiskey in his glass with a smug grin. "Relax, guys. It's just a little test. There were ninety-nine of them, and this is the last one. Even if she finds out, she'll just obediently go and change it back."

He paused, lowering his voice. "I'll bet a thousand bucks she'll be crying and begging me to change it back before the wedding. And she'll have to apologize to Chloe."

The room erupted in laughter.

I leaned against the wall, my fingers clutching the copy of the marriage license application so tightly my knuckles turned white.

So, our seven years together were nothing but a sick game between him and Chloe.

I took a deep breath, turned, and walked toward the emergency exit, dialing a number.

"Ethan, I'll do it. When you get back from London in three days, let's get married."

After hanging up, I didn't leave right away.

The voices inside continued.

"Liam, honestly, isn't this a bit messed up to do to Ava? She gave up an early acceptance to Princeton for you and almost fell into a deep depression. Now you're joking around with a marriage license..."

Liam's hand paused for a second before he downed his drink in one gulp.

"I'll just say the clerk made a mistake. Chloe wanted to play, how could I not play along? I'll just have to sweet-talk her a little more."

"Don't worry, Ava falls for it every time. The last ninety-eight times, didn't she just get over it after a few days?"

My heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand, a sharp pain shooting through my entire body.

I stumbled away, my legs nearly giving out as memories flooded back.

In my senior year of high school, my parents divorced, and I transferred to Liam's class.

He took good care of me, and we got together on the night of our senior prom, even planning to go to Princeton together.

But then, I got an acceptance letter from Rutgers instead.

I was devastated. In the end, my parents pulled every string they had to get me into Princeton through regular admission.

Because of that, I was on bad terms with my father for six whole years, right up until he passed away.

And now, I learn the truth―Liam sabotaged my early admission application because of Chloe's "pre-marital loyalty test."

Now, he could even casually change the groom's name on our marriage license, just to make Chloe happy.

They probably thought I was just some fool they could manipulate.

I opened the scanned copy of the marriage license on my phone, staring at the name "Ethan White" for a long time as tears dripped onto the screen.

Just then, a FaceTime call from Liam popped up.

"Babe, I've had too much to drink. Can you come pick me up?" he slurred.

Suddenly, another face squeezed into the frame.

"Yeah, Ava, everyone's waiting for you," Chloe cooed.

Her face was almost pressed against Liam's, her hand resting on his shoulder.

I took a deep breath, swallowing the pain in my heart.

"I'm not feeling well. Just have Chloe give you a ride."

Before Liam could say anything, Chloe spoke up, her voice full of feigned hurt.

"Ava, if you're upset that Liam brought me to the party, I'm sorry. But please don't fight with him because of me, okay?"

But almost every single one of our fights was because of her.

She was two years younger than us and had been hostile to me from the moment we met. She knew I was lactose intolerant but deliberately told the barista to swap my oat milk latte for one with whole milk.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have ended up in the emergency room that day.

But Liam just told me to be understanding, that she was just emotional after losing her brother.

That was the first time we had a huge fight in public.

"Chloe, you don't need to apologize to her!"

The familiar accusation came through the phone. Liam ruffled Chloe's hair, and when he looked back at me, the drunkenness had faded from his eyes, replaced by pure scorn.

"I was just telling my buddies how understanding you are, and now you're pulling this shit? Who do you think you are?"

"Chloe meant well. Is it really worth making a big deal out of something so small?"

I forced back my tears and laughed out loud.

"So, is it worth it for you to change the name on our marriage license to someone else's, just to mess with me for her amusement?"

Liam froze.

"You saw it?"

"It's not a big deal. It was just a clerical error. You'll go change it back anyway, right?"

There was more noise from the other side.

"Ava, Liam just sees Chloe as a sister. It was a drunk joke, we can all vouch for that."

"Yeah, he only has eyes for you. Just come and get him."

Liam's face was etched with impatience.

"Let her do what she wants! Chloe will take me home anyway!"