Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
"For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."
Psalm 30:5
Anastacia stared across the wooden table and froze.
Don’t be foolish. Don’t cry, she warned herself.
The sound of hurried footsteps, silverware clinking on porcelain, and muffled laughter around her did nothing to help.
Please, don’t cry, the thought came again.
She clenched her thin fingers around the sleeve of her coat and swallowed every feeling at once. It burned down her throat like she was bleeding from the inside. But no one sees what’s hidden.
So Anastacia smiled.
"Congratulations," she whispered.
Olivia locked her phone screen after showing a romantic photo with her fiancé. Her dark waves shimmered softly, every inch of her radiating wealth. She and Anastacia had known each other since childhood. Best friends forever, they used to say.
"I'm so in love, Ana!" Olivia beamed. "Jonas is just… perfect."
Anastacia felt her stomach twist. Five months ago, she might have agreed.
“We're getting married this summer. You know how it is.”
A movie reel spun in her head—one year living side by side with Jonas: 365 days sleeping next to him, cooking new recipes, laughing, and nurturing a feeling that vanished before it even began.
But Anastacia couldn’t blame her best friend for marrying the love of her life.
“I thought Jonas would’ve told you before I did,” Olivia said. “I know you two shared an apartment and are… friends?”
We’re not. Never were. Never will be. The thought screamed inside Anastacia.
“We just lived together for a year, Olivia. That doesn’t make us best friends.”
“What’s it like living with Jonas?” Olivia asked. “I’m still not sure I can share a room with someone.”
Ana’s breath hitched. That was the one question that could shatter her.
What’s it like living with Jonas?
It’s like brushing up against heaven—he’ll always pull a blanket over you when you fall asleep, never let you feel small, whisper how beautiful you look at any moment, and worst of all: you’ll believe him.
Once again, she smiled to mask her thoughts.
“We didn’t spend much time together. I worked all day, and so did he.”
Olivia dabbed the corner of her lips with her finger, fixing her lipstick.
“The way you talk, it’s like even living together didn’t bring you closer. You two were like enemies growing up.”
She was wrong. But Anastacia couldn’t tell the truth. “Enemies” fit them once, yes—but that had changed when they were forced to live under the same roof.
“It’s crazy what your mom did,” Olivia said, sipping her wine.
Laura was Ana’s mother, though they hadn’t spoken in nearly two years.
“They really thought something happened between you two?” Olivia asked, baffled.
“Considering Jonas’s reputation, anyone would.”
“With a wannabe nun?” her friend teased.
Ana hated that subject. The incident with the stuck door had changed her life overnight.
She had been born under a promise. After years of infertility, her mother had begged a saint day and night: if granted a child, she would dedicate them to the Church. If a girl, a nun; a boy, a priest.
Miraculously, Laura got pregnant with twins. The family called it divine. From then on, Ana attended Catholic schools and was raised to become a nun.
And she would have… if not for one sunny Saturday.
That day, her family was visiting old friends. While the adults chatted and drank wine, Ana wandered the vast house out of curiosity. On the third floor, in a room with bookshelves, she found the last person she wanted to see.
“Anastacia Galícia, what an honor,” Jonas said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“If I knew you were here, I wouldn’t have come up.”
By then, their parents had already left for a trip to Jonas’s family farm. Ana should’ve been in a taxi heading home, as she’d told her mother, but curiosity had won.
Just as she turned to leave, a breeze slammed the door shut behind her.
Ana tried to open it—once, twice, three times—nothing.
“Can you help me? Please? It won’t open, and I need to go.”
Jonas stood reluctantly, tried the door himself, and gave up after ten failed attempts. He vaguely remembered his father mentioning a broken door, but hadn’t realized it was that one.
“We could try calling my dad. Aren’t they eating in the garden?”
“No. They left.”
“Lucia—”
“Already gone,” Ana interrupted. “We’re locked in.”
They stayed trapped for the entire day and night.
Luckily, there was a mini fridge and some cereal bars. But tension hung thick. There was only one couch, which meant they had to share it.
The next morning, their parents returned. Jonas’s father noticed something off when he saw the car still in the driveway. He searched the house and finally opened the door—just as Ana’s parents arrived.
The sight of her daughter asleep in Jonas’s arms, his hand on her waist, made Laura scream. In her mind, Ana—her miracle—had done the unthinkable.
Ana barely registered the shouting. She had no idea how she ended up so close to him, but her explanation hadn’t been enough.
“Ana?” Olivia snapped her fingers. “You spaced out.”
The memory dragged her deep. After that day, Ana had been thrown out of her house. She never became a nun. She never saw her family again.
With no one to turn to, she was taken in by Jonas’s parents.
What was supposed to be temporary lasted a year. Olivia had been living abroad at the time. Ana’s grandmother—her last hope—had died two years earlier.
“Sorry, I’m just tired.”
“You didn’t answer me!” Olivia insisted. “Do you accept?”
“Accept?” Ana echoed.
Olivia reached into her bag and placed a beige envelope on the table. Her name was written in soft black ink—Ana already knew what it was. A bridesmaid invitation.
The cruel joke was complete.
She could understand why Olivia would want that… but Jonas? He knew everything they’d been through. He let Olivia choose her to stand beside them at the altar.
Olivia’s eyes sparkled. Her excitement, her innocence—she didn’t know Ana loved him.
The moment teetered at the edge of disaster.
And in a split second of madness and pressure, Ana said,
“I—”
“Come on, Ana, please!”
“Yes, I… I’ll be your bridesmaid.”
