She lay rigidly on her back , her eyes burning with pain . Cici - Cecilia Chambers - had been his college classmate , his first love , his dream girl . After graduation , Cecilia moved overseas . They broke up , and Theodore fell apart , drowning himself in alcohol every day . She and Theodore , though , had known each other since high school . She admitted to herself that she'd had a quiet crush on him back then . He was the golden boy - handsome , brilliant , untouchable - while she was just an art student . Pretty , yes , but so were many girls . At a high school where grades meant everything , being in the arts made her almost invisible , maybe even a little suspect . So her feelings had always been a secret , something she never imagined would lead anywhere , never dreaming she'd ever stand in front of him . Until , one summer after graduating from Dance Academy , she came home and found him at his lowest . He was drunk that night , weaving down the street in a crooked line . He stumbled into the road without even looking . A car came barreling toward him , too fast to stop . She'd followed behind , worried about him , and at the last moment , she pushed him out of the way . The car hit her instead . She had been a dancer , with a guaranteed spot in grad school . But after the accident , her leg was ruined . She could never dance again . After that , he quit drinking and married her . He was always gentle , always grateful , always soft - spoken , always distant . He showered her with gifts and money , always making sure she had everything - except his love . She'd told herself that time would heal everything , that one day things would change . But she never expected that , even after five years , he'd still remember " Cici " so vividly . Even when he was alone , pleasuring himself , that was the name he whispered . She had been so naïve , so foolish ... She didn't sleep at all that night . She read the email on her phone at least a hundred 1/2 11:46 Chapter 2 times . It was a grad school offer from a university abroad - the thing she'd planned to discuss with him tonight . She wanted to ask : Could she go ? Would he let her ? Now , though , it seemed there was nothing left to discuss . Five years of marriage , countless sleepless nights , and now , finally , the countdown had begun . When he got up in the morning , she pretended to sleep and listened as he spoke to the housekeeper , Fallon , outside the bedroom door . " I've got a work dinner tonight . Tell Mrs. Foster not to wait up . She should get some rest . " He came back into the room afterward , glancing at her one more time . She lay under the covers , her pillow soaked with tears . Usually , before he left for work , she'd lay out his clothes , matching everything perfectly . All he had to do was get dressed . Today , she didn't . He picked out his own suit from the closet and left for the office . Only then did she open her swollen eyes . Her phone alarm rang - it was the time she'd set for herself to get up and study . Since the accident , she'd spent ninety percent of her days trapped inside their house , her ruined leg keeping her from going out . She'd learned to break her day into pieces , filling each with something - anything - to make the hours pass . She picked up her phone , turned off the alarm , and started scrolling through apps , aimless and numb . Her mind was a tangled mess ; nothing she saw registered . Until , suddenly , a video popped up on Twitter . The person on screen was instantly familiar . Then she saw the username : Cici . The algorithm , she thought bitterly . The video had been posted last night . Emma tapped it , and loud music filled the room . Someone was shouting : " One , two , three - welcome back , Cici ! Cheers ! " The voice - unmistakably - was Theodore's . 2/2 11:46 Chapter 3