“I’m not doing that—”

“Swear to me. Swear you’ll never take him back.”

“I swear,” I say.

It’s mostly true, but a very, very narrow path to forgiveness has crossed my mind—one that would also involve a ton of groveling and therapy.

“So how do you want to confront him?” Lainey asks.

“Can’t I just call him?”

She shakes her head. “No. It has to be face-to-face. And you need to look hot when you do it,” she says, giving me the once-over. “No sweats.”

“You want me to get dressed up?”

“Yes. And put on makeup. And do your hair.”

“Jeez, Lainey. That’s a really tall order.”

“No, it’s not. You can pull it together. And the good news is—your skin is glowing and you’re in the best shape of your life—”

“Yep. The silver lining to getting cheated on while you’re engaged.”

“There are a lot of other silver linings here.”

“Such as?”

“Such as—you found out now. Before you married him. It’s a blessing in disguise. You dodged a bullet.”

“Then why does it feel like I took a bullet to the heart?”

Lainey nods, giving me a look of pure sympathy. “I know it hurts. There is nothing worse than betrayal. Nothing. But this is who he is. This is his character. He’s a dick.”

“He can be difficult,” I say. “But I didn’t think he was a cheater—”

“It all goes hand in hand. The rules don’t apply to him.”

I sigh and nod, thinking of all the white lies I’ve heard him tell and all the lines and corners I’ve seen him try to cut, often getting away with it.

She looks at me, frowning, then says, “Were you really in love with him?”

I give her a confused look. Is she asking whether I was actually in love with Grady or whether I was very in love with him? Either way, it seems like a strange question. “Aren’t most people in love with their fiancés?”

“I’d say seventy–thirty…. Maybe eighty–twenty at best.”

I wait for her to laugh, but she stares at me, stone-faced. It’s such an absurdly cynical Lainey statement that I just roll my eyes.

“I’m serious, Han. Marriage seems like a game of musical chairs. It’s all fun and games until the music stops, then everyone’s in a mad, frantic scramble to squeeze their butt cheeks onto a seat. Any seat.”

“Grady wasn’t just any seat, Lainey. I loved him.” I hesitate, then say, “I still do.”

She gives me a horrified look. “How could you still love him?”

“Because love isn’t something you can just turn off like a switch.”

“Okay. Well. Tell me what you love about him,” she demands.

“Lots of things.”

“Name them. Seriously. I want to know.”

I take a deep breath and picture Grady at his best. “He’s charming and funny, and he makes everything feel like an adventure. Just going to the grocery store…He made life interesting. And let’s face it…I’m a little boring.”

“You’re not boring. You’re just not an attention whore,” she says.

I smile. “Okay. He can be a bit of an attention seeker. But we balanced each other out. Everyone loves Grady.”

“Fine. But what I hear you saying is that you love how much other people love him.” Lainey hesitates, giving me a knowing look. “And I bet I can guess who’s at the top of that list.”

“Who?” I ask.

“Oh, c’mon, Hannah. Don’t play dumb at a time like this.”

I sigh. “Okay. But just because my mother thought he was a great catch doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great catch.”

“Yes. But again, listen to your word choice. ‘Great catch’?” She makes air quotes. “What does that even mean? That he checks a lot of boxes? He’s not even smart—”

“Maybe not book-smart. But he’s very street-smart.”

“He ain’t that street-smart,” Lainey says. “He got busted in bed with another woman.”

“True,” I say.

“Look, the bottom line is he may be seen as a ‘catch’ and he may check a lot of boxes and you might even think you love him—”

“I do love him—”

“Fine. But do you know what?” she says, staring into my eyes.

“What?”

“I never believed he was your person.”

“I thought you didn’t even believe in that soul-mate stuff—”

“I don’t. But you do,” she says. “And I never got that ‘I can’t live without him’ vibe from you.”

“You didn’t?” I ask hopefully.