Chapter 1

1

I was looking through the wedding photos on my fiancé's phone when I accidentally saw a message he'd sent to his childhood sweetheart.

"Winnie, I'm getting married to someone else."

"I wish the person I was signing the papers with was you."

"Let's not miss each other in the next life."

Silas Montgomery was trying on his designer tux for our wedding. I was bored, sitting on the sofa in the lounge area, scrolling through my phone.

He was notoriously picky and had high standards. He tried on suit after suit, finding a reason to hate every single one of them.

I stayed patient, accompanying him through the endless fittings. Every time he stepped out, his appearance took my breath away.

His face was flawless, and his physique was perfect. He was a man who looked like he had been sculpted by the gods themselves.

His phone was sitting on the coffee table. I shook my head, thinking he was such a scatterbrain for leaving it behind again.

I picked it up and tucked it into my pocket. Looking at the device, I remembered our engagement photos were stored on it.

I wanted to admire them one more time. I entered the passcode and opened the gallery.

As I scrolled through the photos of us, a small smile played on my lips. I remembered the day of the shoot clearly.

The photographer had asked us to embrace face-to-face. I had whispered something into his ear then.

"This feels like a dream. I can't believe I'm actually marrying you."

I was about to lock the phone when a notification popped up on the screen.

"Don't wait for the next life. This life is just fine."

I hesitated for a second, but my curiosity got the better of me. I clicked on the message.

I've never been the type to snoop into someone's privacy. I had never once doubted Silas in all our years together.

But that specific message felt like a magnet. I had always believed I'd made the right choice with him.

When the chat history loaded, my heart shattered. The screen was filled with messages sent by Silas.

Most of them had gone unreplied for a long time. But today, while he was trying on suits, he had sent several more.

"Winnie, I'm getting married."

"I wish the person I was signing the papers with was you."

"Let's not miss each other in the next life."

And this time, the other person had actually replied.

Silas and I had met and started dating in college. He rarely spoke about Winnie, but his close friends mentioned her constantly.

Simply put, Winnie Beck was his childhood sweetheart. They had grown up side-by-side.

They went to school together every day until the end of high school. Silas used to struggle to keep up with her fast pace.

He would walk behind her, staring at her silhouette as he tried to catch up. He often got grumpy because he couldn't stay level with her.

But even when he was trailing behind, he felt a deep sense of security. It was as if she was a shield that would block any storm.

That life ended abruptly in senior year. A tragedy struck Winnie's family.

In a heartbeat, Winnie vanished from his world. He could no longer see her silhouette or hear her voice.

It felt like a vital piece of his soul had been ripped out. He only heard from neighbors that she had moved somewhere very far away.

They said she would likely never return. And then, I appeared in his life.

The dressing room door creaked open. Silas stepped out in a sharp black tux, the air in the room suddenly smelling of his expensive cologne.

"Babe, do I look handsome?"

He noticed me holding his phone, and his cold brows twitched almost imperceptibly.

I looked up, staring at him with a frozen gaze. Then, I turned the screen toward him.

A flicker of emotion finally broke through his usually calm expression.

"Taya, let me explain."

I locked eyes with him. Very quickly, his look of panic smoothed back into a mask of indifference.

"Trust me, this is just a misunderstanding," Silas said, his voice returning to its usual flat, calm tone.