Chapter 2

Claire’s POV

I was sitting on the couch in a daze when Ethan left the apartment.

He put on his shoes, picked up his car keys, and glanced back at me. My face was still pale, my empty gaze fixed on the glass of water on the table.

“Seven tonight. Private dining room on the top floor of the Grand Hyatt. Don’t be late. And don’t dress up too much. Don’t outshine Olivia.” He started to leave, then paused with his hand on the doorknob.

Turning back, he looked at my thin shoulders and softened his tone a little. “Claire, you’re a smart woman. I’ve always considered you a good friend. Olivia is different. She’s the one who got away when I was young.”

“So stop sulking. Understand?”

The door slammed shut, cutting off the outside world—and the last illusion I had about him.

A good friend…

Slowly, I covered my face with both hands. There were no more tears, only a numb feeling of suffocation.

Ethan was everywhere in this place. It was also the “home” I had poured so much of myself into.

The plants on the balcony were ones I had carried home, pot by pot, after he casually said they looked nice. I had called in favors to track down his favorite vintage wines. In the walk-in closet, his shirts were arranged by shade, each one ironed without a single crease.

I had thought it was love. To him, it was just a personal assistant doing her job.

Night fell, and the rain grew heavier. I didn’t go to the Grand Hyatt.

I turned off my phone, pulled a huge black suitcase from beneath the bed, and found a trash can.

Then I opened a drawer and took out a thick stack of photo albums.

They held the pictures I had quietly taken of Ethan over the past seven years.

His profile while he slept. The crease in his brow while he worked. The backs of us walking side by side on the occasional outing.

Seven years. More than a thousand pictures. Not one photo of us together where Ethan had willingly looked into the camera.

I flicked a lighter. Flames licked the photo paper with a faint hiss. Blackened edges curled inward before falling into the metal bin as ash.

Firelight washed over my expressionless face. The flames danced in eyes that felt utterly dead.

“I don’t want any of it.” My whisper vanished beneath the rain outside. If the man in these pictures had never truly cared about me, what was the point of keeping them?

By the time the last ember died, the room smelled sharply of burned paper. I stood and packed my few simple clothes, leaving behind every luxury item Ethan had bought me.

At two in the morning, I wheeled my suitcase out of the upscale apartment that had held me captive for three years, leaving the key quietly on the shoe cabinet by the door.

The Bennett estate.

When I appeared on my parents’ doorstep, soaked to the skin, Richard and Margaret Bennett were stunned.

At the sight of my paper-white face and empty eyes, Mom burst into tears. She hurried to get a towel and began drying my hair.

“Claire, honey, what happened? Did Ethan hurt you again?”

Dad slapped the table in fury.

The Bennetts weren’t in the same league as the Sterlings, but we were still a prominent family. As their only heir, I had grown up cherished and protected. Yet somehow, I had fallen for Ethan.

I took the hot soup Mom brought me. The heat seeped through the bowl into my palms, making me feel a little more alive.

I looked up at my worried parents. My eyes reddened, but my gaze was steadier than it had ever been.

“Mom. Dad.” I drew a deep breath. My voice was hoarse but clear. “I’ve made up my mind. I want to work at our New Zealand branch.”

Dad froze. “New Zealand? The operation there is barely getting started. It’ll be exhausting. Why would you want to go?”

“To be myself.” I closed my eyes, hiding the hurt and determination in them. “I want to leave. The sooner, the better. Please help me with the immigration paperwork. I need a completely fresh start.”

Dad watched me for a long time. Then he sighed. He didn’t ask why, only nodded firmly. “All right. I’ll have someone start on it tomorrow. As long as you’re happy, you can go anywhere you want.”