The moon had been high all along—it simply never shone on me.
At least nature holds everyone, even the ones no one else will.
I went to East Africa and watched the wildebeest migration. To Hokkaido, where the red leaves drifted down. To New Zealand, where fields of lupins stretched across every hillside.
The last stop was Norway.
The aurora looked alive, drifting through the night sky like spirits.
In the perfect silence, the only sound I could hear was the hammering of my own heart.
So watching the Northern Lights alone could be romantic too.
I remembered the day his company went public. He'd bought a pair of diamond rings, the best he could afford at the time.
When he dropped to one knee and looked up at me, his eyes held an entire galaxy.
“I'll be richer soon. I'll trade these in for something bigger.”
“Maybe I won't be so busy then. I'll take you to Norway to see the Northern Lights you're always talking about. We'll have a belated destination wedding.”
“Our tenth anniversary. Deal?”
Now my shadow stretched across the snow, so alone it seemed to mock every word he'd ever said.
I took a photo and posted it to my feed.
【Be your own light. Stop chasing someone else's.】
I scrolled down. Winston, who had never once posted about me, had been posting constantly.
He wouldn't travel with me, but he'd flown April all over the world.
Under the Eiffel Tower. In the golden dusk of Prague's Old Town Square. On the canals of Venice……
Sweet couple photos from every stop.
The Van Cleef & Arpels limited-edition necklace at her throat glinted so bright it hurt to look at.
He'd bid nine million for that piece last month. Heritage Collection.
When the press asked about it, he said it was a gift for the woman he loved.
I'd believed he would clasp it around my neck himself on our tenth anniversary.
I was the only fool in the room.
The trip was almost over.
On my way back, I stopped to inspect one of the Pruitt family's hotels.
If I was going home, I should start getting familiar with the family business.
At check-in, the staff bowed with quiet deference.
“How long will you be staying, Miss Pruitt? Anything you need, just say the word.”
I didn't want to draw attention, so I told them to treat me like any other guest.
Even on an inspection trip, I wanted some peace and quiet.
I couldn't even have that.
Walking through the garden, I saw Winston and April.
A team of photographers surrounded them. They were taking wedding portraits.
He was carefully adjusting her veil, every movement carrying a tenderness I hadn't seen from him in years.
So it wasn't just a trip.
The belated destination wedding he'd promised me, he'd given to someone else.
When he noticed me, Winston's brow creased on instinct.
“I said I'd take you next time. What are you doing here—following me?”
“We're divorced. Stay in your lane.”
Before I could speak, April tugged his sleeve, her voice soft and sweet. “Baby, don't be so harsh.”
“I can't decide on my next dress anyway. Let Lottie help me pick?”
His expression eased. He nodded. “Fine. Her eye's not bad.”
When they handed me the tablet with the design sketches, my hand shook so badly I nearly dropped it.
Both dresses were ones I had designed when I was young, back when we'd barely been together.
I was still the starry-eyed Pruitt princess, head full of daydreams.
Dreaming about the wedding. Dreaming about the dress. Dreaming about the life we'd build together.
When my family found out about the relationship, my parents, who cared deeply about pedigree, refused outright.
They never imagined their obedient daughter would run away from home for a penniless orphan.
But they didn't understand.
He wrote me an entire notebook of love poems.
He pinned the classmate who said filthy things about me to the ground and beat him bloody.
He saved three months' wages to buy a stuffed animal I'd mentioned once in passing.
