At the class reunion, someone asked my husband, "Who was your secret crush back in high school?"

Carter Delgado glanced at me briefly, then turned to the beauty queen sitting beside him. "Mia."

Mia Prescott's eyes went wide with shock.

"Then why did you ignore the love letter I wrote you?"

Carter froze.

"I thought you liked Brendan Lawrence."

One question led to another, and piece by piece, the misunderstanding from all those years ago unraveled.

Mia's love letter had ended up in the wrong bag.

That single mistake had kept them apart.

Mia's eyes turned red in an instant, and Carter's face filled with stunned regret.

The people around us started making snide remarks.

"Come on, how is that dramatic? A love letter that just happened to end up in the wrong bag? You don't think... someone might have switched it on purpose?"

The air went dead.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to me.

Most of our classmates had no idea that Carter and I had been married for five years.

All they remembered was that I was the ugly duckling who'd shamelessly chased after Carter Delgado back in the day.

I turned to look at him.

I wanted him to say something. Anything.

Even just one sentence—that he was the one who'd pursued me.

But he said nothing. Just like the rest of them, he stared at me with an unreadable expression.

In that moment, I slipped the wedding ring off my finger—the one I'd worn for five years—and told myself it was over.

——

A few more rounds of drinks passed.

Mia ran over to Carter's side, tears streaming down her face like rain on cherry blossoms, and they poured their hearts out to each other.

"I can't believe it was all just a misunderstanding."

"If only I'd written your name at the top of that letter. Then you wouldn't have thought... that the person I liked was someone else."

Carter's gaze was heavy, full of regret.

"No one could have predicted it."

"That things would turn out this way."

Mia grew more emotional, drinking more than she should have.

Carter stayed beside her the entire time, gently patting her back, even handing her a glass of hangover remedy.

From start to finish, he never once looked at me.

The excited chatter around us swelled.

"Who would've thought? A crush that fizzled out years ago actually gets a second chance eight years later."

"So the Delgado prodigy from our business school really did have a thing for the Prescott beauty queen."

"If they'd gotten together back then, their kid would probably be in preschool by now."

Then someone else chimed in, voice dripping with spite.

"Exactly. If certain people hadn't thrown themselves at Carter so shamelessly, maybe those two wouldn't have spent all these years apart."

Their gazes drifted toward me, one by one, not quite direct but impossible to miss.

I clenched my fists, pressed my lips together, and said nothing.

The whispers continued.

Then one of the more outgoing classmates slid into the seat beside me, leaning in close.

"Serena Whitmore. Was it you?"

"Tell the truth. Did you swap the love letter on purpose so those two would miss their chance?"

My expression turned cold. I was about to say it wasn't me.

But the crowd erupted before I could speak.

"I'd bet money on it."

"Everyone used to say Carter and Mia were the golden couple. They were obviously into each other."

"The only one who didn't get the memo was Serena, pining away, staring at Carter every chance she got."

"We all saw it. The second evening study hall ended, she'd drag him out to the track field. Who knows what other stunts she pulled?"

"Swapping a love letter? That's nothing for someone like her. Obviously she did it. Do we even need to ask?"

None of them knew that Carter and I were together. Eight years as a couple. Five years as husband and wife.

They only remembered that I used to hang around Carter a lot.

They assumed I was the one chasing him. A lovesick nobody reaching for someone out of her league, desperate to land the golden boy.

But they didn't know the truth.

From the very beginning, Carter was the one who pursued me.

He was reserved by nature, never one for public displays. He'd never once posted about us on social media. Every step forward in our relationship had been his initiative, his doing. Yet somehow, he always came out looking like the innocent party.

He was the prodigy of the business school, turning heads wherever he went, impossible to ignore. And me? In everyone's eyes, I was never good enough for him.

But that was no reason for me to be mocked. To be humiliated.

I turned to face the classmate who'd spoken, my expression flat.

"If your tongue's that useless, you could always cut it out."

The words landed without an ounce of mercy. Someone slammed a fist on the table and pointed at me, voice dripping with contempt.

"Seriously, Serena? What do you have to be so arrogant about?"

"If you actually had what it takes, you wouldn't have chased Carter for eight straight years with nothing to show for it."

"Do you even know how the whole circle laughs at you behind your back?"

"A delusional ugly duckling who actually thought she could land a guy like him."

Snickers rippled through the table, hushed but deliberate.

Heat stung my eyes. My face burned.

I turned to look at Carter.

He glanced at me once, then deliberately looked away.

In that moment, the wedding ring on my finger felt like a weight pressing down on my chest.

Aside from Carter's best friend, Samuel Henson, not a single person at that table knew.

Carter and I were already married.

Today wasn't just a class reunion. It was our fifth wedding anniversary.

I'd never been one for crowds. The only reason I'd come tonight was because Carter had begged me, over and over.

"Serena, it's been so many years since you've shown up to one of these. People are going to talk."

