The day before the wedding, Oscar Hayward was with me at the bridal shop, picking out my dress.

I had just stepped out of the fitting room.

Oscar was already shrugging off his suit jacket in a panic, turning to leave.

"Bea's sick. Mildred can't handle it alone. I need to get to the hospital. Tomorrow's wedding is off."

There was a time I would have grabbed his arm and demanded to know who mattered more to him—me, or Mildred Fox and her daughter.

But this time, watching his back disappear through the door, I didn't try to stop him.

This was the ninety-ninth time he had cancelled our wedding for Mildred and her daughter.

Half an hour later, Mildred updated her social media.

You're the only person I have left in this world.

In the photo, Oscar had his arm around Mildred. Beatrice Dickerson was calling them Mommy and Daddy.

They looked exactly like a family of three.

My parents could only sigh.

"Janet Summers, is tomorrow's wedding cancelled again? We've already sent out the invitations."

My expression didn't waver. I shook my head.

"The wedding is still on. He's just not the groom anymore."

...

The moment the words left my mouth, Mom pulled a backup set of invitations from her purse. Dad's eyes drifted to the line where the groom's name was printed.

The relief on both their faces was impossible to miss.

"If you're marrying him, your father and I can finally stop worrying."

"Janet, I've always told you Oscar Hayward wasn't worth spending your life on. I'm glad you finally see it."

Some people have to hit rock bottom before they turn around.

This time, I chose to set myself free.

I finalized the dress. Right on cue, Oscar called.

"I remember you've always wanted to try that trendy Instagram-famous restaurant downtown. I got a scalper to book us a table for lunch."

My first instinct was to say no.

But after six years together, the least we deserved was a clean ending.

I walked up to the restaurant entrance.

Oscar reached for my bag, and his other hand moved on instinct toward my waist.

I sidestepped his touch and walked straight inside.

His hand hung frozen in the air. His brow furrowed, a thread of impatience creeping into his voice.

"Janet, stop throwing a tantrum."

"Bea had a sudden episode. I'm the only person Mildred has to turn to."

"You know this already. Before Neil Dickerson died, I promised him I'd look after Mildred and Bea."

I didn't respond. I sat down and opened the menu.

He dropped into the seat beside me, tugging irritably at his tie.

"A man's word is his bond. You wouldn't want to be with someone who breaks his promises, would you?"

I took out my phone and scanned the QR code to order.

He waited. When my silence stretched on, he let out a long breath.

"Alright, don't be upset. The next wedding date won't be cancelled. I told you I'd give you the perfect wedding, and I meant it."

But his promises only ever applied to Mildred and her daughter.

I was always the one who had to step aside.

Just then, a server approached the table.

"Excuse me, miss. Your table already has a four-person meal ordered. If you add more dishes, it might be too much food. Would you like me to cancel anything?"

Before I could react, a familiar voice rose from behind me.

"The line for the restroom was ridiculous. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, Janet."

Mildred Fox walked toward us, holding Beatrice's hand.

She slid into the seat on Oscar's other side. Beatrice squeezed herself into the space between Oscar and me.

I sat there, momentarily stunned.

Oscar opened his mouth to speak, but Mildred beat him to it.

"This is all Oscar's fault, really. I mentioned once that I wanted to try this place, and he actually remembered. Even paid triple to a scalper for the reservation."

"Janet, don't bother cancelling whatever you ordered. Go ahead and eat."

Watching her stake her claim like she owned the table, I couldn't help but laugh.

I used to think Oscar didn't see through Mildred's schemes and manipulations.

Now I realized he'd been enjoying every second of it—two women fighting over him.

I turned to the waiter beside me.

"Cancel the—"

"OWWW! It hurts! Daddy, Miss Summers pinched my arm and made it all swollen!"

Beatrice held up a red, swollen arm and wailed as if her heart were being ripped out.

"Janet, if you have a problem with me, take it out on me. Why would you bully a child? She's innocent!" Mildred's eyes were rimmed red, and the look she turned on Oscar was brimming with hurt and helplessness. "Oscar, thank you for everything you've done for us over the years, but we shouldn't see each other anymore. She abuses Bea right in front of you. I can't imagine what she'd do when you're not around..."

She took Beatrice's hand and moved to leave.

Beatrice grabbed the hem of Oscar's jacket and refused to let go.

"I don't wanna leave Daddy! I want Mommy and Daddy together forever! Miss Summers is a bad lady. She's trying to steal my daddy!"

The commotion at our table instantly drew every eye in the restaurant.

A handful of influencers who'd been livestreaming whipped out their phones and aimed the cameras straight at my face.

"Oh my God, you guys, I came here for a restaurant review and walked into a mistress confronting the real wife! Screenshot this homewrecker's face so she doesn't steal YOUR man next."

"That poor baby. The mistress has the nerve to abuse a child right in front of the parents. Imagine what she'd do as a stepmother!"

The waiter who had been perfectly pleasant moments ago turned cold.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We don't welcome homewreckers in this establishment."

