I suddenly laughed. "What kind of gift?"

"I don't know. Paige didn't tell me." Jared paused, then added, "But she said you'll definitely love it."

I leaned against the wardrobe, gripping my phone.

"Fine, she can be my bridesmaid."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if he hadn't expected me to agree so readily.

"I'll let her know then."

He was about to hang up, but I stopped him. "Jared."

"Yeah?"

"Did you mute me on Instagram?"

He went quiet for a few seconds. "I've been really busy lately, so I haven't had the time to look at my phone."

Hearing that, I sneered inwardly. He had used that excuse a thousand times. But I didn't bother arguing. Instead, I just hung up.

I opened Instagram. My latest post from yesterday stared back at me.

"I ended things with Jared. Ten years, and this is where it ends."

The comments section had exploded, but I didn't reply to anyone.

I tapped into my direct messages. Paige had just sent me two photos. One was a picture of a pair of pearl earrings, and the other was a screenshot of her chat with Jared.

"I'm getting these earrings for Heather. Quick, tell me if they're pretty!"

"Anything you pick is bound to be pretty."

"So, does this count as a gift I helped you choose?"

"Yep. Tell me one time in the past ten years you didn't help me pick out every single gift I've ever given her."

Seeing this, I suddenly felt utterly pathetic.

All those gifts I thought Jared had put genuine thought into were just another woman doing the choosing for him. It was Paige who told him the things I thought he'd remembered about me. It was Paige who reminded him of the little details I thought he'd quietly noticed on his own.

Ten years together, and it turned out I was just a joke from start to finish.

Seeing that I hadn't replied, Paige sent another message.

"Do you like your wedding gift?"

I thought for a moment, then typed back, "I have a gift for the two of you as well."

After sending it, I deleted the chat. Then, I opened my contacts and found Austin Hubbard's name.

"You free? Let me take you out to eat."

He replied instantly, "You?"

"Yeah, me."

"That's a surprise. Aren't you supposed to be getting married?"

"We broke up."

I compiled all of Jared and Paige's chat logs and handed them over to Austin. He was a computer whiz, and there were some things only he could do.

It was nearly 11:00 pm by the time I finished dinner with Austin. He walked me back, but we unexpectedly ran into Jared—who had apparently come back early from his business trip—downstairs by my apartment building.

When he saw Austin behind me, Jared frowned slightly. "What are you doing with him?"

"We had dinner together."

Jared pressed his lips together, remaining silent as he took my hand and led me upstairs. The moment we stepped inside, he dropped my hand and demanded in a hostile tone, "What's the meaning of your Instagram post?"

Oh. So he only rushed back because he finally saw my Instagram post.

I shrugged, entirely indifferent. "It means exactly what it says."

"All because Paige wants to be your bridesmaid? I already told you she means well."

Instead of arguing, I turned and walked into the bedroom.

When I came back out, Jared was no longer in the living room; the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom. His suitcase sat wide open in the middle of the living room, haphazardly stuffed with clothes, documents, and several exquisitely wrapped gift boxes.

I opened the first one. It was a set of high-end skincare products.

I opened the second gift box; it was a Hermès silk scarf in a very eye-catching color. The third gift held a pair of cufflinks, and the fourth was a perfume gift set.

Inside the fifth gift box were the pearl earrings from the photo Paige had sent me. They had looked exquisite in the picture, but in reality, they were completely ordinary—small, with a mediocre luster. They were clearly the kind of ten-dollar cheap goods one would find at a flea market.

Then, I opened the last box. Inside lay a classic Tiffany necklace. There was also a small card tucked inside. I opened it.

Written in Jared's unmistakable handwriting were the words, "For my dearest Paige."

My fingers trembled slightly.

Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to me, I flipped through the shopping bags from the other boxes. Every single bag had a handwritten label.

The skincare set was for his mother, Nadine Boyd. The scarf was for his paternal aunt, Ingrid Foley. The cufflinks were for his father, Warren Foley. The perfume was for his cousin, Maxine Ritter.

The pearl earrings were, of course, for me. And the necklace was for Paige.

After reading through them all, I actually laughed out loud.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Jared had walked over at some point without me noticing.

When he saw that I had opened all the gift boxes, his expression darkened abruptly. "Heather, who gave you permission to go through my things without asking? This is an invasion of my privacy!"

I looked up at him, entirely calmly. "If I hadn't looked, how would I have known that the person my fiance loves the most is his ex-girlfriend?"

A flicker of guilt flashed through Jared's eyes, but he immediately blustered to cover it up. "It's just a joke between friends! Must you make such a big deal out of it? I swear, you're getting more and more unreasonable every day!"

With that, he haphazardly stuffed the gift boxes back into his suitcase, picked it up, and stormed off to the guest room.

