At her lavish engagement party, Charlotte Ashford learns that her fiancé Connor has been cheating for three years with Sophia, the sister she loved most. When their betrayal unearths old lies, stolen memories, and the truth behind her parents' final moments, Charlotte cuts them out, rebuilds her life, and leaves Connor to face the regret he thought she would never make him feel.

I was standing in the most expensive ballroom in Boston. My mother's voice echoed in my head.

"The Harrises spared no expense, sweetheart. Every single flower was flown in from Holland. Every girl in this city would kill to be in your place."

A chill ran through me. Like I'd been dropped into ice water.

I thought back to the day Connor went for his suit fitting. He'd frowned. He'd said the one I'd picked out looked dated.

Sophia had stood next to him, smiling as she fixed his tie. "That's much better."

No wonder his mouth had curved into a smile.

He acted like nothing had happened. He opened the ring box.

Applause erupted in the ballroom.

My mother's eyes filled with tears. The Harris elders nodded their approval.

Sophia was the first one in the crowd to clap.

I looked at her and felt my stomach turn.

Connor held the ring out for a long moment. When I didn't move, he frowned and pushed it toward me again.

I extended my hand.

The applause swelled.

Then I snapped the ring box shut.

The applause died. Everyone stared.

Connor forced a smile. "Charlotte's just being playful."

He lowered his voice. "Stop."

I laughed. I laughed until I almost cried.

I was the one making a scene?

Fine. He wanted a scene.

I picked up the ring box and threw it straight at his face.

"You bastard. Get out!"

Connor glared at me. "Do you have any idea what kind of event this is? Every important name in Boston is in this room."

I cut him off.

"The engagement is off."

I took a deep breath and walked off the stage.

Chaos broke out behind me. Connor stood there, face dark, frozen. No one moved. Only Sophia ran after me.

"Charlotte."

She caught me in the hallway and grabbed my hand. Her voice was frantic. "Charlotte, what happened? You're scaring me."

"Did Connor do something? Tell me. I'll tear him a new one."

She said it so naturally.

So naturally that for a split second I almost remembered the Sophia from years ago. The one who used to stand in front of me on the playground and tell the bullies if they hit me, she'd hit them back twice as hard.

But what came to mind instead was last week. Sophia on my couch, legs crossed, voice low and teasing.

"Charlotte, have you ever met a guy you just can't get out of bed for?"

I came back to myself and pulled my hand away. I looked down at her, and saw the bruise on her collarbone. Something stabbed at me all over again.

Connor wouldn't sleep with me. He said he wanted to wait until after the engagement.

I'd thought it was love. I'd thought it was respect.

Charlotte, you idiot.

I gave her a thin smile. "This guy you can't get out of bed for… It's Connor. Isn't it."

Sophia's hand flew to her mouth.

"He told you? That's why you just..." Her voice cut off.

She blinked, and tears spilled out.

"I had no idea he was going to just say it." Her voice broke. "I didn't mean for this, Charlotte. I never wanted to hurt you, I swear."

"Sophia. Do I look stupid to you?"

Her face went pale.

"Aren't you exhausted from the act?"

She bit her lip. She looked up at me and grabbed my shoulders. I flinched back on instinct.

There was a sharp tearing sound. She fell, taking my dress down with her.

The dress ripped. My shoulder was bare.

I heard footsteps rushing toward us.

Connor's eyes lingered on my bare shoulder for one second. Then he bent down to help Sophia up, his voice cold.

"Charlotte. That's enough."

The guests had spilled out of the ballroom into the hallway.

My mother pushed to the front of the crowd, white-faced. She didn't say a word. She just walked over and draped her shawl around my shoulders.

The Harris elders frowned at me.

Connor pushed past me and pulled Sophia behind him.

"I'm the one who went after her," he said. "Don't take it out on her."

"If you have to take it out on someone, take it out on me. Don't push your own sister like this."

Sophia hid against his chest, crying without a sound.

And just like that, every face in the hallway turned.

Like I was the crazy one. Throwing a tantrum at my own engagement party.

No one noticed that the torn gown was the one my mother had worn on her own engagement night. The one my father had commissioned, finding the tailor himself.

It was a record of how much they'd loved each other. It was my mother's wish for my happiness.

"This is a major event for both our families. Making a scene only hurts you. People will just see a shrew."

"Charlotte. However jealous you are of your sister, have some dignity."

Connor's voice carried a faint threat.

His family stood behind him, frowning at me. Their disapproval was obvious.

All he wanted was to protect Sophia. He wanted everyone in this room to believe I was a jealous, unhinged woman.

I opened my mouth. Sophia's wounded eyes swept across the crowd, soft and pitiful.

The next second, her knees gave out. She dropped to the floor in front of me.

"Charlotte, it's all my fault. Hit me. Scream at me. Do whatever you want. Just don't say you don't want me anymore."

She was sobbing so hard her whole body shook.

Her hand was clamped tight around the hem of my dress. I couldn't step back. I couldn't pull away.

