Emery stood in the foyer of her apartment, clutching her phone like a weapon.
Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
No Chase. No Ivy. No fake friends lining up to check if she was okay. Just silence, and the distant hum of the city outside her window.
She turned slowly, still damp from her hospital stay. Her skin smelled like bleach, rubber gloves, and ocean memory. The bruises hadn’t set in fully yet. But they would. And she was ready for them.
Emery fidgeted her phone as she smiled at the thoughts of what happened at the hospital.
—
The ceiling above her was too white.
Too clean. Too still.
Emery blinked once. Then again. Her lips felt cracked. Her throat burned like salt had soaked into her lungs.
Where am I?
She turned her head, slowly. A window. A beeping monitor. The smell of antiseptic. Then, footsteps.
The door creaked open.
Ivy walked in like a ghost in soft makeup, eyes glassy, voice soft. She held a bouquet of yellow tulips. Cheap hospital flowers. Cheerful, fragile, fake.
“Em… oh my God. You’re awake.”
She rushed forward with a too-tight hug, careful to place herself within full view of the nurses and any potential cameras. A concerned best friend. A tragic witness.
Emery didn’t hug back.
She coughed, letting her eyelids flutter slowly. “What… happened?”
“They said you were unconscious all night,” Ivy said quickly. “They had to pump your lungs. It was—God, it was awful. They said you were under for over a minute. I was so scared.”
Emery’s eyes fluttered. She let her lips part slightly, just enough to fake disorientation.
Liar.
Ivy was scared that Emery would open her mouth.
“Where…” she croaked.
Ivy leaned in. “You fell in the water, Em. It was so dark. So fast. But Ash pulled you out. He jumped in after you. Chase was shouting, but Ash didn’t even hesitate.”
Emery let her voice go soft. Fragile. “Ash?”
“He’s outside,” Ivy said quickly. “He’s been waiting for you to wake up. Everyone has.”
Everyone.
As in… Chase.
As in… the man who stood still while she drowned.
A shadow moved outside the window. The door creaked again.
Chase walked in, tie undone, hair rumpled in a way that said deliberate, not distressed. He smiled gently, like they were in some cheesy hospital drama.
“Hey, babe,” he said gently. “How are you feeling?”
Emery turned to look at him. Her expression was blank.
Chase smiled. “It was an accident, okay? Everyone’s shaken. We’re just glad you’re alright.”
“I was so scared,” Ivy whispered. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Emery’s throat burned. But her mind was crystal clear now.
They were lying.
Playing their parts like nothing happened.
She felt something coil inside her.
Fine.
She could play too.
She let her eyes flicker between them. Frowned faintly. “I… I don’t understand.”
Ivy tilted her head. “What don’t you understand?”
Emery’s voice came soft. Broken. “Who are you?”
The silence grew instantly.
Then Ivy’s face crumpled.
“What?”
“I’m sorry,” Emery said softly. “Do I… know you?”
Chase blinked.
“Em, that’s Ivy,” he said, laughing a little. “Your best friend. Don’t mess with her like that.”
“I don’t remember,” Emery whispered.
Ivy stumbled back. “Em, stop. It’s me. Ivy. Your best friend since third grade.”
Emery let her lips part slightly, confused and soft. “Sorry. I don’t…”
The panic in Ivy’s face was delicious.
She turned back to Chase. “And you are…?”
“Em, come on,” Chase said, stepping closer. “It’s me. Chase. Your fiancé.”
“Fiancé?” she echoed, blinking like the word tasted wrong.
“Yes,” Ivy cut in. “You’re getting married. You and Chase. We’ve been planning it for months.”
Emery turned her face away. Her heart beat slowly, steady, powerful.
“I think…” Emery said slowly, “I remember someone. A voice. Pulling me out of the water.”
Then she looked at the door.
Perfect timing.
Ash stood there with a paper cup of coffee and that ever-present shadow in his eyes. The quiet brother. The one no one noticed. Until now.
“Ash,” Emery said, her voice a breath. “I remember you.”
Ivy turned like she’d seen a ghost.
Ash blinked, and looked directly at Emery, his brow furrowed. “You do?”
She nodded. “You pulled me out. You saved me.”
He hesitated. “Yeah. I did.”
Chase frowned. “What’s going on?”
Emery smiled faintly. “You’re my boyfriend… right?”
Ash froze.
Chase choked on a breath. “What?”
Ivy blinked hard. “Wait—what?”
Emery stared at Ash, voice barely above a whisper now.
“We’re engaged, right?” Emery asked softly. “I remember… a ring. And you. You pulled me out. You’ve always been there.”
Ivy let out a strangled sound, something between a gasp and a sob.
“Emery, no—he’s not—” She looked at Ash in horror. “Tell her! You’re not—this is just confusion! She’s mixing things up!”
Emery reached her hand out across the bed.
Toward Ash.
Her fingers trembled.
Ash looked at her hand. Then at her face. He wasn’t stupid. He saw something in her eyes, something that said, This isn’t confusion.
Ash’s grip on the coffee cup tightened.
He looked at Chase. Then at Ivy.
Then at Emery once again.
His jaw flexed once. Slowly.
And then, Ash walked across the room and sat at her side. He reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers like it had always been that way.
“Yes,” he said. “We’re engaged.”
