Chapter 1

After three years with Liora Ashford, I finally hit my breaking point.

I blocked her on everything and gave her the simplest excuse to end it.

"The red silk we tied at the Chapel of Vows snapped. The priest said it means our souls aren't meant to be. It's over."

Liora was always the Ice Queen of the Ivy League, so I figured she'd just walk away without a word.

But then, I heard the rumors from our old classmates.

The genius physicist from Northcrest University had lost her mind over a superstition.

She went back to that chapel and climbed all nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps on her knees.

One step, one prayer, one forehead to the ground.

All of it just to beg for a new piece of red silk.

1 On our anniversary, I waited in the restaurant for three hours before Liora finally showed up.

But she wasn't alone. She walked in with her ex, Gavin Hayes.

Her roommate, Chloe, was trailing behind them.

I raised my hand to call her over, but she walked straight past me toward the other side of the room.

They didn't even notice me. They looked like they were just there for a casual dinner.

There was a decorative screen between our tables, so they had no idea I was sitting right there.

Since Gavin was there, I didn't want to make a scene.

I pulled out my phone and texted Liora: "Where are you?"

"The food is already on the table. If you don't get here soon, it's going to get cold."

Liora's reply was ice-cold: "In the lab."

I gripped my phone tightly, fighting the urge to call her out right then and there.

"You're really at the lab?" I texted back.

That simple question immediately set her off.

She snapped at me, her voice practically dripping with impatience through the screen.

"Lucas Thorne, are you ever going to stop? Don't you have anything better to do than watch my every move?"

"You might be bored, but I'm busy. I don't have time for your childish tantrums!"

I stared at the screen, stunned by her words.

Looking back at all our fights, I realized something. If I hadn't seen her with my own eyes, I probably would have apologized to her by now.

Then, I heard Gavin's voice from the other side of the screen.

"Liora, what's wrong? Is your boyfriend checking up on you?"

Chloe chimed in with a giggle.

"Yeah, after she dumped you, she picked up this guy from the department, Lucas."

"He's some rich kid, totally naive and soft. He follows her around like a lost puppy."

Liora's cold voice cut through the air: "Don't bring him up."

"I don't want him ruining my mood."