I thought the guy I was supposed to marry would be suspicious or hesitant when I asked him to speed up the wedding. But to my surprise, he looked more worried that I might back out. His family even said they'd be happy to have the wedding as early as next week, if that was an option.

Mom and Dad asked me for my opinion, clearly nervous. I said yes without even thinking.

The only catch? Time was tight, and we still had a bunch of stuff to get done.

After dinner with Mom and Dad, I headed back to the house that Jared and I had shared for the past three years.

As soon as I unlocked the door and pushed it open, someone jumped out in front of me, blocking the doorway.

"Sir, whatever you need, just say the word and I'll—" Elsie, dressed in a maid outfit with bunny ears, stopped mid-sentence the moment she saw me. Or more accurately, the moment she realized I wasn't the person she'd been expecting.

I stared at the fishnet stockings hugging her legs, and the skirt that was so short that it barely did its job.

She was only eight years younger than me, but the way she radiated raw, unfiltered energy felt like one cruel joke, as if mocking just how dull and lifeless I'd let myself become.

"I'm sorry... Jared asked me to come. If you don't want me here, I'll leave right now." Elsie put on her best innocent face and started backing away, only to trip over a suitcase behind her. Right then, Jared sprang out from behind me, throwing himself over her like a human shield.

Once he'd made sure Elsie was okay, he immediately rounded on me. "Willow! Can't you cut her some slack? Elsie's still young. Why would you come at her like that?"

I watched their little performance with a cold, detached stare. "Young? She's 23, Jared! Who the hell shows up at someone's house dressed like that? She has no sense of decency, no manners, nothing!"

Jared's hand shot out, his palm striking me across the face. "Had enough of your tantrum? Not everyone grew up like you, Willow—well-off, sheltered, with everything handed to you on a silver platter!"

Elsie seized the moment and broke down in tears. "It's true. I'm sorry… I know I wasn't brought up properly… My parents died when I was born. There was no one to teach me how to be better… The only one who ever tried was Eleanor… and now she's gone too…"

She sobbed into Jared's chest, shaking as if she'd shattered. But when our eyes met, there was no mistaking the hatred hiding just beneath the surface.

"Elsie, none of this is your fault. It has nothing to do with you." Jared looked down at her, sympathy in his eyes. His hand lifted on instinct to wipe away her tears, but stopped halfway when he finally took in what she was wearing.

"Why are you dressed like this…" His voice faded, swallowing hard as desire smoldered in his gaze.

Elsie bit back a smirk. She dipped her head, feigning a shyness she didn't feel. "I've got a club event tomorrow night. It's just a costume for the performance. Professor Hammond, if it bothers you, I'll take it off right now!"

And with that, Elsie actually started to undress. Jared shot forward and grabbed her hands, stopping her. I might as well have been invisible.

"If it's for a performance, then there's nothing wrong with it." Jared shot me a pointed look. "Funny how it's always the ones with filthy minds who cry foul first."

I scoffed. As I watched Elsie put on her little show, all I could think about was the three years I'd wasted on this joke of a relationship.

After Eleanor died, I became Jared's girlfriend. But not once, in all that time, did he ever touch me.

I kept telling myself that grief took time, that if I waited long enough, his heart would open to me. But reality had other plans, and it hit hard.

The second Eleanor was gone, Elsie showed up to take her place.

To Jared, I was nothing more than a stand-in. I tried to take things further, wearing the skimpy outfits my best friend swore would work, hoping he'd finally want me. But he kept pulling away, and every time he looked at me, it was with a little more disgust in his eyes.

I thought maybe I wasn't captivating enough, so I signed up for dance lessons. But in the end, not even my graceful moves earned me a second glance from Jared.

Instead, every effort I made to please him got slapped with ugly labels like "scheming" and "desperate", straight from my own boyfriend's mouth.

All it took was a glimpse of Elsie's face, just enough to resemble Eleanor's, to stir something in Jared, the man who'd always seemed so distant.

Suddenly, everything I'd done felt like some kind of cruel joke. It wasn't that I wasn't enough. I just wasn't the one he'd been holding onto all along.

"Guess I should just move back into the dorm," Elsie muttered, brushing Jared off as she turned to pack her suitcase.

Right on cue, a few photos spilled out. They were pictures of Elsie in old-fashioned outfits. From the look of the backdrop, they must've been taken in the historic streets of Saffbury.

Elsie and Jared stood too close to be casual, their eyes saying everything they didn't.

Tucked away in the locked cabinet of Jared's study was an identical photo album, taken at the same place, in the same costumes, with a woman who looked uncannily like Elsie. It was how he kept reliving his memories of Eleanor, again and again.

I begged Jared a million times to hit that beach just an hour's drive away every summer, but he kept ghosting me with different stories.

He scooped the photos off the floor like they were something delicate, something that mattered. "It's too late to get into the dorms. Just stay here tonight."

Elsie shot me an uneasy glance, and Jared said, "Why are you looking at her? This is my house. I get to decide who stays!"

I studied Jared, calm and distant. "Right. Your house."

I should've been the one to leave. It wasn't like I ever planned on coming back. I brushed past them and headed for the bedroom to grab my things.

Jared grabbed my arm. "You'll take the guest room. Elsie likes to watch the sunrise."

As if that made a difference.

"Fine," I said.

Jared clearly hadn't expected me to give in so easily. For once, the cold look on his face softened just a little.

His eyes flicked to the swelling on my cheek, and for the first time, there was a trace of regret in his voice. "Wait. Let me get you some ointment for that."

"No need," I coldly replied. What was a bruise anyway when my heart was already in pieces?

I ignored them both, pulled out my suitcase, and packed only a few clothes and the bare essentials before heading straight to the guest room.

The rest could be replaced. Nothing new could begin until the old was gone.

Jared tried to follow me, but the door clicked shut behind me and stayed locked.

He knocked a few times. Then he said, tentatively and probing,"Willow, you're not actually mad, are you?"

We always ended up at war every time Elsie came up, be it quiet, tense standoffs or loud, messy arguments. But now, my calmness caught him off guard.