The situation was spiraling out of control. I looked at Oscar, silently begging him to step forward and clear my name.

He barely spared me a glance.

"Janet, Bea is just a child. How could you lay a hand on her?"

"Oscar, I didn't pinch her."

I pointed to the security camera above us.

"If you don't believe me, pull the footage right now."

The words had barely left my mouth when Beatrice collapsed to the floor.

"Oscar! Bea fainted! Get her to a hospital, hurry!" Mildred screamed.

Oscar scooped Beatrice into his arms and bolted for the door. Just as he crossed the glass entrance, his steps faltered. He turned back to look at me.

By then, I was surrounded—livestreamers with their cameras and self-righteous customers closing in like a mob.

Insults rained down on me from every direction.

For one fleeting second, I thought he'd had a change of heart.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Janet, I never knew you could be this vicious. When you figure out what you did wrong, come find me."

He left without looking back.

He left me alone to face the mob.

In the end, it was a stranger—a customer who couldn't stomach watching anymore—who called the police. Only then was I able to leave the restaurant.

Sticky broth dripped down my hair, trailing along my temples. My white dress was smeared with food stains and reeked. Not a single rideshare driver would pick me up.

I walked home.

When I pushed through the front door, Oscar was sitting on the living room couch, smoking. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but I caught the disgust in his eyes.

"You're back?"

I looked at him steadily.

"Oscar, we're done."

The hand pinching his cigarette went still. He stood and walked toward me.

"Because of what happened at lunch?"

He stared at my face, took a long drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Janet, I thought you'd understand the situation. If I'd defended you at the restaurant, Mildred and Bea would've been the ones getting hurt."

He paused, then added, "Besides, this whole mess started because you got jealous and hurt Bea. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"Bea's already forgiven you, and Mildred said she won't hold it against you. Let's just drop it."

He reached up to stroke my hair.

His fingers grazed the stains and pulled back instantly.

"Go clean yourself up."

"Oscar."

I watched his retreating back and drew a deep breath.

"Tomorrow is my wedding."

His footsteps halted. He spun around, his patience visibly spent.

"You know perfectly well that every time Bea has an episode, someone has to watch her for a full week. How am I supposed to have time to marry you tomorrow?"

"Janet, can you try being a little more considerate?"

I stared at him, expressionless.

"I'm informing you. I'm not asking."

His face darkened.

"Stop being unreasonable. I told you, I don't have time tomorrow."

"If you want to throw a wedding with no groom, be my guest. The only ones who'll be humiliated are you and your parents."

I clenched my fists and held his gaze.

"My wedding doesn't need you."

He actually laughed.

"Janet, who else would ever marry you?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a loud crash came from the nursery.

My blood ran cold. I crossed the hallway in quick strides and pushed open the door.

Stuffed animals that had been arranged neatly on the shelf were scattered across the floor. The tiny clothes my mother had sewn by hand were cut to ribbons. Beatrice sat on the children's bed my father had built.

Shards of a shattered jar and fine gray powder lay at Mildred's feet.

She blinked her tear-filled eyes, her face a portrait of helplessness and fear.

"I accidentally broke this jar."

Oscar strode past me, shoving me aside in the doorway, and took Mildred's hands in his.

"Mildred, are you hurt?"

Mildred's gaze drifted over Oscar's shoulder and landed on me. A smirk flickered across her lips.

I knew she had done it on purpose.

But I still couldn't stop myself from lunging forward and slapping her across the face.

Mildred clutched her reddening cheek, her voice dripping with wounded innocence.

"I'm sorry. I just saw dust on the jar and wanted to wipe it clean. I never thought it would slip. I really didn't mean to..."

Oscar seized my arm and forced me toward Mildred, trying to make me bow my head.

"Janet, you've gone too far. Apologize!"

"Oscar, that was our child!"

Two years ago, Oscar and I had a baby.

What Mildred shattered was the urn holding our baby's ashes.

Beatrice, catching a silent cue from Mildred, clapped her hands over her ears and ran screaming from the room.

"Bea!"

Mildred chased after her.

Oscar's expression was ugly.

"Look what you've done! The dead aren't more important than the living. Was hitting her really necessary?"

I stared into his eyes, unable to believe what I was hearing.

"Oscar, you know what this nursery means to me. That was your child. How could you possibly—"

"Janet!"

He cut me off, his voice like a blade.

"If you hadn't bullied Bea this afternoon, would I have needed to bring her here to calm her down? Everything I've done has been to make up for your mistakes."

Just then, Mildred's sobbing drifted in from outside.

Oscar panicked instantly. He wrenched my arm free and bolted for the door.

I wasn't braced for it. I fell hard, my forehead striking the floor. Darkness swallowed my vision.

And in that darkness, a memory surged forward—the torrential rainstorm two years ago.

A single phone call from Mildred had pulled Oscar away, leaving me standing on the side of the road in the downpour, five months pregnant.

A drunk driver barreled straight into me.

That night, Oscar knelt beside my hospital bed, slapping himself across the face over and over, begging me to forgive him.