Connor tried to lift her up. She just kept shaking her head.

My mother walked toward Sophia, disbelief on her face.

"Sophia. Did you really do this to Charlotte?"

"I wasn't trying to take anything from her, Aunt Eleanor. You know I wouldn't dare. But things have gone this far now. And no one is more torn up about it than I am."

Sophia's eyes were red and swollen. Tears still streaked her face. She looked like a frightened doe.

My mother couldn't take it. She grabbed Sophia's shoulders.

"Why, Sophia?"

"Haven't we been good to you?"

Sophia's mother was my mother's sister. She'd married badly, lived miserably, and died young.

Sophia came to live with us when she was eight. From that day on, she had everything I had.

When she was thirteen, she got sick. My mother donated her own bone marrow.

Watching my mother's face, I couldn't hold it in.

"You weren't trying to take anything? Name one thing you haven't taken from me over the years."

Her private school tuition. Her allowance. Her summer in Paris. The rent on her Cambridge apartment.

"Enough!"

Connor half-pulled Sophia behind him, glaring at us both.

"How can you do this to her in front of all these people."

He'd dropped any pretense of respect. He looked my mother in the eye, cold.

"Mrs. Ashford. I understand you favor your own daughter. But don't take it this far."

"If I hadn't felt sorry for her, none of this would have—"

My mother stood there, trembling, her finger swinging back and forth between them.

"You... you two." She couldn't finish.

She swayed and crumpled to the floor.

"Mom? Mom. Someone call an ambulance."

I dropped to my knees beside her. My hands shook as I grabbed her wrist.

The crowd erupted into noise. Someone was calling 911.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Her mouth was shaping the words I'm sorry.

Tears blurred my vision.

I'd been so wrong about everyone. How could she be the one apologizing.

I wiped my eyes and looked toward the door.

Please. Please hurry.

But there was no stretcher. There was Connor, holding Sophia in his arms, his face soft with concern as he whispered to her. "It's okay. None of this is your fault."

Once my mother was admitted, I drove back to the Back Bay townhouse alone.

I'd picked the dining table out myself. Connor had wanted something big. Easier for entertaining, he'd said.

In the closet was the nightgown for our wedding night. Tags still on it.

I looked away and headed upstairs. My suitcase was open on the bedroom floor. I started throwing things in. I moved fast. I couldn't slow down. The second I slowed down, every memory we'd made in this house would come flooding back.

Connor walked in.

"Charlotte."

I didn't stop.

He set a folder down in front of me.

"Equity transfer. Take a look."

"My family talked it over. This is what we're offering you. As compensation."

I glanced up at him.

"It's worth a billion."

He winced slightly, like the number physically hurt him to say.

"For Sophia. For your mother. I think this should cover it."

"And we're going to be husband and wife soon anyway. It makes sense to tie the two families together financially."

That stopped my hands.

He sighed.

"Sophia is not going to threaten your position. You're my wife. The only wife. Sophia, from now on, is just my sister-in-law."

"So stop coming at her."

When he said sister-in-law, his face twisted as if the word itself cost him.

Like treating Sophia as family was some great sacrifice on his part.

Honestly, I wasn't blind. I'd sensed something.

I pulled my phone out from under the pillow. I scrolled through my photos and opened one.

The Boston Symphony charity gala. Sophia in the Harris family's private box. A Cartier diamond necklace on her throat.

Connor had given me the exact same one.

"Five years. You gave me six gifts." I held his eyes. "Connor. Did she get every single one too?"

Connor glanced at the photo. He shrugged.

"Charlotte. It's our world. You know how it works. This kind of thing is normal."

He stood up. His voice was sharper now.

"Plenty of wives know how to handle this with grace. The fact that I'm offering you this much is more than most men in my position would."

I gave him a thin smile.

"Too bad. I'm not that kind of wife."

I remembered the day Connor came to ask my father for my hand. I'd snuck halfway down the staircase to listen.

He'd said, "I'll be good to Charlotte for the rest of her life."

I'd buried my face in my hands, spinning around my room.

But my father was gone.

And Connor wasn't the same guy either.

He watched me, and seemed surprised that my face hadn't softened.

"You really want to call it off?"

He let out a small laugh, like the idea was absurd.

"Come on. This marriage was arranged by your father before he died."

"He put your hand in mine. He wouldn't want you to call it off."

How dare he. How dare he bring up my father. How dare he use my father's name to force me into this disgusting marriage.

My fists clenched. My nails dug into my palms.

Something in me snapped. I grabbed a glass of water off the nightstand and threw it in his face.

"Get out."

"You don't get to say his name. You didn't do a single thing you promised him."

Connor's pupils contracted. He slowly wiped the water off his face.

"Charlotte." His voice softened.

"I said get out. Are you deaf?"

"You... fine."

"I'm not giving up."

Connor sighed like I was a child throwing a tantrum. But there was a calm certainty in his voice.

"You're upset right now. Take some time. You'll come around."

"I won't argue with you over such trivial matters."