1.

Five hours.

Autumn had been waiting for five hours at the same table that had been booked to celebrate her fifth marriage anniversary with Ethan.

Ironic, wasn’t it?

“Mrs Grant, do you need me to refill your glass?” A waiter approached with a sympathetic smile and a jug in his hand.

Autumn’s hands clenched around her dress. It was the only thing Ethan had ever bought her. He had tossed the dress at her one night and said the ones she had were embarrassing.

Autumn shook her head, diverting her gaze so she didn’t see the pity in his eyes. “Thank you. My husband will be here soon."

The waiter didn’t believe her, but it wasn’t his place to argue, so he nodded and walked back to the corner where his coworkers were waiting.

“Do you think Ethan Grant stood her up?” A waitress whispered as soon as the boy got back. Her voice was laced with subtle jealousy because they all thought Autumn had everything.

After all, she was married into one of Weston’s most powerful families, so she must have everything a woman could ever ask for. They didn’t know that Autumn was a neglected wife with in-laws who hated to see her face.

“Of course he did. It’s been five hours. If he wanted to show up, he would have by now," another answered.

Autumn froze at the response but pushed the answer to the back of her head.

Ethan would come. She was sure of it because she had learned not to expect anything from him, but this time, he was the one who asked her to book the restaurant this morning through his assistant, James.

She checked her phone again for any messages, and just like the multiple times she checked in the last hour, there was nothing.

“Maybe he has a late meeting,” she murmured to herself.

James walked into the restaurant almost twenty minutes later, and Autumn sat up. Relief flooded her as her eyes searched behind him for Ethan because they went everywhere together.

“James, where is Ethan?” she asked with a smile that he didn’t return.

James adjusted his tie uncomfortably as he glanced around the restaurant. He noticed it was empty, and she had yet to order. Guilt consumed him because of the news he was about to give her.

“Uhm, Mrs. Grant." His voice was careful as he spoke. “Mr Grant isn’t coming. He is in Portmayne for work. He forgot he already had dinner arrangements with you and asked me to come and get you and pay for whatever you ate.”

“Ethan is in Portmayne,” Autumn repeated slowly, as though she were trying to make sense of the words.

She wasn’t sure what to make of it. It didn’t make sense to her.

James was unable to meet her eyes as he placed an envelope on the table. “He asked me to give you this and take you home.”

Autumn took the envelope. Inside was a small, plain notecard.

“Happy Birthday?” Autumn read the words aloud, even more stunned than before. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

So, Ethan didn’t even know what today was? He had just assumed it was her birthday and carelessly sent a plain card as though she was a business acquaintance.

Autumn wanted to laugh at herself. She had been so stupid to think Ethan would have cared a little bit.

She knew that Ethan never cared, but God, did it hurt.

Autumn took a deep breath and placed the card back in the envelope and dropped it on the table. “Thank you, James, but I can go home myself."

“But Mr. Grant wanted me to make sure you got home safely,” James insisted.

Autumn scoffed. She grabbed her bag and got to her feet. “If Ethan cared an inch about me, he would have been at the dinner he arranged,” she replied coldly. “Go home, James. I’ll be fine." She pushed past him and walked briskly out of the restaurant.

“Damn it!” Autumn breathed out when she stepped out of the restaurant and saw it was raining heavily. Frustration bubbled inside her.

She placed her bag over her head and ran to her car. Inside, she threw the bag on the seat and placed her head on the steering wheel. The tears she tried to keep at bay slid down effortlessly.

“Why did I think today would be any different?” she scoffed. “Ethan doesn’t care. He would never."

Autumn started the car and drove home through the heavy rain.

At a junction, she saw headlights almost too late and slammed on the brakes just before her car could hit the SUV in front of her.

Fear replaced the anxiety she felt earlier. She quickly grabbed an umbrella and stepped out of the car at the same time the occupant of the other car did.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. If I caused any damage, I will…”

“Are you okay?” The calm but genuine question stole the remaining words out of Autumn’s mouth.