All that was left was that cheap pair of pearl earrings lying alone on the floor.

To no one's surprise, Jared slept in the guest room that night. I wasn't sad about it at all, because the moment I posted that breakup announcement on Instagram, everything between us was over for good.

But later that night, my phone buzzed with a TikTok notification.

In the video, Jared—dressed in a white suit—was down on one knee, holding a ring box. In front of him stood Paige in a white dress.

His eyes were red-rimmed, his voice choked with emotion. "Paige, I've rehearsed this proposal in my head over and over again for ten whole years. So, whether you say yes or no today, I'll have no regrets left."

All around them, a crowd of onlookers cheered, "Say yes! Say yes!"

Paige smiled and extended her hand. Jared slipped the ring onto her ring finger, and the two embraced.

The video's caption read, "An epic love story that spanned ten years. Even if they don't end up marrying each other, at least in this moment, they truly love each other."

A single tear slipped from the corner of my eye, carrying with it the last trace of feeling I had for Jared, and shattered on the floor.

The next morning, when Jared came out of the guest room and saw me eating breakfast, his gaze flickered. He walked over and sat down across from me.

"I won't hold what happened last night against you," he said icily. "But you'd better delete that Instagram post."

"Whether I delete it or not is my choice," I retorted without even bothering to look up.

He slammed his fork down heavily on the dining table. "Heather Donahue, can you stop being so childish? We're about to get married—what will people think if they see that?"

I knew this was a sign that Jared was getting angry.

In the past, I would've backed down and compromised in a heartbeat. But today, I simply acted as if I hadn't heard anything and continued enjoying my breakfast with my head down.

In the end, Jared threw out a "Ridiculous" and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

For the next few days, Jared didn't come home. But I didn't particularly care either. I quit my job in Lunaton, and little by little, I packed up my things and shipped them away.

Three days later, Austin suddenly sent me a screenshot.

"That fiance of yours has been pretty busy lately."

I glanced at it, and my pupils constricted sharply.

The screenshot was an Instagram post from Paige's best friend, Alice Duffy. The caption read, "The bride-to-be picking out her wedding dress, with a certain groom-to-be by her side the whole time. They're so sweet I can't stand it!"

In the photo, Jared and Paige stood inside a bridal shop. He was helping her adjust her veil, smiling so brightly the corners of his eyes crinkled.

I had never seen him smile like that before.

My fingers hovered over the screen for a long time, but I ultimately closed the app. I told myself it didn't matter anymore. After all, the moment I posted the breakup announcement on Instagram, I had already decided never to look back.

Even without deliberately paying attention, I noticed the sudden shifts in Jared. He, who had previously been completely indifferent to the wedding, started arranging every single detail with meticulous care.

First, he changed the venue. He felt the outdoor garden lawn I had chosen wasn't grand enough, so he switched it to a ballroom in a five-star hotel.

Then, there was the theme. He said the simple rustic style I'd originally chosen was too plain, so he changed it to a dreamy purple-and-pink palette.

Next came the itinerary. He said the warm, heartfelt flow I had planned was too cliche, so he revamped it into a carnival-themed amusement park concept.

All of it was exactly what Paige would've wanted.

I didn't fight him on anything. Instead, I just let him do whatever he pleased.

Maybe it was because I'd been "too compliant" lately, but one evening, Jared actually came home with a bouquet of roses—something he never did.

When he saw me, he spoke in an uncharacteristically tender tone. "Heather, I've changed all the plans for our wedding. Have you looked them over?"

I nodded.

"Is there anything you don't like or aren't satisfied with?"

At the question, a bitter, scornful laugh escaped me. "Jared, aren't you asking the wrong person? Shouldn't you be asking Paige that?"

With that, I turned to walk away.

"Heather!" Jared chased after me and grabbed my wrist. "What exactly are you upset about? Paige was just helping me brainstorm some ideas. You're really going to get jealous over that?"

I just looked at him, my expression entirely blank.

He rubbed his nose sheepishly, then sighed, his tone softening. "Fine, I admit I took a lot of Paige's suggestions. But I only did it to make our wedding better. Heather, the wedding is just one day. Don't make a big deal out of it."

I nodded and replied in a voice devoid of emotion, "It doesn't matter to me. Whatever makes the two of you happy."

Jared's lips parted. Suddenly, he looked at me with an intense seriousness. "Heather, I'll only ever have you as my wife. That's never going to change."

I met his gaze. There he stood in his crisp suit, as good-looking as always, but the words coming out of his mouth made him feel like a complete stranger.

I might be his wife, but the person he loved was not me.

"You're right," I said softly. "I should be content to be your wife. Even though I'm allergic to pollen, I should happily accept these roses you brought me."

Jared's expression froze. He was just about to say something when his phone suddenly rang.