Chapter 2

Sigourney’s face was ashen. Her lips moved, but nothing came out.

Finally, she caught my sleeve, all her usual confidence gone.

“Ansel, this is my fault.”

She lowered her head.

“I swear I won’t see him again. I won’t contact him. It ends here. There won’t be a next time!”

I looked from her to Elio and gave a bitter laugh.

“Sigourney, are you sure you can stay away from him?”

Seven years earlier, she had waited outside my family’s estate all night, begging my father to approve our engagement.

Rain poured down. She stood in it until her clothes were soaked through.

Now she was in front of me again, clinging to my sleeve and begging. Elio stood beside her.

This time, she was pleading for another man.

I opened my mouth. My voice shook.

“Sign an agreement, Sigourney.”

I took out my phone and messaged my personal attorney.

Half an hour later, he emailed me a draft.

I printed it and pushed it across to her.

“If this happens again, I get everything.”

Sigourney didn’t read it. She picked up the pen and signed.

She hadn’t hesitated, but I knew a piece of paper wouldn’t make a cheater faithful.

That signature was just guilt.

But… I needed the agreement.

She set down the pen and looked at me, her eyes red.

“Honey, I really do love you. But I want to take Elio home first. He’s innocent in all this.”

I looked at her, then lowered my eyes.

“All right.”

She hugged me and turned to Elio.

“Come on. I’ll see you out.”

Head down, Elio followed her cautiously. Just before he left, he looked back at me.

There was triumph in his eyes.

Alone in the room, I lit a cigarette, got up, and opened the sliding door to the balcony.

Cold air rushed in. The tip of my cigarette glowed and dimmed between my fingers.

I looked down.

Outside the gate, Sigourney stood beside a car under the streetlight, talking. Elio looked down at her.

Their shadows stretched across the pavement.

Then he bent his head. She tipped her face up.

Their lips met.

The cigarette slipped from my fingers. My eyes began to sting.

I had known she would break her promise. I just hadn’t thought it would happen this fast.

The ink on the agreement was barely dry. Moments earlier, she had stood in front of me and sworn it wouldn’t happen again.

Now she was kissing Elio.

A tear slid down my cheek.

I wiped it away carelessly, took out my phone with a shaking hand, and photographed them.

I stood by the balcony door, the photo still on my screen.

We’re done, Sigourney.

Three days later, I was at company headquarters, reviewing applications for the next round of internships.

My hand stopped on one résumé.

In the photograph, Elio wore a white shirt. His hair was slightly curled, his smile bright.

He happened to have applied for a position under me. His résumé happened to have landed right in front of me.

I didn’t care whether it was a coincidence or deliberate. I marked an X in the evaluation box, closed his file, and rejected him.

There was no way he was working at my company.

But I had underestimated him.

That afternoon, someone kicked my office door open with a bang.