Chapter 3

"Nora!"

Chase called out to me, urgent, but I didn't slow down, didn't look back.

I caught a cab to the hospital. My mother, Gina Sutton, looked so much better today—there was actual color back in her face.

She handed me a peeled apple, her eyes bright. "Nora, how did the marriage registration photo turn out? Come on, show me."

My throat closed up, and my nose stung with the effort of holding back tears.

I had no idea how to explain any of this to her. I couldn't bear to let her know the truth.

Just as I was gathering the courage to tell her, the door opened, and Chase walked in.

He sat down at the edge of the bed and started rubbing my mother's shoulders with the same easy devotion he'd shown for ten years straight, his voice warm and low. "Nora thought the registration photo came out badly, so she sent it back to get retouched. We'll get the license in a couple days, and we'll show you then, Mom."

Chase had just switched, without missing a beat, from calling her "ma'am" to calling her "Mom." My mother was so moved her eyes welled up, and for a moment, she didn't notice how wrong everything felt between us.

I pulled Chase out into the hallway, my face set. "I already walked away. What more do you want from me?"

Chase reached out, gently and with practiced familiarity, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He looked at me and sighed. "Nora. Twelve years together—can you really just let that go?"

What did it matter whether I could let it go?

He already belonged to someone else.

I glared at him, my eyes burning, and let out a cold laugh. "Whether I can or can't, I have to."

I turned to walk away. Chase stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

He gripped my shoulders, then suddenly, like something in him had snapped, crushed me against his chest. "But I can't let you go."

He held me too tight. I shoved against him with everything I had, and still couldn't break free.

"Back in college, when I was saving up to buy you that ring, I worked part-time at a coffee shop. That's where I met Alice.

"She was shy, blushed the second anyone talked to her, and men kept harassing her. I helped her out a lot, and we got close.

"One time, a customer slipped something into her drink at a hotel bar. I ran in to save her, and out of nowhere, she kissed me. I couldn't stop myself, and...

"I thought about cutting things off with her. But Alice was innocent in all this. My conscience wouldn't let me hurt her—it told me I owed her something instead.

"All these years, she's stayed by my side with no title, no promises. She never cried, never made a scene, never fought for more. I'm the one who wronged her. I had to make it right with a marriage certificate."

So twelve years and eight years hadn't just been two numbers that happened to overlap.

While I'd been grinning like an idiot over a diamond ring, Chase had been wrapped up in another woman's arms.

While I'd been in our tiny rented apartment making his favorite sticky barbecue ribs, waiting for him to come home, he'd been eating food some other girl had cooked for him.

Countless moments where I'd felt nothing but happiness had actually been moments of betrayal.

"Enough! I don't want to hear another word about how you two hooked up. Get away from me!"

Crying, I sank my teeth into Chase's shoulder.

The taste of blood filled my mouth. He shuddered with the pain but didn't fight me off.

Chase bore through it, gently stroking the top of my head. "I gave the marriage certificate to Alice, sure. But everything else—whatever she gets, you'll get more.

"Love, money, my time, taking care of your mother like she's my own—none of that shrinks just because Alice and I are married.

"Actually, there's a new medication overseas that's shown real results treating late-stage stomach cancer. Nora, when should we take your mom to try it?"

I closed my eyes, drained, and stopped biting.

All these years, Chase really had been good to me. If it weren't for Alice Foster's existence, I might have been the happiest woman alive.

Anything I wanted, Chase bought for me without ever checking the price.

Anywhere I wanted to go, he came with me, dropping business deals without a second thought.

When my mother got sick, he'd taken care of everything himself, staying up late into the night discussing treatment plans with the doctors.

The staggering medical bills had always been Chase footing the cost.

I couldn't walk away from Chase.

At least, not until my mother got better.