The Substitute

Chapter Fourteen: The First Anniversary

It was Priya, of all people, who let the detail slip — offhand, over lunch, not realizing what she was handing Mara until it was already out of her mouth.

"Today would've been their one-year anniversary. Julian and Elise's. She used to talk about it for weeks beforehand, every year — well, the one year they had. Poor guy probably doesn't even remember what today is, with everything going on."

Mara excused herself early, sat in a stairwell with her phone in her lap, and waited. The text came at 6:14 PM.

Does he know what today is?

I used to think he'd remember. Every year, for the rest of both our lives. I was very stupid, once.

Ask him something for me, Mara. Ask him what he did on our anniversary, the year before I disappeared. See if he tells you the truth, or the version he's rehearsed.

She asked him that night, over dinner he'd insisted on making despite the exhaustion clearly written into every movement of his hands.

Julian went very still, fork halfway to his mouth. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Just answer, Julian."

"I forgot," he said, quiet, ashamed in a way that seemed too raw to be performed. "I had a deal closing. I told her I'd make it up to her. I never did." He set the fork down, appetite clearly gone. "She forgave me. Told me it didn't matter. But I think—" He stopped, something shifting behind his eyes, like a door swinging open onto a room he'd kept shut for a long time. "I think that might be where all of this actually started. Not Ferris Point. Not the money. Just — me, forgetting, one too many times, until she stopped believing I'd ever really choose her over the company."

Mara's phone buzzed in her pocket. She didn't need to look to know what it said.

He told the truth this time.

That's the first one, Mara. Write it down.

You're going to need to know how many more there are before this is over.