"I'm on a business trip out of town right now. Sorry, Christopher, I haven't had a chance to tell you."

"Why don't you head home first today?"

My brain had been foggy from pulling consecutive all-nighters, and at the time, I hadn't even caught the panic threading through her voice.

She must have been off somewhere with Austin, doing God knows what, having already tossed every promise between us into the gutter.

After I'd arranged their examination orders, Winona went to the exam room alone.

Only when her figure had completely disappeared down the corridor did Austin reluctantly tear his gaze away.

Then he spoke up out of nowhere.

"We've been talking all this time, and I don't think I ever caught your name, Doc."

I lifted my eyes to look at him.

"Simmons. You can call me Dr. Simmons."

Something flickered behind Austin's eyes. He smiled.

"What a coincidence."

A jolt ran through me, but I kept my expression neutral. "You know someone with that last name?"

Austin's smile lingered as he nodded, but then his face shifted, a look of open disgust settling over his features.

"My wife's ex-boyfriend was also named Simmons. Ancient history, though."

"From what I heard, the guy was ugly as sin, had a terrible temper, treated Winona like garbage, and was a total control freak."

"Lucky for her, she was brave enough to dump him. And now she's got a great husband like me."

My fingers tightened around the pen in my hand. A cold laugh echoed inside my chest.

"Your wife told you all that herself?"

"Of course."

He clenched his fist, indignation written across his face, as if he were outraged on Winona's behalf.

"He even used her career to threaten her, tried to force her into marrying him."

"She turned him down flat, obviously. Humiliated him while she was at it."

I raised an eyebrow. In my mind, I had already sentenced Winona Harding a thousand times over.

When I first met Winona, she was a broke college kid whose entire world revolved around her textbooks.

She told me she wanted to work in Havenport after graduation. Said it was the city she'd dreamed about since she was little.

So I convinced my father to pull strings and pave her a golden path straight into one of Havenport's top firms. I even bought her an apartment here.

I held her hand and told her, "Go after whatever you want. People who truly love each other don't let distance change what they have."

The night I proposed, she stood in front of all our friends and said it herself: without the Simmons family, she wouldn't be where she was.

She took the ring, slid it onto her finger with both hands, held mine, and promised she'd be with me for the rest of her life.

And then, just like that, she betrayed me so completely it was as if none of it had ever happened.

I looked at the young man sitting across from me, exhaled slowly, and felt every last shred of meaning drain out of the world.

I twisted the wedding band on my finger, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Must be nice, having a wife who loves you that much. I wasn't so lucky."

Austin's head snapped up, eyes bright with curiosity.

I went on.

"I'm actually married too. Within the first month after the wedding, I found out my wife was cheating on me."

"She'd been keeping a whole separate household behind my back."

BANG.

The moment the words left my mouth, Austin slammed his fist on the table.

"What a piece of work! Dr. Simmons, you're such a good guy, and she doesn't even know what she has."

I gave a helpless smile, then continued at the same unhurried pace.

"And recently, I found out she got pregnant by the other man. Behind my back."

This time Austin shot straight to his feet, chest heaving.

"Trash!"

"A woman like that deserves to be struck by lightning. She deserves to rot!"

Right on cue, Winona pushed the door open and walked in with a smile.

"What are you two talking about? Who deserves a horrible death?"

Austin turned to her, still fuming. "Dr. Simmons' gold-digging wife. You wouldn't believe the disgusting things she's done."

Then he swiveled back to me. "Are you two still together?"

I smiled without denying it, my gaze drifting past Austin to land on Winona, who was gathering her things.

Austin frowned, his tone turning almost fatherly.

"You should just divorce her. A woman like that is nothing but poison."

"If Winona ever went behind my back and messed around, I'd kick her to the curb in a heartbeat."

Behind him, Winona's hands went still. The smile slid off her face, replaced by something tight and uneasy.

Too bad Austin was facing me. He didn't notice a thing.

I nodded slowly, as if mulling it over.

Then I pulled out my phone and dialed a number right in front of both of them.

"You're right. I'm going to bring up the divorce with her right now."

The room went quiet. Even Winona set down what she was holding and stared at me.

Almost the instant the call went through, a ringtone erupted from Winona's pocket.

Her head snapped up. Her eyes met mine for a fraction of a second before she looked away, fumbling in her pocket with trembling hands to pull out her phone.

She hit decline without hesitation.

Austin tilted his head, confused. "Who was that calling you?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Winona's face. She dropped her gaze and quickly killed the screen.

"Unknown number. Probably spam."

I held my phone to my ear a while longer until the automated voicemail message finally played on the other end.

I shook my head with a bitter half-smile.

"No answer. Probably busy with something I don't know about."

Seeing my mood sink, Austin clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, man. A week from now, Winona and I are having our wedding."

He dug into his bag and produced an invitation, holding it out to me.

"I've got an extra invite right here. You should come. Soak up some of that good luck."

"Maybe it'll bless you with someone who actually deserves you, Doc."

That caught me off guard. I glanced at Winona instinctively.

But I nodded and accepted the invitation without hesitation.

Only after they left with all their paperwork did I pull down my mask.

I rubbed my aching eyes, then looked at the call log on my phone.

Before dialing, I had deliberately deleted the last digit of the number. The call never actually reached Winona's phone.

I opened the invitation. Printed on the front was a hand-drawn illustration of Winona and Austin together, clearly designed with care.

I noted the venue address.

My newlywed wife's wedding. I was absolutely going to prepare a gift worthy of the occasion.

The day of the wedding.

I stood outside the hotel and watched Winona and Austin greeting guests at the entrance.

The moment he spotted me, Austin rose up on his toes and waved.

"Dr. Simmons! Over here!"

I pointed to the mask on my face, my voice apologetic. "I've come down with a cold. Didn't want to get anyone sick. You don't mind if I keep this on?"

"Of course not."

He seated me at the front of the banquet hall, right next to the emcee's platform.

The ceremony began shortly after, every step proceeding smoothly, exactly as planned.

Until the final speech. That was when Austin suddenly invited me up to the stage.

His fingers dug into my arm, gripping tight, as if he were afraid I might bolt at any second.

I frowned, a flicker of unease passing through me.

The next second, Austin spun around and ripped the mask straight off my face in front of everyone.

A spotlight swung directly onto me. The blinding glare seared my eyes, and tears spilled involuntarily down my cheeks.

"While I'm up here, I'd like to give a special thanks to someone."

"I want to thank my lovely bride's ex-boyfriend. If it weren't for him, we never would have found our way to each other!"

With that, he drove his foot into my knee in front of the entire crowd. I buckled, crashing to my knees before I could brace myself.

Then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up, forcing my face into full view of every guest in attendance.

"Now I want everyone to get a good, long look at this piece of trash!"

Beside him, Winona stared at me, her eyes blown wide.