Chapter 1

1.

I found the flight confirmation in Gabriel’s laptop.

The destination was Santorini, Greece―the one place I’d begged him to take me for three years, and he’d always said was “too commercial,” “not the right time,” or “pointless.”

Now, he was finally going.

But he was going with Serena, the widow of his late brother.

…

I sat in the dark living room of our Manhattan penthouse, my fingers clenched around the printed confirmation. The sharp edges of the paper creased my palm.

The electronic lock beeped softly.

Gabriel walked in, bringing the chill of a late New York autumn with him. When he saw me on the velvet sofa, his brow furrowed in that familiar, irritated way.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?”

His voice was still deep and captivating, the kind of calm, commanding tone that decided fates on Wall Street.

“Just thinking,” I said.

Thinking about how I’d let myself get to this point.

Gabriel ignored my strange mood, shrugging off his Tom Ford custom suit jacket and hanging it up. He began unbuttoning his cuffs, casually dropping a bomb on me.

“I have a business trip on the 20th of this month.”

The 20th. The exact date on the flight to Santorini.

I watched his back, pretending I didn’t know. “Where to?”

“Europe,” he answered vaguely. “It’s a tricky cross-border merger.”

A lie. He was going to Santorini with Serena. The place I’d begged him for three years to visit.

The blue and white churches, the Aegean sunset―a place blessed by the gods of love. I refused to believe he didn’t understand what that meant.

The golden boy lawyer who prided himself on never lying was now doing it without even blinking.

“My art exhibition opens on the 21st,” I reminded him softly. “It’s my first solo show at the gallery in SoHo. You promised you’d be there for the ribbon-cutting.”

I had spent an entire year preparing for this. He had sworn he would be there to witness my big moment.

Gabriel paused, turning to face me. His eyes held a flicker of apology, but absolutely no guilt.

“Chloe, this merger affects the firm’s rankings and the partners’ bonuses for next year.”

“You can have many exhibitions, but this case is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Come on, be reasonable. I’ll have my assistant send the biggest flower arrangement. Or I’ll transfer some money to your black card. You can go buy that platinum Birkin you’ve been eyeing.”

There it was again. In his eyes, I was always the secondary option, the one who could be easily sacrificed. A promise could be bought off with a bag and a bank transfer.

I looked into his eyes, making one last stand.

“So you’re breaking another promise?”

His brow tightened, and his tone became laced with impatience.

“Chloe, don’t be irrational.”

“We’re married. You should be understanding of my work, not pressuring me like this.”

Irrational.

He used that one word to kill every last bit of hope I had.

I lowered my gaze, hiding the bitter self-mockery in my eyes.

“Fine. Go be busy.”

“I’ll stop.”

From now on, I would never bother him again.