Just as we were about to reach the checkout counter at the grocery store, my best friend, Chloe, suddenly grabbed Ethan’s sleeve and announced that she’d forgotten something—and twenty minutes later, I was still standing there alone with a cart full of groceries while the two people I trusted most had vanished together.
Chapter 2
By noon, Human Resources had processed my resignation.
Jessica, the HR director, came to my desk with a worried expression.
“You’re really leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Do you already have something lined up?”
“I do.”
She lowered her voice. “People thought Ethan was preparing to promote you. Especially since you brought Chloe in.”
I almost laughed.
Around us, employees talked quietly behind computer screens.
Jessica hesitated.
“There’s another rumor.”
“I’ve heard it.”
“You have?”
“That Chloe and Ethan are dating.”
Her cheeks turned pink.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
That afternoon, movers removed my personal belongings from the executive floor. I left behind my encrypted company laptop, badge, corporate phone, and every document Sterling Group legally owned.
Everything that belonged to me went to my new home.
Julian’s employment package included temporary use of a house overlooking the Pacific in Malibu until I decided where I wanted to live. His company had also deposited a substantial signing bonus and created a new division around the infrastructure strategy work he’d been trying to recruit me to lead.
At five fifteen, Ethan texted.
Dinner. Ivory Room. 7:00.
For over a year, I’d wanted him to take me there.
No thanks, I replied. I have plans.
His answer came quickly.
Still upset about this morning? Come to dinner. I’ll make it up to you.
I should have refused.
Instead, Chloe intercepted me in the lobby.
“Clara! We’re all going together.”
Before I could answer, she looped her arm through mine.
Employees nearby whispered.
“They’re adorable.”
“Mr. Sterling and Chloe? I knew it.”
Chloe blushed theatrically.
“Oh no. They misunderstood.”
She looked at me with wide innocent eyes.
“Should I explain?”
I patted her hand.
“No.”
My suitcases were already in Malibu.
After dinner, I intended never to return.
At the restaurant, Ethan handed me a small red velvet box.
Inside was a delicate gold bracelet.
“For you.”
I looked at it.
“Why?”
“You handled today maturely. Office rumors can get ugly. I appreciate that you didn’t make a scene.”
Two years earlier, an employee had jokingly asked whether Ethan and I were dating after seeing us at lunch.
Ethan fired him the next day.
Now half the company believed he was sleeping with Chloe, and he called my silence maturity.
He fastened the bracelet around my wrist.
“So we’re okay?”
“We’re exactly where we need to be.”
He smiled, misunderstanding completely.
At the table, Ethan and Chloe sat together across from me. They shared a menu, laughing over photographs of desserts and arguing playfully about appetizers.
I watched Ethan laugh.
Really laugh.
For three years, he’d been controlled, serious, impatient. Even on vacations, he answered emails over breakfast.
With Chloe, he looked twenty-five again.
It should have broken my heart.
Instead, it clarified it.
He was capable of warmth.
He had simply stopped choosing to give it to me.
They ordered without asking what I wanted.
When the dishes arrived, nearly everything was spicy, raw, greasy, or painfully sweet.
My stomach tightened.
Chloe peeled several shrimp and placed them on a plate.
“Clara, eat. You haven’t touched anything.”
“No, thank you.”
“But I peeled them for you.”
“I don’t do well with seafood.”
Her smile faded.
I excused myself and hurried to the restroom.
By the time I came out, Ethan was waiting.
“Clara Vance.”
He only used my full name when angry.
“What’s wrong with you tonight?”
“My stomach hurts.”
He folded his arms.
“I praised you for being mature, and now you’re making Chloe uncomfortable.”
I stared at him.
“I’m sick.”
“You handle difficult clients without making faces. You can manage one dinner with a young woman who’s trying to be your friend.”
My stomach cramped so violently I had to press one hand against the wall.
“What do you want me to do?”
He stared at me.
“Go back and eat the shrimp. Stop creating drama.”
Something inside me went quiet.
I followed him back.
My final HR clearance had not yet been confirmed, and I wanted no excuse for Sterling Group to interfere with my departure. So I did what I had done professionally for years.
I performed.
I apologized to Chloe. I complimented her dress. I smiled beautifully.
Then I ate the shrimp.
Halfway through the plate, Ethan finally stopped me.
“That’s enough.”
Chloe’s smile returned.
Later, when Ethan stepped outside to take a call, she leaned toward me.
“I should thank you.”
“For what?”
“For introducing me to Ethan.”
She lifted her wrist.
A diamond bracelet glittered beneath the restaurant lights.
I looked at mine.
Same designer.
Different collection.
Then I remembered the sales promotion I’d seen online.
Buy the diamond cuff and receive a complimentary gold chain.
My bracelet was the free gift.
Chloe watched realization spread across my face.
“You should leave with some dignity,” she whispered. “He feels responsible for you because you’ve been around forever, but people change.”
My stomach twisted viciously.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
Then Ethan returned.
Chloe immediately lifted one finger.
“Ouch.”
A tiny spot of blood appeared beside her nail.
“I cut myself on the crab shell.”
Ethan’s face changed instantly.
“Let me see.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Raw shellfish can carry bacteria. We’re going to urgent care.”
He grabbed her coat.
I could barely breathe.
“Ethan.”
He turned impatiently.
“I need a hospital.”
“Your stomach again?”
“Something’s wrong.”
He sighed.
“Chloe needs the infectious-disease clinic on the east side. Your gastroenterologist is west. They’re opposite directions.”
I grabbed the edge of his jacket.
“Please.”
He pulled away.
“You’ve had stomachaches a hundred times.”
The door was already opening.
“You can handle yourself.”
“Ethan—”
“It’s not like you’re going to die.”
Then he left.
The room blurred.
I reached for my phone and hit the first recent contact I could see.
A man’s voice answered.
“Clara?”
“Julian.”
“Where are you?”
I told him.
His voice became sharp.
“Don’t move.”
A notification appeared on my screen.
FINAL SEPARATION APPROVED.
I laughed, though it hurt.
Then I opened my last private message to Ethan.
We’re over.
I pressed send.
The chandelier fractured into yellow streaks.
My forehead touched the table.
Then everything disappeared.
