Chapter 2

He hung up.

I stood there staring at my phone, then sat down on the floor because my legs had stopped being useful. Tears ran down my face. I’d worked too hard for that money. I couldn’t afford to start all over again.

My phone chimed.

A bank notification. A deposit of $45,000.

I opened the app. Checked the transaction. Checked the available balance. Closed it and opened it again, in case I’d imagined the whole transfer.

The money was there.

I wiped my face on my sleeve.

Well. Could’ve held off on the crying.

I called my friends.

“Drinks tonight. My treat.”

Sophie Lane wanted to know what we were celebrating.

“Unexpected windfall.”

Technically, getting your own money back wasn’t a windfall. Emotionally, I’d just won the lottery.

I’d put my chances of seeing that money again at about fifty-fifty. The threat to sue had come from panic. Going up against the Whitmores wasn’t something I was eager to put to the test.

But he’d paid. I could breathe. I could order an appetizer without mentally subtracting it from the mortgage payment.

At the bar that evening, I pushed the menu toward Sophie and Nina Brooks.

“Order whatever you want. And let’s get another round.”

Nina studied me across the table. “You actually seem happy.”

“I actually am.”

“You know about Ethan and Vivian?”

“Yes.”

“About the hotel? Somebody saw them come out together.”

“I heard.”

“So you really broke up.”

“We did.”

“And you’re not upset?”

I put down my drink. “Okay. Two options. Your family goes bankrupt, or your boyfriend leaves you.”

She hesitated. “Boyfriend.”

“You get cancer, or your boyfriend leaves you.”

“Boyfriend.”

“You get hit by a bus—”

“Clara.”

“See? Pretty good day.”

Nina was beginning to smile. Sophie wasn’t. She’d gone still, looking over my shoulder.

I turned.

Ethan stood behind me with Vivian and several of his friends. He looked like he’d heard enough to regret coming over.

I gave a little wave. “Hi.”

His expression darkened.

“Come outside.”

“With you?” I glanced at Vivian, half a step behind him. “Your girlfriend’s right there. Seems a little awkward.”

She looked at him, waiting. He didn’t turn around.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of my chair.

Sophie and Nina stood at once.I raised my free hand to signal that I was okay, though I was already trying to get him to loosen his grip.

“Ethan. I can walk.”

He kept going.