The morning I went to marry Camden Rivera, I wore a cream silk dress. Not the wedding gown—that was still hanging in my closet, wrapped in tissue paper—but something softer. Simpler. The kind of dress you wear when you want to feel like yourself on a day that's supposed to change everything.
I stood in front of the mirror that morning and thought: *finally.*
Ten years. Ten years of coffee dates that turned into dinners, of meeting each other's families, of building a life so slowly and carefully that I never once questioned whether the foundation was solid. Camden was the first person who made me feel like I belonged in Manhattan—really belonged, not just as Donovan Ellis's daughter with the new-money last name, but as myself.
He was waiting in the living room when I came out. Dark suit. Clean lines. He looked at me the way he always did—steady, certain—and held out his hand.
"Ready?" he asked.
I took his hand. "I've been ready for years."
The cab ride to the City Clerk's Office was quiet. I watched the buildings slide past, the morning light catching the glass towers, and felt the kind of calm I hadn't experienced in months. All the planning, all the stress of coordinating families and venues and guest lists—it all fell away. This part was supposed to be simple. Just paperwork. Just us.
Camden's thumb traced small circles on the back of my hand.
The office itself was exactly what you'd expect: fluorescent lights, linoleum floors, plastic chairs bolted to the wall. A place designed for efficiency, not romance. But I didn't care. I was holding Camden's arm as we approached the counter, and I could feel my heartbeat in my throat.
The clerk was a middle-aged woman with reading glasses on a chain. She smiled at us—the same smile she probably gave every couple—and asked for our IDs.
I handed mine over. Camden did the same.
She typed something into her computer. Paused. Frowned.
Then she looked up at Camden with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Mr. Rivera, there's an issue with your file."
Camden's posture didn't change. "What kind of issue?"
The clerk glanced at me, then back at her screen. "According to our records, you're already legally married."
The words didn't land right away. They hovered in the air like something I could bat away if I just moved fast enough.
"That's a mistake," I said. My voice sounded bright. Too bright. "We're here to get married. Today."
The clerk's face softened. She looked sorry. "I'm afraid it's not a mistake. The marriage was registered five years ago. Your spouse on record is... Malia Washington."
Malia.
My best friend's name.
The fluorescent lights buzzed. Someone's phone rang in another room. The clerk was still talking, something about verifying records, but her voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.
I turned to Camden.
His face didn't crumble. It didn't do anything. It just... set. Like concrete poured into a mold.
"I'll need to make a call," he said to the clerk. His tone was the same one he used in business meetings—calm, controlled, already three steps ahead. "There's been a misunderstanding."
The clerk nodded slowly. "I'll give you two a moment." She stood and walked toward a back office, her shoes squeaking on the linoleum.
The silence that followed was so complete I could hear my own breathing.
"Camden," I said. My voice cracked on his name. "Tell me it's a mistake."
He exhaled through his nose. Looked at the ceiling. Then finally, finally, he looked at me.
"It was Vegas," he said quietly. "Years ago. Malia and I—we were drunk. It was stupid. It didn't mean anything."
I stared at him. Waited for the part where this made sense.
"She's been in London," he continued. "The annulment paperwork got delayed. I've been handling it. I was going to tell you once it was finalized."
"Five years," I whispered. "You've been married to my best friend for five years."
"Tessa." He reached for my hand. I let him take it because I didn't know what else to do. "It's a piece of paper. It doesn't change anything between us. You and me—that's what's real."
I looked down at our joined hands. His grip was firm. Warm. The same hand that had held mine through a decade of dinners and holidays and quiet Sunday mornings.
"Okay," I heard myself say. "Okay."
He squeezed my hand. Relief flickered across his face. "We'll fix this. I promise."
I nodded. I didn't trust my voice.
In the cab ride home, Camden made phone calls. He spoke in clipped, efficient sentences about lawyers and paperwork and timelines. He treated the whole thing like a contract dispute. A logistical problem with a clear solution.
I stared out the window at the city I thought I knew.
When we got back to the apartment, Camden kissed my forehead and told me he had to take a work call. I nodded. Went to the bathroom. Locked the door.
Then I sat on the edge of the tub and opened my phone.
I scrolled back through five years of photos. Me, Camden, and Malia. The three of us at restaurant openings. At my birthday parties. At Malia's art show last spring. In every single photo, Malia's arm was around my shoulders. Her smile was wide and warm and real.
Or it looked real.
I stared at her face in photo after photo, searching for some tell, some crack in the performance. But her expression never changed. The warmth looked identical in every single shot.
I couldn't tell the difference between the real and the lie.
And that was the part that terrified me most.
