“Autumn, you sure you wanna give your wedding to your sister?” Autumn Reeves kept her voice steady. “Yeah, I’m sure.” Elowen Hayes, Zachary’s mother, shook her head and pushed an elegantly wrapped box across the table. “I guess Zachary’s the one who messed this up, not you. The divorce papers you wanted are in here. He already signed them, but you’ve got thirty days if you change your mind.” Autumn knew she wouldn’t change her mind. Thirty more days and she’d have her divorce license. Thirty more days and she’d finally be free. The door opened behind her, and Autumn turned to see Zachary Hayes walking in. “Mom, there’s a bad storm coming. I’m here to take Autumn home.” Elowen’s anger flared the second she saw him. “Oh, now you decide to show up? Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what—” “Mom, thank you for the gift. I really love it,” Autumn smiled and cut her off, then stood up and grabbed her things so they could leave. They didn’t say a word to each other on the drive home. Zachary kept glancing at Autumn out of the corner of his eye. He was supposed to marry her sister, but some twist of fate landed him with Autumn instead. He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. He’d been using work as an excuse to avoid her for ten days now, barely talking to her at all. What was he supposed to say? After a long silence, he finally thought of something safe to ask. “Autumn, what did my mom give you?” Autumn’s lashes fluttered, and she reached into her bag to pull out the box. She was about to answer when a figure suddenly darted out from the side of the road. Zachary slammed on the brakes. The tires screeched against the pavement as the car jerked to a stop. He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out to check on whoever just ran in front of them, but the moment he saw the person’s face, all his concern vanished, and pure anger took over. “Kristen Reeves, what the hell is wrong with you!” Autumn’s sister Kristen’s tears came instantly, streaming down her face. “Zachary, why won’t you talk to me anymore?” Zachary’s eyes went red as he stared at her, and then he laughed bitterly. “Stop with the act! The doctor already told me you never lost your memory.” Kristen went silent for a second before her voice broke. “Okay, I lied to you, but I just didn’t want to lose you…” “Didn’t want to lose me?!” Zachary’s voice rose. “You’re the one who gave up on us first!” That shut Kristen up. After a long pause, she finally spoke again through her tears. “I’m sorry. I won’t bother you anymore.” She turned and stumbled forward, but she only made it a few steps before she collapsed hard onto the pavement. Zachary’s expression darkened even more, and after a moment, he let out a heavy sigh and jogged over to scoop her up in his arms. Autumn pressed her hand against her lower abdomen where the seatbelt had dug in painfully during the sudden stop. She couldn’t tell what hurt more, her stomach or her heart. When she saw Zachary holding Kristen and looking back at her with that apologetic expression, she already knew what he was going to say. Before he could get the words out, she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. “You should take Kristen to the hospital. I’ll just grab a cab home.” Zachary glanced at the dark storm clouds gathering overhead and hesitated for just a second, but in the end he couldn’t bring himself to leave Kristen. “I’ll come home as soon as I get her settled.” Autumn nodded. While he was getting Kristen into the car, she handed the gift box through the window to Kristen and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “A gift for you both.” Kristen’s eyes went wide with shock, but Autumn just smiled and closed the door. Then she turned and walked away. This was her tenth year of loving Zachary. She would never forget the moment she first fell for him. She’d fallen into the water and nearly drowned, and Zachary had jumped in without hesitation to save her. That one sentence, “Don’t be scared, I’ve got you,” had cut through the darkness like a ray of light, and it had been rooted in her heart ever since. Too bad Zachary only ever saw her as a little sister. His heart belonged to Kristen, her older sister. The two of them had grown up together, and they’d started dating when they were 16. Everyone knew how crazy Zachary was about Kristen. He’d run all over town just to personally buy her favorite cake if she mentioned wanting it even once. He’d spend crazy money on Kristen, lighting up the whole city with fireworks just for her birthday. He’d even get into fistfights with people over gossip about her. For seven whole years, Autumn buried her feelings deep and silently watched them be happy together. Then three years ago, everything changed. Their wedding was all planned out when Zachary’s father died from a heart attack after a failed investment, and the Hayes family went from wealthy to drowning in debt overnight. Kristen panicked and called off the engagement, then secretly flew out of the country. Zachary got into an accident while chasing after her and ended up paralyzed from the waist down. When Kristen heard the news, she didn’t bother coming back. Instead, she posted on Instagram announcing her shotgun wedding to some other guy. Zachary called her 99 times, but all he got back was Kristen telling him she didn’t love him anymore and they were done. That day, Zachary finally gave up. He made his own Instagram post with his location tagged. “Need a bride to get my marriage license. Single ladies interested, come quick.” Everyone thought he was messing with Kristen, but Autumn knew this might be her only shot in this lifetime to marry the man she loved. She didn’t hesitate for even a second and immediately messaged him. “Zachary, I’ll do it.” Then she grabbed her documents and rushed straight to the City Hall. That day, she got exactly what she’d always wanted and married Zachary. Even though there was no announcement and no wedding ceremony, even though her parents screamed at her and kicked her out of the house, Autumn never once regretted it. Not until two weeks ago when Kristen came back from her divorce, pretending she had amnesia and showing up at Zachary’s place. Autumn watched Zachary protest with his words while his body kept drifting closer to her, unable to help itself. She knew it was time to wake up from this beautiful dream. She’d let herself go and set him free too. In the middle of the sudden downpour, Autumn sent Zachary a text. “Kristen has the gift box. If you wanna know what’s in it, just ask her.”