hapter 3 

I pulled up Anna’s Instagram- 

but her page was totally blank. 

That’s when I realized… 

she’d blocked me. 

I switched to a burner account. 

Sure enough, it was full of posts. 

e’d been back in the States for three months. 

The timeline lined up perfectly. 

On Valentine’s Day, 

she posted a photo of her marriage certificate. 

Dashiell’s name and face were blurred out. 

The caption read: 

“Real love is patient.” 

“After seven years, I finally made it back.” 

A few days later, she uploaded their wedding photos, 

videos from the ceremony, 

pictures from their honeymoon- 

candlelit dinners, cozy breakfasts, 

every frame dripping with sweetness. 

Sweet for her. 

Devastating for me. 

Chapter 3 

All those times Dashiell claimed he was stuck at the office. 

or flying out for a business trip… 

It was all a lie. 

And there I was- 

cooking dinner, setting the table, 

waiting up like an idiot. 

God, I was pathetic. 

I shoved the marriage certificate back into his coat pocket. 

Copied every file from his laptop to a flash drive. 

Then I canceled our plane tickets and wheeled my suitcase out of that so–called “home.” 

When I got to the airport, 

Dashiell texted me. 

“Babe, work’s a mess.” 

“I don’t think I can make it in time.” 

“Want to reschedule the flight?” 

I didn’t reply. 

Instead, I opened Anna’s Instagram again–on the burner. 

She’d just posted a bowl of ginger tea. 

“Caught a little cold, but my amazing husband made this for me. 

So grateful to have you by my side for the rest of this life.” 

I let out a dry little laugh. 

But the tears came anyway- 

and this time, 

Chapter 3 

I didn’t try to stop them. 

Chapter 4