Chapter 1
If you asked me last week what happiness looked like, I probably would’ve said this. Friday night. String lights twinkling over someone’s backyard. My boyfriend’s hand in mine, my best friend laughing across the fire pit, music low enough that people actually talk instead of yell.
Everything about it felt solid. Safe. Like maybe my life wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough.
Ryan squeezed my hand under the blanket. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling because I was. Or I thought I was. He kissed my temple, warm and easy. Familiar.
Across from us, Lily was telling some story that made everyone laugh too hard. She had that magnetic thing about her like even bugs probably flew into bonfires just to orbit around her for a second.
I used to love that about her. How she could make any room brighter. How she’d pull me into her spotlight and say, This is my best friend, Emma. The sensible one. It used to sound like a compliment.
“Hey,” Ryan said, breaking through my thoughts. “Gonna grab us drinks. Want the usual?”
“Please,” I said, watching him disappear toward the house. The fire popped, sparks flaring into the dark, and Lily leaned over with that grin. “He’s such a golden retriever for you.”
I laughed. “More like a confused one that keeps fetching the wrong thing, but yeah.”
She grinned. “Still cute though.”
That was the last normal moment. The last time things felt simple.
Because ten minutes later, when I went to find Ryan—when I pushed open that door expecting to see him searching through a cooler or talking to someone—I found him with Lily. And they weren’t talking.
The world just… stopped. Like someone hit pause on everything except the sound of my heart snapping in half.
Lily’s hand was in his hair. His hand was on her waist. And I swear time slowed down just to make sure I got the full picture before it shattered.
They froze when they saw me. No excuses. No explanations. Just the kind of silence that burns worse than words.
I didn’t scream. Didn’t cry. Didn’t throw anything. I just turned around and left.
Because I knew if I stayed one second longer, I’d never stop breaking.
