Chapter 1

My husband Adrian Holt's cheating scandal had just blown up online, and I jumped right in to clean up the mess.

"My husband didn't cheat. I was jealous and made up the whole thing about him and his secretary, Monica. I apologize to her."

The internet erupted:

"Lying bitch! Go to hell!"

"You think we're stupid? Get your head checked!"

Staring at the screen full of hate, I called Adrian.

"Are you happy now?"

He laughed softly.

"If only you'd been this reasonable before. As a reward, I'll make time for your prenatal visit. But tomorrow I'm taking Monica to Iceland to see the lights. Move your appointment."

After I hung up, the doctor behind me pressed the form toward me, voice urgent.

"You need to sign the termination consent now, or you won't make it through the night."

I survived.

I stayed in the hospital for seven days. Adrian never came to see me.

After leaving, my first stop was a shabby clinic on the edge of town.

Ten years ago, it was here that Adrian had knelt beside my mother's hospital bed and sworn his vow.

"I'll love Emma forever. I'll never let her suffer, not even a little."

Behind the clinic, in the back alley under an old locust tree, we had buried a metal box together.

We promised to open it in ten years.

The box was rusted shut, but the paper inside remained almost whole.

The first line was in Adrian's bold, sweeping handwriting:

"To my dearest Miss Rayne, my future wife. I wonder how you have spent this past decade."

Seeing the intimate way he'd addressed me on the page, I felt a sharp, cold irony.

"Did he buy you a ring?"

Yes. A small diamond I'd cherished like a treasure, though it wasn't a tenth the size of the one on Monica's hand.

"How's the company? Are we married?"

The company had grown larger and larger, and so had the circle of women around him.

Every time I mentioned marriage, Adrian found a way to deflect.

And so we remained-ten years, tangled together with no ceremony.

"Do we have a baby?"

We did. Once. Stillborn, his little body purple and blue. He never made a sound.

And now I was pregnant again, because Monica wanted a child as a novelty.

Adrian said she was a career woman who couldn't afford to sacrifice her figure or her time, so he wanted me to carry it for them.

But the child was deformed. Carrying it would kill me.

The next question was mine.

"Mr. Holt, what do you think has been the most important thing in our relationship over these ten years?"

What would Adrian answer?

Probably trust.

After all, he used to snap, "Emma, can't you just trust me? Monica and I are nothing. She's an asset to the company, not your rival."

I'd tried to convince myself that they were just work partners.

But the way they looked at each other didn't lie.

And their behavior certainly didn't lie.

I remembered the morning of his first board meeting as CEO. I'd gotten up early to iron his shirt and chosen a royal blue tie.

Just after I'd carefully knotted it for him, Monica breezed through the door, holding up another tie with a laugh.

"Adrian, today's occasion is particularly formal. I'd suggest this subtle-patterned tie instead-it's more dignified."

Adrian barely hesitated. He untied the knot I'd just made and put on the one from Monica's hand.

He patted my shoulder.

"Monica's been by my side long enough that she understands these dress codes better than you do."