The first day we bought this place, Oscar lifted me into the air and spun me in circles, giddy with joy.

"Lucille, I finally have a home. A home that belongs to us."

"Thank you for always staying by my side. I swear I'll make you the happiest woman in the world."

Five short years, and everything had changed except the walls.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and pulled the door shut.

Goodbye, Oscar.

I'd just reached the bottom of the stairs when I ran straight into Oscar and Gwyneth coming home.

Oscar's eyes dropped to the suitcase in my hand, cold as a blade of ice.

"Lucille, so it really was you!"

"You posted that video of us fighting during the wedding shoot online to smear Gwyneth as the other woman, and now you're actually trying to run?"

Gwyneth dropped to her knees in front of me with a thud.

"Lucille, please, I'm begging you, let me go. People online are tearing me apart. They dug up my studio's information and they're harassing my clients."

"Every client I have is canceling their orders. That's over a million dollars I can't afford to pay back…"

"I'm not the one who did the online stuff."

I looked at the fake tears welling in Gwyneth's eyes, my face blank.

"But isn't every word of it true?"

With that, I rolled my suitcase past them and walked away.

Oscar helped Gwyneth up and hurled a vicious line at my back.

"Lucille, you can't run from this! I'll make you regret it!"

I flagged down a car at the curb and headed straight for the airport.

In two hours, I'd say goodbye to everything in this country for good.

I was about to pass through security when two officers stopped me.

"Lucille Simmons, you assaulted Ms. Gwyneth Pruitt. The examination confirms your actions caused her injury. You'll need to come with us."

I opened my mouth to explain.

Oscar came toward me through the crowd, a sneer hooked at the corner of his mouth.

"Lucille, I told you. You can't run."

Gwyneth hid behind him, her face twisted into something pained and apologetic.

"Lucille, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop Oscar. He insisted on getting justice for me…"

I drew in a deep breath.

I texted HR at the company that I'd need to rebook my flight.

In the interrogation room.

Oscar spoke first.

"All you have to do is go online and publicly clarify that yesterday was a misunderstanding. That you personally asked Gwyneth to take the photos for you, that you were jealous of her, and that's why you caused a scene."

I shook my head.

"No."

Oscar's brow furrowed, and he let out a cold scoff.

"If you refuse, you'll sit in custody for ten full days. Don't forget, our wedding is in seven days. Or do you want Gwyneth to walk down the aisle in your place?"

I laughed out loud.

"Isn't that exactly what the two of you want?"

Gwyneth turned her face away, her shoulders trembling faintly.

"Lucille, we grew up together. Is this really the kind of person you think I am?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

Gwyneth covered her face and ran out crying.

Oscar's eyes went frantic. He shot to his feet and chased after her.

At the door he still couldn't resist turning back to leave me with one last threat.

"Lucille, keep running your mouth if you've got the nerve. I don't mind swapping in a new bride at the wedding!"

But I never expected that two hours later, Gwyneth would come to see me alone.

There was a triumphant glint in her eyes.

"Lucille, do you know when Oscar and I started? The very day you introduced us."

That was the first month after Oscar and I made things official.

"At first, when he forgot about you now and then, it really was a coincidence."

"Every time you complained to me about him, I'd arrange a 'chance encounter' and slip into your place. He started out resisting it, and little by little, he came to enjoy it."

"And after that, he'd ditch you on purpose every time, just so the two of us could be alone together."

"Even this wedding shoot? We planned the whole thing ages ago."

"Oscar said the only thing he couldn't give me was a wedding. Everything else, though, was mine for the taking."

My face stayed blank, but inside, everything churned like a storm tearing loose.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

She gave me a radiant smile.

"Lucille, I just want you to face the truth. The one Oscar loves is me. Not you."

"Everything he gave you, the wedding he promised you, it was all guilt. Nothing more."

"I know your company is transferring you to France."

"As long as you promise never to come between Oscar and me again, I'll sign the release and let you walk."

I was quiet for a moment, then nodded.

"Fine."

Gwyneth drove me to the airport herself and watched me board the plane.

Not until the moment the wheels left the ground did the unease in her chest finally settle.

Over the next six days, Oscar threw every resource and connection he had into cleaning up the story circling online about Gwyneth.

The two of them ate and slept inside her studio, losing all sense of day and night.

Then, in the small hours of the seventh day.

Oscar jolted awake to the sudden ring of his phone.

"Mr. Weiss, the makeup artist has been waiting at your front door for half an hour. No one's answering, and we can't reach Ms. Simmons either."

"Is the wedding still happening today? Or have you made other arrangements?"

His foggy mind snapped clear.

Only then did he remember that Lucille was still locked up in custody.

"The wedding goes ahead. Push everything back two hours."

He hung up and drove straight to the police station to get her.

Irritation prickled at him as he went. He hadn't expected her to dig in this stubbornly.

But when he reached the station, he froze.

"Lucille Simmons? She was released seven days ago."