"Besides, it's all old classmates. We should catch up."

I hadn't said anything.

Carter wasn't the social type either. The real reason he'd been so eager to attend was simple: he'd heard that Mia Prescott would be there. The girl who'd been voted the beauty queen back in school.

When I stayed silent, Carter pulled me into his arms, his voice low and coaxing.

"Serena, you're always complaining that I never acknowledge you on social media."

"I promise. Tonight, at the reunion, I'll tell everyone. About us."

I couldn't hold out against his relentless persuasion, so I agreed.

And now, with all these old classmates laughing at me for being a delusional fool who'd chased Carter for eight years with nothing to show for it, Carter sat there in silence. Not a single word.

The room plunged into a dead, awkward quiet.

I set down my knife and fork and let a cold smile curl across my lips.

"Who said I never caught him?"

Everyone exchanged glances, some leaning forward with barely contained excitement.

"Wait, are they actually a thing?"

The only person who knew the truth was Samuel. He knew I'd been Carter's girlfriend for eight years and was now his wife.

But Samuel had never liked me. He'd always gone out of his way to antagonize me, convinced I was some shameless social climber who'd wormed her way in.

Hearing what the others were saying, he let out a scoff and drained his glass in one go.

He muttered under his breath.

"Some people just can't see themselves clearly. Don't know their own weight."

"Pure shamelessness."

His voice was low enough that no one else heard.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Carter.

The instant my words landed, his hand froze mid-air, his entire body going rigid.

His gaze swept over me, cold and dismissive. His eyes said it all: Don't you dare.

A moment later, my phone buzzed twice.

A message from Carter.

"Serena, don't tell anyone we're married."

"Now isn't the right time."

I almost laughed.

Not the right time? The only reason was that he and Mia had finally cleared up the misunderstanding from years ago. He thought there was a real chance of rekindling things with her.

But why should I step aside and play the selfless fool so the two of them could ride off into the sunset?

I rose slowly to my feet.

"Carter, weren't you going to tell everyone the truth?"

Carter shot up from his seat, every muscle in his body going rigid.

He stared at me for a long, hard moment. Then he turned stiffly toward the group.

"Yes."

"Serena and I were together once."

"But that's in the past."

"We broke up."

My head snapped up. I stared at him, disbelief written across my face, my nails digging into my palms hard enough to break skin.

Mia tilted her chin up, her face lighting with barely contained delight as she looked at Carter.

"Really? So you're single now?"

The words had barely left her mouth before the room erupted.

"Oh my God, I'm literally shipping them so hard right now."

"This is what soulmates look like! They went their separate ways, but the right person always comes back around."

"I would trade ten pounds off my body to see these two get together!"

Amid the noise and excitement, Samuel, the same guy who'd called me shameless earlier, glanced my way. Something like pity flickered in his eyes.

He passed by me, let out a sigh, and shook his head.

"You asked for it."

I sank back into my chair, boneless.

Never, not once, had I imagined Carter would humiliate me like this at a class reunion. That he'd look me in the eye and deny everything with his own mouth.

The mocking voices around me only grew louder.

"Oh, so that's who she is. Just an ex-girlfriend who couldn't make the cut."

"The way she was acting, I half expected her to claim she was the great Carter Delgado's wife."

"Please. Has she looked in a mirror? As if she could ever be good enough for him."

I lowered my gaze to the wedding ring on my left hand, tracing it with my thumb.

What a joke I am.

Mia must have noticed how pale I'd gone. She shot me a look dripping with triumph, then picked up her glass and sauntered over.

"Serena, I know what happened back then must still sting."

"But love is like that, isn't it? When it's real, not even the gods can stand in the way."

"Carter just admitted it himself. He dated you."

"But you two weren't right for each other. Otherwise, why would you have broken up? Don't you think?"

She clinked her glass lightly against mine, her smile radiant.

"Bottoms up for me. You drink as much or as little as you'd like."

Then she tipped her head back and drained every drop.

I sat there. Motionless.

The only time Carter came near me was when he made the rounds toasting everyone. When he reached my table, he paused.

He looked at me for a long, quiet moment. Then, under the pretense of clinking glasses, he leaned in close and dropped his voice.

"Serena, be smart about this."

"Don't make things awkward for Mia."

I stared back at him, my gaze ice-cold. But Carter had already looked away, drifting back to Mia's side.

The two of them talked and laughed together. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Carter's eyes crinkle like that, his smile so easy and unguarded.

It didn't take long.

Their classmates started egging them on to share a lovers' toast.

Everyone at the table who had no idea Carter and I were married was cheering them on like it was the event of the century.

"Come on, drink! This toast is long overdue for you two."

"You're both single anyway. What's the holdup?"

"And hey, if you get a little too drunk later, Carter can always take Mia home. You're all adults here. Even if you end up getting a hotel room, who's going to judge?"