Five Years of Secret Love, He Married My Best Friend Chapter 16

Five Years of Secret Love, He Married My Best Friend Chapter 16

Connor was finally thrown out.

But he didn’t go back to Maddie.

In the middle of the night. My phone rang. Maddie. Sobbing.

“Harper. I lost to you again. Happy now?”

Her crying on the other end. A chill crawled up my spine.

She kept going. Accusations spilling.

“Since we were kids, you’ve been the perfect one everyone talked about. Pretty. Smart. Perfect grades. Standing next to you, I was always invisible. Cheer captain. Connor’s heart. Only ever you.”

“Every time you crashed on my bed. Told me how much you loved him. I was screaming inside. I loved him too!”

“But I knew you. Even if I confessed, you’d never hand him over out of pity.”

“I waited so long for the perfect excuse. My dad getting sick. Finally got what I wanted. Married him. The whole city of Chicago. So many good men. Why did you have to come back and fight me for Connor?!”

“The day you drove back. I thought I’d finally win. Finally. But you showed up and Connor’s soul left his body again. Do you know what it felt like? Sitting alone in an empty room in my wedding dress. Desperate!”

She cried like her heart was shredding.

Every word. Years of envy and resentment as the supporting actress. All pouring out.

But was any of this my doing?

“Maddie. Everyone has the right to chase their own happiness. I never stopped you from chasing Connor. Who he chose to marry. That was his choice.”

“Senior year. You asked me. Half-joking. If we ever fell for the same boy. Would I pick love or friendship. I gave you my answer then.”

I’d said I’d choose her. Men change. But the bond between girls is priceless.

I forgot something.

That only works with honesty.

She took my trust. Forged it into the sharpest knife. Aimed it straight at my heart.

“Maddie. The day you handed me that invitation. I was still naive enough to imagine it. Just like we promised at fifteen. I’d be your one and only maid of honor.”

“I imagined crying my makeup off in the pews. Happy tears. Watching you say your vows.”

I’d genuinely looked forward to all of it.

But I never imagined this.

I became your one and only maid of honor, yes.

Standing at the wedding of my boyfriend of five years.

Maddie went quiet.

The sobbing on the line faded into hollow, broken sounds.

“Maddie. Whatever this was between us. It’s done. If we pass each other on the street, we’re strangers.”

I hung up without hesitation. Dragged her number into the blacklist. Forever.