Chapter 1

Maya's POV

I was putting on lipstick when my phone buzzed.

Henry: Babe, heading out for Mike's bachelor party tonight. Might crash at the hotel and come back late tomorrow.

Tomorrow. His birthday. I grinned at my reflection. He definitely thought I'd forgotten.

"He's going to be so surprised," I whispered to myself, already pulling up the flight booking app.

The phone rang before I could finish searching. Henry's name flashed on the screen.

"Hey!" I tried to sound normal.

"Babe, did you see my message?"

"Yeah, Mike's party. Have fun with the guys."

"You're the best." He paused. "I'll miss you."

"Miss you too."

After we hung up, I couldn't stop smiling. My fiancé had no idea what was coming. In three weeks, we'd be married, but first, I was going to show up at his hotel room tonight with his favorite chocolate cake and watch his face light up when he realized I flew out just to spend his birthday with him.

I spent the next two hours scrolling through Instagram like a detective. Henry's friends weren't exactly subtle about their plans. Mike had posted a story earlier, a champagne bottle emoji and a hotel tag. The Oceanview Grand.

Got it.

I screenshot the location and immediately opened the hotel's website. Available rooms. Perfect.

Then I called the bakery downtown.

"Hi, I need a chocolate cake for tonight. Can you write 'Happy Birthday, My Love' on it?"

"Sure thing! Pick up after 4 PM?"

"Perfect. Thank you."

I hung up and looked at my phone screen. When I'd known Henry, since freshman year of college. But I was chasing someone else back then. When I met Henry, I had already been chasing that person for years. I even went to that college because of that person.

Dennis.

I pushed the thought away. That was done. Over. I'd moved on, fallen for Henry, and now we were three weeks away from getting married.

The ring on my finger caught the light. I twisted it, already imagining Henry's face when I showed up tonight with cake and coffee.

He'd laugh. Pull me close. Tell me I was insane for flying out just to surprise him.

It was going to be perfect.

The flight landed at 9 PM. I'd taken the latest one, figuring the party would still be going strong. By the time I got to the hotel, it was past ten.

The Oceanview Grand lived up to its name, huge lobby, marble everywhere. I felt kind of awkward dragging my little suitcase across that pristine floor, balancing the cake box in my other hand.

"Good evening, miss. Checking in?" The receptionist smiled politely.

"Actually, could you hold my luggage? I'm just visiting someone."

"Of course."

I left my suitcase at the desk and headed for the elevators, holding the cake box. My heart was racing. Seventh floor, room 714. Mike's Instagram story had the room number right there.

The elevator dinged. I stepped out into a dimly lit hallway that smelled like beer. Music was blasting from somewhere down the hall.

Room 714.

I heard them before I saw the door, drunk laughter, glasses clinking, someone yelling about shots. The door wasn't fully closed.

I raised my hand to knock.

Then I heard Henry.

"I only went after Maya to piss off Dennis."

My hand froze mid-air. The words didn't make sense at first. I heard them, but my brain couldn't process what they meant.

What?

"I knew he had feelings for her, but he wouldn't admit it. So I thought I'd help him out, you know?" Henry laughed. "Sure enough, the second Maya gave up on him, he regretted it. God, that felt amazing."

The cake box started shaking in my hands. My whole body went cold, like someone had dumped ice water over my head. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Henry wouldn't say this. Not my Henry.

"Dude, so you played the long game just to mess with Dennis?" someone shouted over the music.

"Hell yeah! You should've seen his face at graduation when he found out we were dating."

More laughter. Louder this time.

No. No no no no no. My chest hurt, like something was squeezing my lungs and I couldn't get enough air. We'd been together for two years. He proposed six months ago. Six months of planning this wedding, looking at venues, tasting cakes, picking flowers. And it was all because of Dennis?

"But honestly? Those eight years she spent obsessing over Dennis?" Henry's voice changed. "It made me sick."

I pressed my back against the wall because my legs weren't working right anymore. He thought my eight years were disgusting. All those years where I actually believed love meant trying, where I thought if I just showed Dennis how much I cared, he'd eventually see me. And Henry knew. He knew all of it. I told him everything when we first got together, every embarrassing detail, every time Dennis rejected me, and Henry held me and said it was okay, that Dennis was an idiot, that he'd never take me for granted like that.

And he was lying the whole time.

"Now Brynn's in the picture," Henry continued. "At least she's only ever loved me."

Brynn. Who the hell was Brynn? My hands were shaking so badly now I could barely hold the cake. There was someone else. Of course there was someone else. Why would there not be someone else when everything, every single thing about us was a lie?

"So what's the plan?" another voice asked. "You're really gonna marry her?"