On the way to the cemetery with my husband to visit his late wife's grave, I scrolled past a post on my phone.

"What's a secret you'd never dare tell anyone?"

One reply had thousands of likes.

"My best friend and I grew up together. She came from money—brilliant, dazzling, the kind of girl I could only look up to."

"Then her family fell apart. Her parents divorced. She went from golden girl to working odd jobs just to survive, while I got to study abroad. The gap between us kept growing, and eventually, I betrayed her. I seduced her boyfriend."

"She lost it. Ran out into the street. A car hit her, and she died on the spot."

"That was seven years ago. If I could go back, I'd make the same choice."

"After all, that boyfriend is my husband now. We're happy together. Every holiday, we visit her grave and wish her a better life next time around."

I finished reading and quietly closed my phone.

When I looked up, we had arrived at the cemetery.

My gaze drifted to the couple standing before another headstone nearby, and I froze. For a long moment, I couldn't move.

My husband's low voice came from beside me. "Friends of yours?"

I was about to shake my head.

……

But Arthur Stephens had already stepped out of the car and walked over to greet them.

"Mr. Gilbert. What a coincidence."

Jackson Gilbert startled and turned around.

Seven years had changed him. The boyishness was gone, replaced by sharper angles and a composed gravity that hadn't been there before.

When he saw Arthur, he smiled and extended his hand.

"Mr. Stephens. I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Are you also here to visit a loved one?"

My husband gave a slight nod. "My late wife."

The air went still for a beat.

Arthur reached for my hand and drew me forward. "Allow me to introduce my wife—Sophia Simmons."

Two pairs of eyes turned toward me.

Jackson's gaze landed on my face. He stiffened, a faint crease forming between his brows.

Millicent Winfield let out a soft gasp. "Wow, Mr. Stephens, your wife is gorgeous."

"Mrs. Stephens, it's so lovely to meet you."

She smiled and extended her hand.

The moment I saw her face, my breath caught in my chest.

I thought of the post I'd just read in the car.

That reply with thousands of likes.

Millicent had written it.

She believed I was dead. Killed in that accident.

She hadn't even bothered to change her profile picture.

She could post her deepest thoughts on social media without a care in the world, even if those thoughts were filthy.

I didn't take her hand.

"My apologies."

Her smile stiffened. She pulled her hand back, awkward and deflated.

My gaze drifted to the headstone beside them.

"Lucille Harding?"

"Who was she to you?"

"Someone from our past." Jackson cut me off. "A close friend of mine and Millicent's. She just had bad luck. Passed away young."

"That's right." Millicent nodded along eagerly.

"She was my best friend. It's been seven years since she died, and my husband and I come to visit her every holiday."

"Seven whole years. She's probably been reborn by now. Maybe she's a sweet little girl somewhere, running around without a care in the world?"

Millicent said it lightly, as if it were a joke.

Nobody laughed.

The silence turned uncomfortable.

Several seconds passed before I let a slow smile cross my face.

"What a beautiful friendship. I envy it."

Arthur glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"Sophia, why don't you stay and chat with Mr. Gilbert and his wife? I'll head over first."

"Of course." I nodded.

Every year, it was the same. Arthur came here to pay his respects to his late wife—the one who still held his heart.

I watched the tender scene from a distance.

Millicent sucked in a breath, lowered her voice, and leaned in close.

"Mrs. Stephens, does your husband really bring you along every time he visits his late wife's grave? You must have nerves of steel."

I looked down with a quiet smile.

"Well, everyone has a past, don't they?"

"I had an ex-boyfriend once. We were deeply in love. We came this close to getting married."

Jackson lifted his head at that, his gaze drifting toward me with a flicker of scrutiny.

Millicent's eyes went wide.

"Really? If you two were so in love, why did you split up? What happened?"

I glanced up at Jackson.

And let out a soft, derisive laugh.

"He couldn't resist the temptation of my best friend. Ended up in her bed."

The moment the words left my mouth, the air went dead still.

Jackson and Millicent stared at each other, the color draining from both their faces in an instant.

A layer of indescribable embarrassment settled over Millicent's expression.

"Mrs. Stephens."

Jackson cut me off with a frown. "We have somewhere to be. We should get going."

He took Millicent by the arm and turned to say goodbye.

"Next time we're free, I'll bring Millie over to visit you and Mr. Stephens at home."

I watched with my own eyes as the two of them disappeared from the cemetery.

Only then did I light a cigarette, dragging on it with idle disinterest.

My gaze drifted back to the gravestone that bore my name.

Mrs. Stephens?

Even now, hearing that title gave me a split second of disorientation.

They didn't know.

Sophia Simmons was a fake name.

No one knew that beneath this borrowed face, the soul hiding underneath belonged to Lucille Harding.

A hand plucked the cigarette from my lips without warning.

Arthur frowned.

"Smoking is bad for you."

"And I've told you before. Sophia Simmons never smoked."

Oh.

Right. I'd almost forgotten.

