After His First Love Framed Me, I Chose His Rival

The charity event was at the Morgan Library — all vaulted ceilings and rare manuscripts behind glass. I was there for the literacy initiative, same as half of Manhattan's old-money philanthropic set. Serena found me near the Renaissance prints with a glass of champagne in each hand.

"One for you," she said, pressing the flute into my palm. "One for me. Both necessary."

I took it. "What happened?"

"Table six," Serena said. "Amanda Whitfield just told Margot Chen that you threw yourself at Rafael Sullivan on the rebound because Travis dumped you for his first love."

I looked at her. "Amanda said that?"

"Word for word." Serena's smile was sharp. "I corrected her."

I took a sip. The champagne was good. Too good for this conversation. "How gently?"

"Not at all."

I glanced across the room. Amanda was still at table six, her face flushed, her posture stiff. Margot was leaning away from her slightly. The other women at the table were looking anywhere else.

"What did you say?" I asked.

Serena's smile widened. "I said that Alyssa Carlson ended her relationship with Travis Howell of her own choosing. I said that her engagement to Rafael Sullivan has been years in the making between two of Manhattan's most prominent families. I said that anyone suggesting otherwise should consider whether they're repeating facts or simply repeating Dayana Perkins."

I blinked. "You said her name?"

"I did." Serena sipped her champagne. "Amanda went very quiet after that."

I looked at the table again. Amanda was gathering her purse. She stood, said something brief to Margot, and left. The other women watched her go. Then they leaned in and started talking.

The correction had landed.

"Thank you," I said.

Serena shrugged. "Someone had to. You're too polite to do it yourself."

I wasn't sure that was true. But I didn't argue.

We stayed another hour. I made my donation. I spoke to the board members. I did not think about Amanda or Dayana or the photographs still saved in a folder on my phone.

When I got home, there was a package waiting.

It was large, flat, wrapped in cream-colored paper with my name written in clean black ink across the top. No return address. I carried it inside and set it on the dining table.

I opened it slowly.

Inside was a garment bag. Inside the garment bag was a dress — silk, midnight blue, with a neckline I'd admired in a magazine two months ago. I'd mentioned it once. At dinner with Rafael. In passing. I hadn't even finished the sentence.

There was a card tucked into the tissue paper.

*You said you liked the color. I thought you might like the dress.*

*— R.*

I stood there holding the card. Read it twice. Set it down. Picked it up again.

Then I called Serena.

She arrived in fifteen minutes.

"Show me," she said, dropping her coat on the chair.

I held up the dress. She stared at it. Then at me. Then at the card in my other hand.

"Alyssa," she said slowly. "That's the Alaïa from the spring runway."

"I know."

"You mentioned it once."

"I know."

"He remembered."

I folded the dress carefully and set it back in the tissue paper. "He's attentive."

Serena laughed. It was sharp and disbelieving. "Attentive? Lyssa, the man tracked down a dress you mentioned in passing two months ago and had it delivered to your apartment with a handwritten note. That's not attentive. That's—" She stopped. Looked at me. "That's something else."

I didn't answer.

She sat down at the table. Picked up the card. Read it. Set it down. "How many times have you read this?"

"Twice."

"Liar."

I looked at her.

She looked back. "You're allowed to find this significant, you know."

"I'm noting the attentiveness," I said.

"You're deflecting." Serena leaned back in her chair. "Travis never did anything like this."

"No," I said. "He didn't."

She studied me for a long moment. Then she stood, picked up her coat, and kissed my cheek. "Let yourself have this, Lyssa. You deserve it."

She left. I sat at the table with the card in my hand.

I read it a fourth time.

Across town, Travis sat in his apartment with his phone in his hand.

He'd opened Alyssa's Instagram three times in the past hour. There was a new photo — her and Rafael at some dinner, the lighting low and warm, her expression easy in a way he didn't remember seeing before. She looked luminous. Unbothered.

He scrolled back through her feed. Found the photos from when they were together. Her smile was different in those. Smaller. More careful.

He set the phone down. Picked it up again.

Dayana was in the bedroom. She'd been there for an hour, doing something with her hair. He should go in. Say something. Pay attention.

He looked at the photo again.

Rafael's hand was on the small of Alyssa's back. Casual. Possessive. The kind of gesture Travis had never made in public because their relationship had been private. Secret. His choice.

He closed the app. Opened it again.

The discomfort sat in his chest like something sharp and misplaced. He told himself it didn't matter. Alyssa had moved on. So had he. This was what he wanted.

He looked at the photo one more time.

Then he put the phone face-down on the table and went to find Dayana.