She paused and looked at the man under the black umbrella. He looked familiar, but her head was a jumbled mess, so she couldn’t recall where she had seen him.

“I…I… I’m fine. I was the one who almost ran into you," she rushed out.

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He gestured to her with a small nudge of his head. “You don’t look like you should be driving. Do you need a ride?”

“What?” Autumn didn’t know what to say to that.

It was dark and pouring, but the man managed to see everything she was trying to hide.

“How…” She paused. “No, thank you. I’m fine. If there is nothing else, I’ll get going."

She turned and walked back to her car, but her eyes caught sight of a pair of big, curious blue eyes staring at her from the back seat of the vehicle.

When Autumn got back inside her car, she noticed that the man had not moved. His eyes remained on her as she drove off.

Autumn shivered involuntarily. “What is his problem?” She muttered under her breath even though he couldn’t hear her.

The rain had died down by the time she got to the Grant mansion. She blew her horn angrily when the gates didn’t open after five minutes.

“What is wrong with everyone today?” She climbed down angrily and began to bang on the gates before they opened.

“What do you want?” The security man spat, and she frowned.

“Open the gates," she demanded. Had he managed to forget her in less than a day since she had been away from the house?

“Madam Grant says you are to take the side entrance from now on," he said and shut the gates again before she could process his words.

Autumn stood there for a full minute. The side entrance? The servant’s entrance?

Autumn couldn’t help but laugh as she stumbled back to her car. She waited for the anger to come but was only met with exhaustion.

She knew it would be useless to try to force them to open the gate. Alisa Grant’s words were law in the Grant mansion.

Autumn drove to the side gate, and her mind remained blank as she went to her room, but when she opened the door, she froze.

Her eyes found the spot above the bed, where her wedding photo should have been. It had been stripped bare.

She rushed into the room, and that’s when she noticed how empty it looked.

No, not empty.

Just stripped of her things. Her things had been removed from the closet as well. The sheets had been changed from the lavender ones she preferred to soft yellow ones.

Angry and frustrated, she walked out of the room to yell into the hallway. “Is anyone there?”

A maid came shortly. “You called?” She asked in a tone that lacked any respect, but Autumn didn’t care about that at the moment.

“Where are my things?” She demanded. “Who changed the room decor?”

“Madam Grant did. She said you are to move to the guest room on the second floor.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Ask her yourself." The maid shrugged and walked out.

Autumn stood alone in the hallway.

The disrespect from Alisa, the staff, and Ethan pressed down on her until she was suffocating.

She wanted nothing more than to confront Alisa. To barge into her room and ask her why they kept treating her like this.

But what right did she have? She was the daughter of a late, struggling lawyer. Compared to the Grants, she had no money, no status, and no powerful backing.

She turned and went to the guest room. Her things had been thrown carelessly to the floor. She gathered them and left them in the corner.

She pulled out her design sketchbook from the pile in one of the boxes. Still in her dress, she opened the book and began to draw.

Designing was the only way she knew how to calm down when things got too much. She loved to spend time drawing blueprints of structures she hoped to build in the future.

But she didn’t draw in front of others. Once, Ethan had found her notebooks. He had flipped through them casually and then threw the book at her.

“What is this joke? Do you think you are going to be the next Maren Osei by scribbling rubbish on paper?”

Autumn had started to hide her designs after that. She was confident in her skills, so she didn’t let Ethan’s words stop her from drawing.

Autumn drew until her hands started to shake. She didn’t notice when she fell asleep on the open page.

Across the city, Cal Hendrick sat in the back of his SUV. Leo had fallen asleep, curled on his side and holding his favorite stuffed bunny.

Cal had been watching the Grant family for eight years. He knew every member of the family and knew what they were up to. He thought about the woman in the rain. The file had been wrong.