Page 163 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

In a tailored jacket and that same smug, too-easy smile I used to think was charming and now want to set on fire.

And beside him the woman I’ve seen online with him. She’s pretty, polished, the kind of effortless composure that screamsI’ve never had to wonder if I belong in a room like this.

His arm is around her.

I genuinely think I’ve lost my mind.

This isn’t real. This cannot be real.

There's absolutely no universe in which the man who dumped me at an airport like I was inconvenient luggage is now standing in Ethan’s living room like he was invited and he belongs here.

“Oh,” Bryce says.

Like he’s just recognized me.

LikeI’mthe surprise.

My entire body goes cold, then hot, then something in between that feels dangerously close to combustion.

This is a prank.

It has to be.

Some kind of elaborate, deeply unfunny prank.

I look at Ethan. Because surely he knows. Surely this is a setup, a misunderstanding, something that can be explained in five seconds or less.

But Ethan is looking between us, confusion flickering behind his eyes.

He doesn’t know, which means…

Which means this is real.

“Addy?” Bryce says, like he has any right to say my name.

Like it hasn’t been sitting in my chest like a bruise for weeks.

Like he didn’t…

I can feel it building. The pressure, the humiliation, the anger. All of it, rushing back at once, loud and overwhelming andtoo much.

“No,” I say.

It comes out quieter than I expected. It isn’t the dramatic explosion I deserve. Just a flat, disbelieving refusal.

“No,” I repeat, shaking my head. Laughter bubbles up, sharp and wrong. “No, this isn’t… this isn’t happening.”

“Addy,” Ethan says, stepping toward me.

I flinch. Suddenly everything feels like too much.

The room, the people, the fact that Bryce ishere.

“That’s your friend?” I ask, my voice climbing without my permission. “That’s your Bee?”

Ethan’s expression tightens. “I don’t understand?—”

“You didn’t know?” I laugh again, louder this time, hysteria creeping in around the edges. “Oh, that’s even better. That’s actually so much better.”