I wasn't Lucille Harding anymore, the girl who could do whatever she pleased.

I was just a stand-in.

And a stand-in was supposed to behave. To look the part.

I didn't argue. I simply slipped my arm through Arthur's. "Let's go."

After we left the cemetery, Arthur wasted no time.

"The couple just now, Jackson Gilbert and his wife. They're the boyfriend and the best friend who betrayed you seven years ago, aren't they?"

Nothing ever escaped Arthur's notice.

"Yes."

He looped his arm around my waist with casual ease, his voice gentle.

"You've never told me your story."

"There's nothing worth telling."

I had no interest in revisiting it.

Arthur didn't press. He just looked at me quietly, a faint smile resting on his lips.

That was who he was. A gentleman to the core.

He would never say anything to pressure or force someone.

I let out a sigh and began, piece by piece.

Once upon a time, Lucille Harding had been a golden girl.

Born into wealth, bright and vivacious, never having worried about money a day in her life.

And to top it all off, she'd had a brilliant, handsome childhood sweetheart right next door: Jackson Gilbert.

Everyone assumed the two of them were a perfect match, destined for each other.

The year they both got into Crestwood University, they started dating, just as everyone expected. The plan was to get engaged right after graduation.

But the thing about life is, just when everything seems close to perfect, something goes wrong.

And Millicent was that something.

The first time we met, we were eight years old.

Her father had died young. Her mother had run off with another man. She was about to be sent to a group home.

I was the one who begged my parents to take her in, to raise her like a second daughter.

I never imagined that behind the warmth she showed me, behind calling me her sister, she had been consumed by jealousy all along.

The year I turned eighteen, someone leaked confidential information from my father's company, plunging it into crisis.

My parents' marriage shattered too, torn apart by the other woman. They divorced.

I was devastated. All I wanted was to find my boyfriend, Jackson, and cry on his shoulder.

I pushed open the door to his apartment.

And found him tangled in bed with Millicent, my best friend, both of them naked under the sheets.

I found out later that it had started three months earlier, on the very night I'd had that fight with Arthur. She'd climbed into Jackson's bed of her own accord.

Twenty years of a sheltered, privileged life had left me hopelessly naive. I truly believed that sincerity would always be met with sincerity. That the people closest to me were as honest and open-hearted as I was.

So when I saw them, I broke.

I screamed. I lost control. I demanded answers like a woman possessed.

"How could you do this to me?"

"I treated you both like family! I would've ripped my own heart out and laid it bare for you. How could you betray me like this?"

Jackson scrambled for the sheets, yanking them over his body. The color drained from his face in an instant.

"You... why are you here? I thought you were helping your father with the company today."

Millicent shrank behind him, eyes rimmed with red, looking fragile and pitiful.

"I'm sorry, Lucille. I didn't mean for this to happen. Jackson and I are truly in love. Please don't blame him..."

Truly in love?

I laughed like I'd just heard the most absurd joke in the world. Laughed until tears spilled down my cheeks and blurred my vision so badly I couldn't even make out the faces of the two people in front of me.

"Millicent, how dare you say something like that?"

"Have you no shame? If you wanted a man, any man, I would've set you up. Why did you have to steal mine?"

I lunged at her and slapped her across the face, but Jackson shoved me away.

He pulled Millicent behind him, brow furrowed, his voice dripping with impatience and cold indifference.

"Are you done?"

"What's done is done. You can scream yourself hoarse and it won't change a thing!"

In that moment, I laughed and cried at the same time, sinking to the floor in utter despair.

"Jackson, my family is falling apart. My parents are getting divorced. My father's company is on the verge of collapse. I had nowhere else to turn, so I came to you. I thought you were the one person I could still rely on... and this is what you do to me?"

I turned to look at Millicent. The girl I'd considered my closest friend. My sister.

The one who'd taken a knife and driven it straight into the most tender part of my heart.

"Millicent, what did I ever do to you?"

"When you needed money, I gave it to you. When someone bullied you, I stood up for you. I loved you like my own little sister. And this is how you repay me? The night I was at my lowest, heartbroken after that fight with Arthur, you turned around and crawled into my boyfriend's bed?"

Her face flushed, then went white, then flushed again. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she shook her head at me.

"I didn't want to betray you, Lucille. I just... I couldn't help myself."

Jackson pulled her closer, shielding her more tightly. The look he gave me held nothing but disgust and ice.

"Since it's come to this, I won't hide it anymore."

"Millicent and I have been together for a long time. You and your princess temper, spoiled and high-maintenance, always living in your own little world. You never once understood what I actually needed."

"Being with you exhausted me."

Exhausted.

What a pathetic excuse.

Their double betrayal was the final straw.

I stormed out in a frenzy, but my mind was in pieces. I didn't see the truck that had lost control until it was too late.

The accident destroyed my face.

It nearly took my life.

The hospital even issued a critical condition notice. Everyone believed I was dead.

What no one knew was that, right at that moment, I was lucky enough to cross paths with Arthur Stephens, a man who had just lost his wife.