Chapter 2

Lucy's POV

"There she is!" Mark called out when I walked in. "Perfect timing. We're playing dice!"

Everyone had gathered around the table with their drinks, the atmosphere all light and playful. Gino sat at one end looking perfectly normal. Ivy sat at the other end also looking perfectly normal, though I noticed she was reapplying her lipstick.

"Come on, Gino!" someone shouted. "Your luck's got to change eventually, man!"

I slid into my seat. I watched as Gino shook the dice cup, the rattling sound seeming way too loud. He slammed it down on the table and lifted it up.

"Four!" Everyone groaned.

This is their thing. I've watched this happen so many times. Gino and Ivy, always betting against each other, always playing these games. I thought it was just a sibling thing. I thought I was being paranoid when it bothered me.

"My turn," Ivy said sweetly. She barely even looked at the dice before she rolled them. "Six!"

The table erupted in cheers and groans. I felt like I was watching it all happen from very far away.

"So what's the prize this time?" Sarah asked, grinning.

Ivy leaned back in her chair, her eyes locked on Gino.

"This time," she said slowly, "the wedding gets delayed by six months."

The room exploded with protests, but I barely heard them. My ears were ringing.

The wedding. Our wedding. The wedding that was supposed to happen four years ago, right after we got engaged. But then there was always something. A million little reasons that added up to four years of waiting.

Four years of being the patient fiancée who never complained.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Mark actually stood up. "Gino, man, you can't be serious about this!"

"This is completely insane," Sarah added. "How long has this been going on? All the delays add up to five years now!"

Everyone turned to look at Gino. He just sat there, staring at Ivy.

Choose me. Please.

"Gino?" I heard my own voice saying his name.

He looked at me then. I saw the guilt in his eyes, clear as day.

"Okay," he said quietly. "Six months."

The room went completely silent.

Of course. Of course he chose her. He's always chosen her.

"Lucy," Sarah reached across the table for my hand. "Say something. This is absolutely crazy. You don't have to—"

I started laughing. The sound came out harsh and bitter, and I saw everyone's faces change as they looked at me.

"What's so funny?" Ivy asked.

I looked at Gino, really looked at him, and felt something inside me just break wide open. Something that had been holding on for four years, maybe even longer, suddenly let go.

"Delay it," I said, my voice cold and clear. "Marry or don't marry. I honestly don't care anymore."

Everyone stared at me. Gino's face went pale.

"Lucy..."

"I'm tired," I said, standing up. "I'm going to bed. You guys have fun."

I walked out without looking back.

The guest room was dark except for the moonlight coming through the window. I sat on the edge of the bed, still in my dress, and pulled out my phone.

In my photo gallery, buried deep in a folder I almost never opened, there was a picture of my parents from my college graduation. Mom in her blue dress. Dad with his arm around her. Both of them beaming with pride.

"We love you so much, sweetheart," Mom had said that day. "We're so proud of you."

That was three months before the accident.

"I'll help you find out what happened," Gino had promised me at the funeral. "I promise you, Lucy. We'll get justice for them."

But we never did. Every investigator came up empty. Every lead went nowhere. And Gino just kept saying, "Give it time. These things take time."

Four years. The same four years he's been delaying our wedding.

Four years since he supposedly had that "minor accident."

I traced my fingers over my parents' faces on the screen, tears sliding down my cheeks.

"Mom, Dad," I whispered. "What if I've been wrong this whole time? What if the person I trusted most in the world, the person who held me while I cried, who promised to help me find the truth... what if he's the reason you're dead?"

"Four years ago... the accident... chasing after me..."

Four years ago. The exact same time. The exact same kind of accident.

Gino crashed his car chasing after Ivy. And my parents died in a car crash. And I lost my memory in another car crash.

Three separate car accidents, all at the same time, all connected to the same people.

My hands were shaking again. I set the phone down.

What if it wasn't three separate accidents? What if it was all the same night? What if Gino was there? What if he saw what happened and he's known this entire time and he's been lying to me, helping me "investigate" while knowing exactly what happened because he was there?

What if I was there because of him?

The thought made me feel sick. But I couldn't stop thinking about it now.

I need to know. I need proof. I need to find out what really happened that night, the night I can't remember.

And I knew exactly where I was going to start looking. In the life of the man I'd thought I was going to marry. In all the places he thought I'd never think to look because I trusted him completely.

I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad. I should have figured this out sooner.