Chapter 3

He led me into a dim corner at the end of the hallway. When I tried to pull away, he pressed me back against the wall. His other hand caught the back of my head before it could hit the wall.

I was still angry. The fact that he protected my skull didn’t make the rest of this any better.

“What do you want?”

He stared at me. His face was controlled; his grip wasn’t.

“You wanted to leave long before this, didn’t you?” he asked. “The proposal. The ring. The money. Those were just excuses.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

We’d been together eight years. At the beginning, we’d talked everything through. We believed that if we explained ourselves carefully enough, there wouldn’t be any room for misunderstandings.

Eight years later, I couldn’t work out where to start.

He was right about one thing. A relationship didn’t end because of one bad night.

But that forty-five thousand dollars had ended it, and he still couldn’t see why.

Seventeen days earlier, on my birthday,he’d thrown a party. He’d booked the venue , decorated it, and invited all his friends. When he went down on one knee, his hand shook around the ring box.

“Clara Hayes. Will you marry me?”

He looked so hopeful. People cheered. Someone started shouting, “Say yes!” and the others joined in.

I looked at the ring.

I recognized it. We’d seen it together at a jewelry store, and I’d stopped to admire it. Ethan had promised he’d buy it for me when his business started making money.

His business wasn’t making money.

Yet there it was, in his hand.

While his friends cheered, I took out my phone. I’d been busy all day and hadn’t read most of my notifications. I scrolled until I found the one from my bank.

Card purchase: $45,000.

Available balance: $320.55.

I read it again. The amount didn’t change.

He’d used my card. Without asking me. The savings I’d built up,everything I’d set aside for an emergency , had gone into the ring he was holding out to me.

I had three hundred and twenty dollars and fifty-five cents left.

Ethan was still kneeling. He was waiting for me to hold out my hand.

“How could you do that?” I asked.