Chapter 2

ELARA

After I left the garage, I met the buyer, sold the bracelet, and arranged Marnie's cremation.

By the time I got home with her urn in my arms, it was completely dark.

Jasper didn't come back. For once, though, he actually texted to tell me where he was: Tallulah's ankle was bad, so he was staying at the hospital to take care of her. The last time he'd bothered to check in with me like that was months ago.

For the first time, I didn't feel a single flicker of jealousy. I just opened my laptop and sent my resignation email.

No reply came. I didn't care. I started packing, planning to swing by the office the next day to tie up loose ends.

Five years, and everything I owned fit into one carry-on suitcase.

Early the next morning, Jasper's assistant, Leo, knocked on the door. He stopped short when he saw the suitcase.

"Ms. Pryce, are you going on a trip?"

"Something like that."

He didn't push. "Mr. Lennox would like to see you."

I didn't want to go. But the bodyguards behind his "politely" escorted me to the car anyway.

We pulled up outside a high-end couture atelier.

Jasper was all smiles. He led me into a fitting room, brought out a custom evening gown, and helped me into it himself, bending to adjust the straps on my shoulders.

Watching his lowered lashes, I felt strangely unmoored. To make his scheme airtight, he hadn't touched me in a long time. To fool everyone else, he'd told me, I have to fool myself first.

He was fastening a necklace around my throat when he suddenly paused. "Where's your bracelet?"

Before I could answer, he smiled. "Let me guess. You put it back in your jewelry box so it won't get scratched?"

He stepped back to look at me. "This is how my Elara should look. Absolutely breathtaking."

"I've already got a planner working on the wedding. A beach wedding, the way you always wanted, with a flower arch for Marnie. She can be our flower girl. What do you think?"

Every word was tender. Every word went in like a needle.

My hands curled into fists.

I remembered Marnie at the end—her big dark eyes wide open, her little fingers twisted in the front of my shirt as she fought for every breath.

"Why isn't Jasper coming to save me?"

I remembered how Jasper used to dote on her, how he'd read her the same bedtime story five times in a row without ever getting tired of it—until Tallulah said it one time too many. Are you sure that kid is really her sister? He went from laughing it off, to silence, to keeping his distance.

Marrying Jasper used to be my biggest dream. Now it was never going to happen.

"Jasper, about the wedding—"

He pressed a finger to my lips, smiling. "We're almost at the finish line. Tomorrow's Tallulah's birthday. I'm going to fire her in front of everyone. The condo, the car—I'm having legal take all of it back."

"She's gotten so used to the good life. Won't eat anywhere without a Michelin star. Let's see if she still has the nerve to push you around once she's got nothing and everybody's lining up to kick her while she's down."

The second he finished, the fitting-room curtain was ripped open.

Jasper whirled around to snap at whoever it was—then saw Tallulah. The color drained from his face.

She stood in the doorway, offering a weak smile. "Jasper, I thought you came to pick up my dress for tomorrow, just to save me from walking on my bad ankle."

"If Elara hadn't texted me to come watch the show, I'd never have known I was just kidding myself! Well, why wait for tomorrow? Everything you ever gave me—you can have it all back. Right now."

With shaking hands, she shrugged off her couture jacket, tore a diamond bracelet from her wrist, and hurled them both at Jasper.

Then she ripped a designer brooch from her silk blouse. Her eyes were cold and deliberate as she flung it straight at my face.

The exposed pin caught my cheek, slicing the skin. A thin line of blood welled up, hot and stinging.

Jasper never once looked at me. His eyes were locked on Tallulah. When her things hit him, he didn't even flinch.

The look on his face sent a shiver through me.

The year he loved me most, he'd looked at me exactly like that. I'd just turned down an offer from a big firm in London so I could stay and help him build his company from nothing. To save money, I lived on bodega sandwiches and instant ramen. Between bad nutrition and endless client dinners, I ended up in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer. He held my hand, his eyes full of pain, and swore he'd never let me suffer like that again.

Now that look belonged to Tallulah.

"Jasper, from now on, we're strangers. I hope you and Elara are very happy together!"

Tears in her eyes, she turned away with tragic resolve—then suddenly folded into a crouch, clutching her chest.

Jasper dropped to his knees beside her, frantic. "Tallulah, your heart—you can't get worked up like this! Breathe, just breathe!"

"Don't come near me! I don't want to see you!"

She gasped for air, her face twisted in pain, like the fragile, defiant heroine of some TV drama, and staggered out.

I caught Jasper's arm as he went to chase her. "I didn't tell her. I didn't even know you were bringing me here—how could I possibly—"

He flung my hand off like he'd touched something filthy, disgust written all over his face. "Elara, you couldn't wait one more day? If anything happens to Tallulah, I swear I'll make you wish you were dead!"

My hand froze in midair. My mouth twisted into a bitter smile.

The same man who held me for five years was now looking at me as if my very existence was a mistake he needed to fix. All for Tallulah.

I let my hand drop.