Chapter 1
One
S ybil
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” I ask my cousin, sounding like a deranged hyena, because there is no way she said what I think she said. Not my sweet baby cousin. Not the woman who lived with me for two years. Not the person I know to be cautious and reserved and, most of all, guarded.
“We eloped!” Her smile is sunshine radiant.
Yup. That’s the word: eloped.
I try to fake a smile, I really do, but I can tell she’s already caught my pure horror.
“How… e-exciting,” I manage.
She lifts a hand to show off a diamond ring, and I nearly fall out of the chair. We’re having a boozy brunch together in midtown, and it wouldn’t be the first time I fell out of a chair during a boozy brunch, but it would certainly be the most memorable.
Her diamond reflects off the sun streaming through the window we’re sitting by as the winter cold battles the quirky Soho restaurant’s insufficient heating. I shiver, wishing we were tucked into a dark corner. I’m entirely too exposed right now.
I’m supposed to say congratulations and fake sincerity. If I were totally sober, I might be able to pull it off, but I’m two large mimosas deep, and the truth slides out of my mouth just as easily as the alcohol went in.
“But… why ?”
Her expression drops, those big brown eyes glossing over.
“Don’t get me wrong, Arden,” I backpedal. “I’m happy for you and Ethan. I’m just… surprised.”
Truth be told, I wasn’t happy for them initially being together, so I don’t blame her for thinking I hate this announcement. But the thing is, Ethan King was mine first. He was my everything for years—my best friend, my boyfriend, and even my fiancé.
And then he was nothing.
So, when Arden first confessed her love for my ex, I freaked out, and admittedly, I treated her like shit.
I’ve spent five months making it up to them.
Ethan and Arden suit each other. They’re crazy in love, and he and I have been over for years.
She deserves to be happy, and so does he, even if I wanted to hate him.
But marriage? They’ve only been official since August.
It’s January.
She’s still in college, for Christ’s sake!
Ethan knows better.
And I swear to God, if he were here, I’d kick him in the shins, right here underneath this table.
But no, it’s only me and my sweetheart cousin today.
She asked to get together as soon as she returned from her Maldives holiday with Ethan—a beach trip that apparently turned into a whole lot more than frolicking in the sand.
“Why not get married?” Arden challenges, her eyes glistening with starry-eyed emotion. “We’re in love.”
“Umm… because you’re so young.”
“So what? I know what I want. Besides, lots of people get married young.”
Yeah, and lots of people get divorced, too.
“It’s just… why did you guys feel the need to get married so soon?” I ask. “You could’ve been engaged for a while first.”
Like normal people with families they care about do. While this is ultimately their decision, they took a wedding away from the rest of us. It’s an unmistakable stab of betrayal. While I only met my cousin a few years ago, she’s quickly become one of my best friends.
This elopement? It hurts. It’s like a knife to the chest, both shocking and painful, but I know this isn’t about me. I need to deal with that knife all on my own—don’t make it Arden’s problem.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she says, placing her hand on top of mine. At least it’s not the hand with the rock on it. “You’re hurt we did this without inviting anyone.”
I nod once.
“But please try to understand that Ethan and I got married for us . Not for anyone else. And with all the drama that’s happened between our two families, can you blame us?”
“When you put it that way…” I grumble.
“And now nobody can try to break us up. We’re more than a dating couple; we’re a married couple. We’re legally committed to each other.” She sighs wistfully. “Forever.”
I roll my eyes but give her hand a squeeze before returning to my omelet. “Why do you have to be so cute?” As much as I might hate this for me, I love it for her. She’s happy. That’s all I want.
The Laurence family and the King family hate each other, but these two? They’re our own little Romeo and Juliet, except they get a happy ending. Maybe it’s destiny, maybe they were truly supposed to end up together. I don’t know, but I do know they’ve found the kind of love I’ve only dreamed about.
I let out a sigh. “I’m happy for you, and honestly, you probably did the right thing to avoid the drama.”
She smiles. “I knew you’d understand. That’s why I wanted to tell you first.”
I give her a pointed look. “If you expect me to be the messenger, I’m not cut out for that shit.”
She takes a long drink of her plain orange juice. No mimosa when the woman is still shy of twenty-one. Ethan’s about to turn twenty-seven . The cradle-robber .
“Don’t worry, Ethan and I will tell everybody,” she promises. “But we’re hoping to have a nice reception to celebrate. That way, the families can still have a way to share in our happy news.”
