Chapter 1

The crystal champagne flutes clinked, a soft melody under the warm glow of the chandeliers. Our engagement party was perfect, exactly what I had dreamed of. I squeezed Ethan' s hand, my heart full. After five years, we were finally making it official.

He smiled back at me, that familiar, handsome smile that always made my stomach flutter. He was a successful project manager, I was a marketing executive on the rise. We were the perfect couple.

"Ready to do this, Liv?" he whispered, his breath warm against my ear.

I nodded, my own smile so wide it almost hurt. "More than ready."

Our parents, friends, and colleagues filled the elegant ballroom, their happy faces a blur of support. Ethan' s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, beamed from the front row, seated next to my own mom and dad. Everything was just right.

Ethan raised his glass to the crowd. "Thank you all for coming. Olivia and I are so excited to...."

A sudden, piercing wail cut through his words.

Every head turned. Lily, Ethan' s ten-year-old niece, stood by the cake table, her face red and streaked with tears.

Her mother, Chloe, Ethan' s sister-in-law, immediately rushed to her side, gathering the little girl into a dramatic embrace. "Oh, my baby, what' s wrong? What happened?"

Ethan' s smile vanished. He dropped my hand and took a step toward them, his brow furrowed with concern.

I stood frozen, the joyful bubble of the moment popped.

"Aunt Olivia... she," Lily sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "She was kissing Uncle Ethan! Right here! Everyone saw!"

The room fell into a heavy silence. I stared at her, confused. We were engaged. Kissing was... normal.

Chloe shot me a look of pure venom. Her voice, however, was full of feigned shock and hurt.

"Olivia! How could you? In front of Lily? She' s just a child. She thinks of Ethan as a father figure. Seeing you two be so... indecent... it' s traumatizing for her."

Indecent? We had shared a simple, loving kiss.

My face burned with humiliation. I looked at the faces around us, some confused, some starting to whisper. This was a nightmare.

I turned to Ethan, expecting him to shut this down immediately. To laugh it off, to tell his sister-in-law she was being ridiculous.

But he didn' t.

He walked right past me, straight to Chloe and Lily. He knelt, wrapping his arms around his crying niece. He didn' t even look at me. He just held her, murmuring soft words of comfort, as if she were the victim of some terrible crime.

My father stood up, his voice tight. "What is the meaning of this, Ethan? It' s your engagement party."

Mr. Miller, Ethan' s father, stood as well, looking flustered. "Now, now, let' s not overreact. Chloe is sensitive, and Lily... well, she misses her father terribly. Ethan is all she has."

His deceased brother. The memory of his brother was the shield they used for everything.

Ethan finally stood up, facing the crowd, but still not looking at me. His arm was still protectively around Lily.

"I think... I think we need to stop for a moment," he announced, his voice strained. "Lily is upset. We can' t continue until she feels better."

He was putting our engagement on hold for a child' s tantrum.

I couldn' t believe what I was hearing. The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing down on my chest.

Then, he turned to me. His eyes were cold, pleading. "Olivia, just apologize to her. Please. For me. Let' s just get through this."

Apologize? For what? For being happy? For kissing my own fiancé?

Before I could even find my voice, Chloe' s voice rang out, sharp and accusatory. "She needs to learn some decorum! A woman in her position should know better than to behave like that in public. What kind of example is she setting?"

I looked at Ethan again, my eyes begging him to intervene, to say something, anything, in my defense.

He just stood there, looking at me, his expression a mixture of frustration and resignation. He was choosing them. He was choosing his codependent, manipulative sister-in-law and her spoiled daughter over me, over us.

Lily, seeing she had won, suddenly lurched forward. It looked like an accident, a clumsy stumble. She bumped hard into my side.

I wasn' t prepared for the impact. I staggered back, my heel catching on the rug. The small, velvet box containing our engagement rings flew from my hand. It hit the polished floor with a sickening clatter, popping open.

The diamond ring, the one Ethan had so lovingly placed on my finger just an hour before during a private moment, rolled under a nearby table.

A collective gasp went through the room.

The pain in my ankle was sharp, but the pain in my heart was a deep, crushing blow. The symbol of our commitment was lost somewhere on the floor, just like the future I thought we had.

My friends rushed to my side, helping me up, their faces a mixture of anger and concern. "Are you okay, Olivia?" my best friend, Sarah, asked, her arm around my shoulders.

My parents were right behind them, their faces grim.

I looked across the room. Ethan hadn't moved. He was still comforting Lily, who was now peeking out from behind his leg with a smug little smile on her face. He hadn' t even flinched when I fell. He was just standing there, a world away, with his real family.