rom cameras bounced off the crystal glasses and the gleam in everyone' s eyes. Tonight was the night my

like the other women. My dress was simple, bought on sale, but it was the nicest thing I owned. For years, every spare dollar went to Li

making him look older than his eighteen y

and clear. "But there are two people, in particular, I need to thank tonight. Th

cognition. All the lonely nights, the canceled dates, the j

doors of the

n in the bright lights. Beside her was a man in a sleek, expe

n who had died on a hospital bed eighte

had left me weeks before our wedding, telling me he could

place, a confident smirk on Olivia's perfect face.

dened. He gestur

er, Olivia Hayes, and he

like a physical

age and embraced Liam. Mark clapped him on t

ldn't process it. Olivia was dead. I held her hand a

m. Her voice, a sound I had only he

wonderful to finally step out of the

at me then, her eyes

s blinding me. "My dear, dear friend. Eighteen years ago, Mark and I had a little problem. An unexpected pregnan

ng churned i

"We wanted to see if my best friend, Susan, was truly as selfless as she claimed. So, we faked my d

a mix of shock and amusement. They thou

ven gave up her fiancé," Olivia said, trailing a hand down Mark' s arm. "An

rse. We couldn't let Susan fail the test completely. But now, the te

ng. He looked from Olivia to Mark, then his gaze fell on me

t the word. It felt

you for everything, Susan. You were a great nanny.

nn

labies, of scraped knees, of homework help, of cheering from the sideli

ts, the smug faces of Olivia and Mark, the cold eyes of the boy I had lov

like it was being ripped out of my c

lute, so profound, it st

gs ga

, the last thing I saw was

dark

ll. The beeping of a machine. A d

r of the event hall, but to the harsh

as

gave birth. The day my