Well, good luck . A party with estranged families is bound to have drama, even one celebrating people we mutually love.
My heart aches every time I think of the undoing of two happy families that once shared everything.
I’m not sad about losing Ethan. It’s obvious we weren’t meant to be, but it hurts that I lost all of the Kings.
My two best friends, Ethan and his twin brother Cooper, their parents, who were like second parents to me, especially Victoria King.
When she passed, it broke all our hearts.
But more than any of that, the pain is the worst when I think of my father and the horrible way we lost him last summer. His anger was so deep he couldn’t let it go. He let it harm the Kings and kill himself. When I think of Dad, my heart doesn’t hurt… it bleeds.
That man was my idol.
He was enigmatic and wonderful and my biggest fan. But he was a cheater, a liar, and had a temper that got him killed. He destroyed so much, but despite everything, I still love him, and I always will.
Even now, my smile feels cracked and jagged, hiding the true me underneath: the girl who lost the ones she loved…
“A reception is not the same as a big wedding, but it’s the closest we’re going to get. I know Amelia will appreciate it,” Arden continues.
My mother loves a party, especially one centered around her family.
Two and a half years ago, when we discovered Arden existed, Mom took her in like one of our own.
Arden grew up in foster care, something my mom feels terrible about.
Arden’s mom was my mother’s little sister, a troubled woman who died of drug addiction and hid her baby from the family.
It was only after Dad died we learned how much he knew. Dad was aware of Arden all along. Social services tried to place her with us, and Dad told them to leave us alone. Dad’s not here to defend his actions, but that was the betrayal that finally broke Mom. She gave Arden and Ethan her blessing.
“Let me help with the planning?” I ask, surprising us both.
Arden’s eyes widen as she tucks a strand of loose auburn hair behind her ear. Sometimes looking at Arden is like looking in a mirror. She and I are so similar in our features, but she’s more petite and has brown eyes instead of green. That and she’s six years younger.
“You’d do that for me? Are you sure?” She twists her bottom lip.
“Unless I’m overstepping? Maybe you and Ethan want to be in charge of everything. I’m only offering in case you need help,” I ramble. “Maybe I shouldn’t? This is your thing.”
She snorts. “The reception is for everyone else. If it was for us, Ethan and I wouldn’t have eloped in the first place.”
“True.” Visions of a gorgeous reception run through my head. “I’d be happy to help.” I give her a faux-dramatic look, like we’re in a job interview. “Event planning is one of my strengths.”
She laughs but she gets that I’m being serious.
I graduated with a business degree from Harvard.
My emphasis is in marketing and public relations, and now I work for the Laurence Foundation.
I fundraise and spearhead events to support our philanthropic efforts, so I’ve got party-planning connections up the wazoo and Pinterest boards filled with ideas.
“How soon are you thinking? Is two months okay? A March event is possible, though it won’t be easy. Venues book years out, but I could pull some strings.”
She laughs. “Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”
The server takes our plates, and while we’re waiting for the check to arrive, I lean across the table, giving my cousin my best conspiratorial grin.
“About this elopement… you’re not getting out of here without telling me everything.”
Her eyes sparkle, but she holds her excitement in. “It’s not too weird?”
“What would be weird about you marrying the guy I was engaged to?” I deadpan, then we both laugh. “Of course, it’s weird, but I don’t care. I want to know how this happened, and don’t you dare leave out any details.”
She spends the rest of our brunch gushing about how it unfolded, from the way he proposed spontaneously as they were about to fall asleep, to how they woke up the next morning and he asked again, to her saying yes and the ring shopping they did that very same day, to the local priest who agreed to marry them on the beach with little more than a photographer as their witness.
By the time she’s done, we’re both a blubbering mess.
“So yeah, I’m a married woman,” she gushes.
“Gah, I’m so happy for you.” I clutch my heart with genuine happiness for my sweet cousin, and her lips curve in a smile she couldn’t fight even if she wanted to.
The entire affair sounds ridiculously romantic.
And… I’m a little jealous. Not jealous because she ended up with Ethan, but that she has something I don’t believe I’ll ever experience—unconditional love and trust, and unwavering faith that her relationship will last.
I don’t think that’s possible for me. Not that I’m cynical enough to think it’s impossible for everyone, but I’m smart enough to recognize its improbability. I’ve been through too much, seen too much. I’ve trusted the wrong people. I’ve loved and lost and lost again.
I’ve got the kind of issues that make a girl recoil from anything beyond casual sex, and that’s never going to change.
Just like my history won’t change either.