chapter 1

One week before Ryan Guise proposed to me, I saw his chat history with his childhood love.

Most of their messages were just them laughing at our date videos.

That was when I realized I’d been nothing but a joke to him.

Dating me was just a setup to catch every moment I fell for him.

All for laughs. All for her amusement.

And the proposal? That was the grand finale.

All because Isabelle Linley got bored and wanted one last bit of fun—watching me fall apart.

I acted like nothing had happened and let him keep playing the role of the perfect boyfriend.

Until the night he proposed, when I stood in front of him holding his brother’s photo and told him he was just a stand-in.

He was the one who broke first.

—

After Ryan fell asleep, his phone buzzed.

I was about to turn it off, but the message on the screen made me freeze.

“Ryan, you’re not seriously proposing to that basic girl Claire Wren next week, right?”

The sender was Isabelle. He had never mentioned her to me.

A chill ran down my spine.

In all these years, it was the first time I looked at his phone without asking.

The more I read, the colder I felt.

He had secretly recorded our relationship every single day for five years, ever since we started dating, and sent those videos to Isabelle.

One message said, “Look, I just buy her some cheap clothes and she acts like I gave her the world. I’m dying.”

Isabelle replied, “Hahaha take more. I want to see everything. Poor you, having to fake it with such a basic girl.”

I had become their daily dose of entertainment.

Ryan shifted in his sleep, wrapped his arms around me from behind, and nuzzled the back of my neck.

“Baby, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

I steadied my breathing, trying not to let my shaking emotions show.

“Soon.”

But my hands and feet were already ice cold.

I scrolled through his chat history for a long time and finally stopped at December 30th of last year.

New Year’s Eve.

He’d rented out an entire restaurant just for us and held my hand as the clock struck midnight.

“Claire, I can’t imagine life without you. Will you stay with me forever?”

I’d smiled and nodded.

But right as the bells rang, he looked down at his phone.

“What’s wrong?” I’d asked.

“Nothing. Just work.”

Now I knew what really happened in that moment.

“Happy New Year, Ryan! I’m so lonely, boohoo.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here for you. I’ll send you a funny video of Claire later.”

So while I was looking at him with love in my eyes, he was already planning how to make Isabelle laugh.

Tears slid down my cheeks without a sound.

A bitter smile pulled at my lips.

The man I had loved for five years had never seen me as anything more than a toy.

No wonder he never posted about me. No wonder he never introduced me to his parents.

No wonder he always looked away when I cried.

Every argument ended with me apologizing first.

He always said he was just a simple guy who didn’t understand romance.

Now I knew the truth. He just never cared enough to try.

I stared at his sleeping face. Still handsome. Still calm. I reached out and touched him gently.

There was a time I thought he was my salvation.

Six years ago, my first love, Daniel Guise, died in an accident. I was devastated.

A few months later, I met his younger brother, Ryan, who had just come back from abroad.

They looked so much alike. I couldn’t help getting closer to him.

Soon, he started pursuing me.

I tried to resist, but eventually I said yes, telling myself maybe, just maybe, Daniel was still with me somehow.

But over time, I realized they were nothing alike.

And somewhere along the way, I truly fell for Ryan.

I was so scared of losing him, I never told him the truth about Daniel.

I’d planned to keep that secret buried forever, until I saw those messages.

So thank you.

Thank you for showing me that no one could ever replace Daniel. Not even his brother.

I quietly placed his phone back and lay down beside him.

I figured, when he proposed next week, it would be my turn to tell him the truth.