Chapter 1
My best friend, Chloe Carter, looked at me with concern. "Nancy, are you okay?"
Before I could answer, Ryan Brooks, one of Yari Grant's close friends, casually cut in.
"What could possibly be wrong? Nancy's always been thick-skinned. Remember when the SAT results came out? She ran all the way home with her glasses slipping down her nose, and she still looked perfectly fine."
Everyone immediately remembered how miserable I had looked that day and covered their mouths to hide their laughter.
Even Yari, my fiancé, turned his face away.
But I had been genuinely happy that day. After years of hard work, my grades had finally caught up with Yari's and Chloe's. At last, I could attend the same university as them.
I stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I'll head back first."
My brother, Adam Quinn, looked at me in surprise. "How are you going to get back by yourself?"
The moment he said it, he froze.
He had forgotten that he had booked a five-seater luxury van for the trip here.
There hadn't been a seat left for me.
I had taken a taxi to the foot of the mountain alone.
By the time I arrived, they were already halfway up the trail.
Even with the map, I had gotten lost five times.
When I finally found them, my glasses were completely fogged up from the mountain mist.
Yet the moment I sat down to rest, they tricked me with a warty toad.
Having nothing to say, I had simply turned around and left.
Halfway down the trail, I noticed that the sky had darkened with heavy clouds.
Worried that the weather might turn dangerous, I went back to warn them.
But the moment I got close, I heard Yari's sister, Sophie Grant, complaining.
"Four-Eyes is ruining everyone's mood again. Yari, can you stop bringing her along next time?"
She had this habit of giving everyone ridiculous nicknames.
Ryan was the Dunk King because he was obsessed with basketball.
Adam was the Pale Nerd because he had fair skin and always wore gold-rimmed glasses.
As for Yari and Chloe, one was the Knight and the other was the Princess.
Only I was stuck with Four-Eyes.
Ryan immediately chimed in.
"Exactly. We were just trying to help Yari make Chloe's wilderness dream a reality. Why is she acting so upset?"
I froze.
The day we first met, Chloe had told us that one of her dreams was to go on a wilderness adventure with her future spouse.
At the time, Yari had been sitting across from her, listening with a smile.
Then he turned to me and asked, "What about you, Nancy? What's your dream?"
I pushed my glasses up and answered seriously, "I want to watch the ocean with the person I love."
Yari smiled but said nothing.
Sophie casually plucked a blade of wild grass and continued, "Chloe has already stepped aside and let Nancy have you. What else does Nancy have to complain about? And Yari, Chloe only lost because Nancy confessed first. Why don't you reconsider? You liked Chloe more from the beginning anyway, didn't you?"
Yari remained silent for a long time.
Then he let out a soft sigh, almost as if he were speaking to himself.
"Maybe I just don't know how to turn Nancy down, or maybe... after all these years, I've simply gotten used to having her around."
Chloe said nothing. She only slipped her arm gently through Yari's.
When Sophie saw this, the corners of her lips curled into a smile.
Ryan let out a teasing whistle.
Adam pushed his glasses up, lowered his head, and coughed quietly.
After a moment, Adam hesitated before speaking. "Perhaps... when Chloe secretly kissed Yari earlier, Nancy saw it. Don't you think?"
Sophie immediately cut in. "Could Four-Eyes even see something like that clearly?"
Everyone burst into laughter again.
I stood a short distance away, my fingers turning ice-cold.
I had looked forward to this pre-wedding trip for so long.
I had even told Yari that I wanted to see the ocean.
But before we left, he had gently taken my hand and said, "The flights to the coast are sold out. How about we go hiking instead? If you can't see the trail clearly, I'll guide you."
When I looked back, the cruelty of it all landed differently now.
Adam sighed. "I used a few tricks to hide the flight information. Yari planned this hiking trip to make Chloe happy. Nancy should understand."
So they had all known.
They had all kept it from me.
My last hope snuffed out, and something in my chest went very still. I turned and fled down the mountain.
I couldn't feel my legs. I tripped, caught myself once, then went down hard on the switchbacks—twice.
It took forever for a ride-share car to arrive at the foot of the mountain.
The driver glanced at me through the rear-view mirror. "Miss, you came down the mountain alone? Why are you crying so hard?"
I lifted a hand to touch my face.
Only then did I realize my cheeks were wet with tears.
It was already 10 p.m. by the time I finally returned to the city.
The wedding planning company called me. "Miss Quinn, we'd like to confirm whether the wedding scheduled for three days from now will proceed as planned."
My voice was calmer than ever.
"Cancel it."
