Chapter 1

1.

Halfway through my birthday dinner, Orion’s phone buzzed on the table.

The screen lit up―he’d forgotten to lock it.

I caught a glimpse of the photo: a cheap chapel in Las Vegas, dated one year ago. Orion and Chloe, smiling in a tacky wedding dress and tux, standing before an Elvis impersonator.

Honestly? I was relieved.

While he was in the restroom, I picked up my own phone and replied to Professor Evans.

“Thank you, Professor Evans. I accept the offer for the exchange program at the London School of Economics.”

After witnessing my parents' disastrous marriage, only a fool would choose love over a career.

…

The phone vibrated again. It was his.

“Jules, our one-year anniversary is in two days. Miami getaway this weekend? Please?”

The sender: Chloe Vance.

My half-sister. The social media influencer with two hundred thousand followers.

I heard Orion’s footsteps approaching. I placed his phone back on the table and took a sip of my wine.

Six-foot-two, a custom Zegna suit, shoulders that looked like they were carved from marble. He stood there like an exhibit from a sculpture museum. Phillips Andover, a Harvard MBA, the Thorne family’s status in Manhattan―on paper, he was the perfect man to marry.

We met at Andover and got together at Harvard. Seven years.

“Nora.” He sat down across from me, his voice low but hollow, as if his soul had been scooped out.

He pulled a Tiffany-blue box from behind his back. “Happy birthday, babe.”

Those lake-blue eyes looked at me. Seven years ago, his gaze could melt snow. Now? It was just business.

“Thanks.” I opened the box. Harry Winston. The newest diamond necklace.

I glanced at it and closed the lid. He must have forgotten―I’m allergic to platinum. A similar necklace had landed me in the ER for a whole night after a charity gala years ago.

But he’d been juggling Chloe and me for so long, he no longer remembered details like that.

He saw my lack of reaction and just hummed softly, his eyes casually flicking toward his phone. A flash of pleasure crossed his otherwise calm face.

I knew. He had feelings for Chloe, and he was ready to end things with me.

Coincidentally, so was I.