Chapter 1

My fiancé, Dominic Ashford, ran out on our wedding.

He left to chase after the ex-girlfriend who abandoned him five years ago when he was nearly paralyzed.

The ballroom erupted. I grabbed his sleeve, fighting to hold on to the last shred of dignity I had left.

"Can you... not do this right now?"

A flicker of guilt crossed his face. Then he peeled my fingers off one by one and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"I need to ask her, face to face, why she was so heartless back then."

The crowd gaped and murmured. Dominic didn't even glance back.

My father has a heart condition. He stood there shaking with rage, and right before my stunned, disoriented eyes, he collapsed.

"Dad!"

I shattered. I held myself together just long enough to get him to the hospital.

I dropped into a plastic chair outside the ER. My phone buzzed. Two messages.

The first was from Vanessa Sterling. "I told you. The moment I came back, Dominic was never going to choose you. You lost. Again."

The second was from Dominic. "Give me thirty days. We'll stay apart for now. After that, I'll be yours. Only yours. I swear it."

My eyes went dead as the Dead Sea. A bitter, mocking smile twisted the corner of my mouth.

This time, I will not let myself lose.

***

The ER light stayed red for three hours. Still no word.

Dad had bypass surgery two years ago.

He told me, straight out, that Dominic Ashford was bad news.

I refused to listen. I was convinced Dominic loved me.

Now all that conviction turned into a fist driving straight into my gut. The pain was suffocating.

My mother sat next to me, sobbing.

"What do we do... if your father doesn't make it, I..."

"He will," I cut her off. I was trying to convince myself too. "Dad will be fine."

But my voice shook. I had never been this terrified in my life.

Right then, my phone buzzed again. A video from Vanessa.

A suite at the Four Seasons.

Dominic burst in, still rumpled from travel, and confronted her.

"Why did you come back?"

Vanessa said nothing. He was the one who lost control first. His eyes went red.

"You left without a word back then. What gives you the right to show up now and wreck my life?"

"Vanessa, what gives you the right to be this selfish?"

I walked out to the empty stairwell.

I stood there watching the video of that man falling apart. He looked like a complete stranger.

My friends have told me more than once that Dominic was too calm with me.

I always brushed it off.

"He comes from an old-money family. Restraint is in his blood. I understand."

But now.

It hit me like a freight train. He could lose control. He could shake and cry. He could beg like a dog.

Just not for me, his fiancée. Only for Vanessa.

I closed my eyes.

Swallowed the ache twisting through my chest. Kept watching.

In the video, Vanessa stood there through all his accusations without saying a word. Just watched him.

After that brief storm of emotion, Dominic let out a bitter laugh.

Then all the blame and anger seemed to collapse. He pulled her into his arms.

"You're back... that's all that matters."

Vanessa burrowed into his chest. Her eyes drifted toward the camera, deliberate and unhurried. A look of pure triumph.

The video cut out.

A hollow laugh escaped me. Nothing but ashes in my chest.

Thunder cracked outside the window. My tears fell with the downpour.

So.

This is what Dominic looks like when he loves someone. I never once felt it.

I wiped my face and walked back to the ER. The doors swung open just as I got there.

I rushed forward, my eyes still swollen and red. "Doctor, how is my father?"

"He's out of danger."

"But this cannot happen again. Ever. His heart can't take any more shocks."

I went rigid and nodded hard.

"It won't. Thank you, doctor."

My mother collapsed in relief, sobbing openly. They wheeled my father out.

I looked at the pale, gaunt old man on the hospital bed.

I wanted to slap myself. How did it take me this long to see things clearly?

After we got him settled in a room, a specialist pushed open the door.

"Ms. Hawthorne, I'm the cardiologist Mr. Ashford sent. May I have an update on the patient?"

A message from Dominic arrived at the same time.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset your father. I found a top cardiac specialist. He'll be fine."

I clenched my phone. My hand shook. The absurdity of it was staggering.

Five years together.

And he didn't even know what condition my father had...

I forced my voice steady.

"No. Please leave."

Once my father was stable, I went down to the obstetrics and gynecology department. I stopped outside a door because I caught a glimpse through the gap. Dominic and Vanessa.

He was holding the pale-looking woman, his face tight with worry.

The doctor asked, "What symptoms are you seeing?"

Vanessa didn't speak. Dominic answered without a second's hesitation.

"Her periods have always been irregular. She eats way too much cold food. Her overall constitution's weak. Holistic and herbal treatments never seem to help."

My feet stopped at the doorway. They felt like they were filled with cement.

Every word he rattled off about Vanessa's health hit me like a blade to the heart.

He didn't know what my father had.

But he remembered every detail about an ex-girlfriend he hadn't seen in five years.

A bitter taste filled my mouth. I pulled out my phone and called my lawyer. Told him to begin the annulment process immediately.

Then I pushed open the door to another exam room.

"I'm here to schedule a termination of pregnancy."