my New York apartment, a sweet, alm

hung on the back of my bedroom door, a silent prom

ys, I' d be

Mark

solid, like the fu

ed: charming, successful, and, I b

se last few months, always there with a

a small, velvet rin

d winked b

was falling

zzed on the

from Jess, my maid of honor, probably

n showed an u

t mes

sham wedding. Last weekend was proof you belong with

ath hi

ers wen

swam befor

wed

wee

mis

wa

elt like a pu

at a finance conferenc

ery night, soundin

ff like yo

echoed i

ised

ised

g jumble of disbelief and

e a mistake,

the past year, our

en the perf

s for no reason, listened patiently when I

me any reaso

, his schedule always seem

hts he couldn't explai

ve hidden somet

ot just a fling, but

nty settled i

n't mar

this wa

apable of such

s, once a symbol of joy, now

future curdled into a

; it was the destruction of

needed to know the tr

s iPad from his

it logged into

T

init

' d mentioned a few times, a

any

school gi

away," but he always followed it with a laugh a

I typed her name into t

lled with glossy photos of

I s

rom five

he Mariner's

ark had told me his "conf

no conference

camera in a plush hotel robe,

ith my favorite person. Some decis

eart

ard encounters at events Mark had dr

een cool, almo

when she approached,

ing she was still carrying a torch for him a

ess seemed lik

ed act to keep me fro

liar; he was a s

on made me fe

ther through T

scured by shadow and a baseball cap, but the expensive watch on his wri

a balcony, the Bosto

tes ma

ation m

tch ma

unden

a conference. He

, intense, making

h

he elaborate wedding planning, the endless

fany, why ask m

aceholder? A co

ht was hu

ed, all those promises I' d be

p felt like a meticul

t on Tiffany' s p

ssive diamond ring on her f

d! Can' t wait to be Mrs. Wal

hree mon

Hayes wa

meone

the name; he was a fairl

ind

d to Alex Walker, the

essage about? "Call it

to me, just two months ag

been a

all

ad gotten engaged

wasn' t just a backup plan;

of it mad

iPad clatterin

breathe air that wasn'

g the frantic buzzing of my phone as

I was, why I wasn't fawning over

im wo

of the life I thought I knew, the s

later, I was sitting on the sofa,

"Sarah! Where were you? I was wo

aid, my voice flat, devoid

me, but I subtly

y, honey? You s

rowed with p

was almost

mo

him, really

en I s

er, sme

clinging to his shirt,

from Tiffany Hayes' Instagram pho

f pink lipstick on his collar, so fai

hange his shirt after seeing

auda

isres

icy rage build

phone, my expre

sharing app Mark insis

d his movement

to a coffee shop downtown, wh

o a residential

, according to a quick

hour before finally heading

efutable, laid out i

hot and explosive, but

hink I w

t not care if

of me whispered, he

ccident. Maybe it was all part of

t made my

me, a puzzled expr

is it? You' r

aughed. He

idea what