“Zac’s family and mine go way back,” Angus informed me. “We haven’t met his wife-to-be yet though.”

“How do you know them?” Bea asked.

“My best friend at work is Juniper’s sister, Sia, and Zac is my trainer at the gym.”

She shook her head. “Wow. Small world.”

“I’ve been noticing that a bit lately.” I sighed, thinking of Leo and hoping my cheeks didn’t look as hot as they felt.

“So where’s your boyfriend?” she asked, looking around.

“Ex-boyfriend. We broke up last week. Unfortunately, he’s here, but I’ve told him to stay away from me.”

“Oh. Jules, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” she asked.

“I really am.” I didn’t elaborate because I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Shuffle up.” Richard’s voice cut through the mood.

I looked up into a smug face.

“Richard Sacks,” Angus said in a surprisingly unfriendly tone, shaking Richard’s outstretched hand. “This is my wife, Beatrix.”

He nodded towards Bea.

“You know each other?” I asked, shocked.

“Gussie and I worked together for a while in the city. I heard you’re stuck out in some tiny regional office?”

I glanced at Angus, who was rolling his eyes. Clearly, he wasn’t a Richard fan either. The group of people who disliked my ex was getting bigger.

We all shuffled along to make room for him to sit next to me on the aisle.

The music playing through the speakers stopped and the Wedding March started. The audience fell silent and turned around, waiting to see the bride. Juniper passed us in a silver satin gown with shoestring straps and a fluffy stole wrapped around her shoulders. She was breathtaking. My eyes glazed over when I was hit with a sudden rush of emotion, and I felt like I might cry from seeing her so radiant and happy. And why wouldn’t she be? She was marrying a really good guy whom she loved and was loved wholeheartedly in return. Zac spoke kindly about everyone, except Richard, but when he spoke about Juniper, it was with reverence, awe and a love I couldn’t comprehend. My parents always appeared indifferent to each other, and my only long-term relationship had been a complete farce.

I watched the ceremony but didn’t hear any words. My mind was drifting to a million different places at a hundred miles an hour. When everyone stood up and clapped, I was shocked back to reality and realised Richard had his arm around me. I quickly pushed him off and gave him my best glare. He just smiled. The MC announced there were drinks and canapés in the marquee while the bride, groom and families had their photos taken in the surrounding gardens.

As the evening wore on, I found it increasingly irritating that Richard wouldn’t leave me alone. There were only so many times I could use the bathroom, but it was my favourite excuse as he couldn’t come with me.

“I need to go too,” Bea said.

“Don’t be too long, my love,” Richard said as we moved away from the group.

The toilets were on the ground level of the Georgian house.

“What’s going on there?” Bea asked when we were out of earshot. “He isn’t acting like an ex-boyfriend.”

“I honestly have no idea,” I replied. “He just won’t accept we’ve broken up and it’s getting really irritating. I don’t get it. We weren’t good together.”

“I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but Angus said he was a real piece of work. He doesn’t trust him.”

My heart sank further and I made a mental note to speak to my mother, given her charity was Richard’s major client. Angus and Zac both saw something untoward about the guy when I’d been completely oblivious. I’d never considered myself to have a great radar for these types of things, but surely I could have had an inkling that there was something seriously off about my boyfriend of almost three years.

We returned to the marquee in time for the speeches. Sia, as maid of honour, spoke first.

“Good evening, friends and family,” she began. “Thank you for being with us today to witness my gorgeous big sister, who also happens to be my best friend, marry the love of her life, my new brother-in-law, Zac. Something not many of you might know is that Juniper was the Saint of Comedy. Despite the fact my sister wasn’t named after the saint, I think it’s fitting nonetheless. By the way, she wasn’t named after the small evergreen shrub either.” Everyone chuckled, and I wondered what she was named after. “Juni is the funniest, kindest and most loving person I know, and she deserves the happiness she found with Zac.”

“Awwwwww,” the audience sighed out loud.

I looked over at Zac and Juniper and they kissed lightly on the lips. Then Zac kissed her cheek. They were such a beautiful couple.

“Anyway, I’m going to embarrass my sister now. We met Zac on a night out with friends. It was obvious to everyone there that they had an immediate connection. On our way home that night, she told me Zac was the one, he was her wonderlove. I rolled my eyes, obviously. ‘Don’t you mean wonderlust?’ I suggested. Her reply has stayed with me ever since.

“‘No,’ she confirmed. ‘Wonderlust is when you’re not sure if you’re lusting after someone or if you’re actually in love. Wonderlove is when you’re so goddamn sure you’re in love, you wonder how you’ll breathe without them. You wonder how your heart hadn’t burst right out of your chest when you met. You don’t wonder if they feel the same way because you know they do. Wonderlove is once in a lifetime, life altering, it’s blinding and it’s worth fighting for. Zac is my wonderlove and I’m his.’”

“It’s true,” Juniper said, tears running down her face.

“It’s obvious to everyone in this room that we’re celebrating wonderlove here tonight and, my beautiful sister, I couldn’t be happier for you.”

Everyone clapped.

“Oh, and one more thing. You know you were named after Juniper berries that flavoured Mum’s gin, right?” She held up her champagne glass to toast. “To wonderlove.”

“Wonderlove,” the audience repeated.

Everyone clapped as she left the podium.

I was having trouble getting Leo out of my head and I realised how much I wanted to see him again.

“Are you okay, Jules?” Bea asked. “You look pale.”

“I think I might get some fresh air,” I replied, smiling half-heartedly.

Realising I hadn’t seen Richard in a while, I glanced around the marquee. He had disappeared and for some reason, that made me feel uneasy. I decided I would confront him away from the other guests in an attempt to get some answers. Excusing myself from Bea, Angus and some other guests in our circle, I grabbed my coat and headed towards the exit. A waiter offered me another glass of champagne, which I took gratefully. A little extra Dutch courage couldn’t hurt. It was dark and cold outside, and I wrapped my coat around me tighter. Looking both ways, I turned left and walked the long side of the marquee. As I rounded the corner, I saw him leaning up against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He puffed rings of smoke.

“How sweet. Missed me, did you?” His voice and manner dripped with sarcasm and made my skin crawl.

“Not a chance. I’m just trying to work out why you’re here in the first place.”

“Can you really not see what’s going on? If you value your safety and those you care about, I’d suggest you get back on board with our relationship.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I took a few steps towards him and saw his eyes blacken.

“I don’t actually want to see anything bad happen. Just pull your head in and let’s go back to the way things were.”

I was rendered speechless as my brain tried to process his words. As they sunk in, I felt nauseous. Was he really threatening my friends’ safety because I broke up with him?

“Let me go, Richard.” I didn’t want to fight with him again. I just wanted him out of my life. “We don’t belong together and the sooner you realise that, the better. We’re over. I broke up with you, and even if you don’t like it, bad luck.”