At the reunion, someone asked when I was getting married.

Grinning, I pulled out the invites. "Mid-October. Be there."

Cheers broke out. Everyone peeked at the girl next to me.

"You've been with Daphne forever, right? Finally making it official?"

Daphne hurled her drink at me. "Ethan Everett, is this your idea of pressuring me into marriage?"

The room froze.

I wiped my face, cool as ever, and opened the invite in front of her.

"Maybe check the name. It doesn't say you're the bride."

Every reunion, someone'd toss out the same question—when were Daphne and I finally tying the knot?

Ten years in and no wedding? People thought we were basically mythical.

So when I dropped the wedding date and started passing out invites, jaws hit the floor.

After a beat, the congrats rolled in.

Then the invites got closer to Daphne. I paused—should I even give her one?

That's when a glass of water smacked me dead in the face.

"When did I ever say yes to your proposal? Ethan Everett, is this your idea of pressuring me into marriage?"

The whole room froze.

"I said no, and I meant it. Pulling stunts like this won't change anything! Why don't you try waiting a few more years like a normal person?"

I wiped my face, met her glare, and flipped open the invite right in front of her.

"Maybe check the name. It doesn't say you're the bride."

By now, people were cracking open their invites, glancing around, whispering.

"Wait, the bride's not Daphne?"

"It says... Alana Anderson. That name rings a bell."

"Is this for real? Weren't they together like ten years? How'd it flip to someone else outta nowhere?"

Daphne yanked the invite, skimmed it, and her face lit up with pure rage. She crumpled it and chucked it at me.

"Oh, so you're really committing to the act now, huh?"

A couple classmates rushed in, trying to calm the storm.

"Seriously, what's going on? You two fighting again? Ethan, can't you cut Daphne some slack? This could really mess her up."

"And Daphne, come on. Everyone knows how good he's been to you. Maybe chill a bit? Give the guy some credit."

She shoved one of them out of the way, jabbing a sharp nail at my face.

"This is what you wanted, right? Humiliate me in front of everyone so they'd all gang up on me!"

"Daphne Jent," I said flat, "unless my memory's broken, didn't we break up a long time ago?"

She froze, face draining like she'd just remembered her own words from six months ago.

We ended it then. I was clear. Some of her close friends even knew the deal.

Six months back, she rolled into a party clinging to some boy toy—and ran straight into me.

I was at a business dinner when one of my business partners nodded behind me. "Ethan, isn't that your girlfriend?"

I turned and caught her laughing, draped all over some younger guy, heading into a private room with her crew.

That morning, she was still whining about me going to business dinners and smelling like whiskey when I got home. A few hours later, she strolled in here flaunting herself.

I swallowed the heat rising in my chest, forced a smile. "You've got the wrong person. My girlfriend went back home. Excuse me, I need the restroom."

God, I wished it wasn't her. But from outside that private room, I heard everything.

"Daphne, aren't you scared Ethan's gonna find out and flip?"

"Tch, who cares?" Her voice was full-on mockery. "Even if he does, what's he gonna do? Yell at me? Please. Can you chill? What's wrong with wanting a little freedom?"

"But you've been together, like, ten years. You're not worried that might crash and burn?"

She snorted. "He's not going anywhere. A guy that boring—who'd even want him? He was talking marriage, and I shut that down fast."

"So you're just gonna keep stringing him along?"

She took a slow sip, laughed. "Marriage? Please. I'm still young. Spending forever with him? Total waste."

"I think you're pushing it."

Daphne didn't flinch. She leaned into that guy and whispered in his ear, "Ryan, you didn't hear a thing, got it? Let's actually have some fun tonight."

Watching from the doorway, my head spun. My chest felt like it was getting crushed. The bitterness? It nearly choked me.

From high school to college to chasing our careers—I stuck with Daphne through it all.

Now that my life was finally steady, I was ready to give her a real home. But every time, she dodged the idea of marriage.

I thought she just needed time. I didn't get that she saw me as dead weight, something that'd kill her fun.

I shoved the emotion down, kicked open the private room door, and met her wide-eyed panic head-on.

"Daphne Jent, congrats. We're done."

As I walked off, the chaos behind me kept going.

"Daphne, you messed up! Go talk to Ethan, now!"

Through gritted teeth, she snapped, "He's bluffing! Like he could ever leave me. He'll come crawling back, just watch!"

That night, I packed my stuff and walked out. No calls. No texts.

She didn't reach out either. Her friends tried when she was drunk. I let it go to voicemail.

This reunion? First time we'd seen each other in six months.

Everyone looked stunned, so I said it again.

"Daphne and I broke up. Six months ago. I don't want my fiancée getting the wrong idea, so let's quit dragging up the past."

Daphne's eyes flew wide. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You know I'm not."

She stared, chest rising, then forced it out. "Ethan Everett, that's enough."

Typical Daphne—always thinking I was bluffing, just trying to piss her off.

I didn't bother responding. I was about to make an excuse to dip when my phone started buzzing.

I saw the caller ID and couldn't help smiling.

"Hey, Alana. You off work?

"Yeah. I'm still at the class reunion.

"No need to swing by. I'll wrap up soon. Talk later."

I'd barely hung up when someone yanked the phone out of my hand.

Daphne glared at the screen, fuming. "Who is she? Where'd you dig up this actress?"

She tried to redial.

I snatched it back. "My life's got nothing to do with you."

Her eyes instantly welled up. She bit her lip, nodding like crazy. "Fine. Great. Just remember what you said. I'm breaking up with you! Don't come crawling back in a few days!"

Then, like it was some kind of revenge move, she whipped out her phone, ignoring everyone, and cranked her voice up to sugary-sweet.

"Hey, Ryan. Remember asking me out? I'm down. When we meeting?"

I frowned, gave our class rep, Andy, a quiet goodbye, and walked out.

He trailed after me. "Ethan, what was that? Why were you two going at it?"

I stopped. Figured he deserved the truth. "We weren't fighting. We broke up. That invite's real—you're welcome at the wedding."

His eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah."

As we stepped outside, a car honked. The window slid down, and Alana smiled at me, warm and steady.

I jogged over. "You didn't have to come."

"It wasn't far. Figured you might've had a drink or two—didn't want you driving."

Classmates started spilling out, jaws dropping when they saw us. One guy smacked his forehead.

"Wait—Alana Anderson! Wasn't she the campus belle freshman year? Left for overseas after a bit."

That lit a spark. More people started recognizing her.

I blinked, thrown. Alana and I were classmates? How did I not remember that?

She dropped her gaze for a second, then stepped out, greeting everyone with that calm, graceful charm.

I made the intro. "This is my fiancée, Alana. Sounds like most of you already know her?"

"Yeah, of course! Can't believe you two are together. It's been years, but once you've seen Alana, you don't forget. Total knockout."

I laughed. "Alright, we're heading out. Catch up at the wedding?"

We'd barely gotten in the car when Daphne came storming over, face twisted with rage.

Alana glanced at me. "Want to talk to her?"

"No. Let's go."

Daphne's figure shrank in the rearview. At one point, she even chucked her purse at the car.

Alana stayed unbothered, calm as ever.

Me? I was still processing. "So... we were classmates?"

"Yeah. We even talked once."

She let out a quiet laugh. "But I was too plain. You didn't remember me."

"Don't say that, I—"

They said she was the campus belle. How could she have been plain?

Back then, I was buried in part-time jobs or tangled up with Daphne. I didn't really have a college life, let alone time to notice everyone else.