Chapter One

Serena

I arrive outside the Arison hotel in my town car. It is my first public appearance in over a year, but tonight, everything changes. I am here for two reasons and two reasons only. Firstly, I have my eyes on someone and secondly, because I know my ex-husband and his new fiancée will be here, aka my ex-best friend, since it is his family who owns it. I have vanished for a year. I am sure they believe they won’t ever see me again. I can’t wait to see their faces. I am not the same woman from a year ago.

My driver comes around to open the door, and I step out. The second I do, all cameras are on me. I smooth out my designer dress, fluff my hair and walk by the press with confidence, ignoring their questions fired at me. The second I walk into the ballroom, all eyes are on me. Some people are shocked to see me, others are not happy, but I don’t care. I am here for a purpose. I smile sweetly and pivot through the crowd. Everything whispers as I pass by. It has been a year; they should have moved past the scandal by now. I roll my eyes and head for the bar.

I order a drink and only manage to take a sip before I am interrupted.

“Serena, what are you doing here?”

I know who it is without even needing to look. When you are in a relationship with someone for eight years and married for five, you become familiar with every single thing about them. He sounds mad, probably because I showed up at an event thrown by his family. I can’t wait to see his parents. They will be thrilled to see me…not.

“I was invited.”

“By who?” he hisses.

“None of your business is who, Henry.”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

I take a sip of my drink and laugh, hopping down from the stool to take my place before him. He hasn’t changed much in a year, well, he has aged a little.

“I can be wherever I want, Henry.”

I watch his jaw clench, and he seems taken aback by my attitude. He was used to me being quiet and acting like the perfect little wife.

“Where have you been? You disappeared a year ago, and now what, you show up out of the blue? What game are you playing?”

“I am surprised you noticed. I am not playing any games, Henry. New York is my home, too. I plan on staying here.”

He closes any space between us and grabs my arm, dragging me away from the view of everyone else. It isn’t a surprise, his reputation was always the most important thing to him. He hides us in the corner of the room.

I yank my hand out of his grip. “Get your hands off me.”

“Why are you here? Do you want money?”

I scoff at his question. He knows that money has never been what’s important to me. “No, I have plenty of my own, thank you.”

I have nearly tripled the thirty million dollars I received in the settlement.

“If you are here to win me back, don’t even try. I am marrying Felicity in three months. I am not interested in you. Nothing would make me get back to you.”

He has a smug look on his face with every word. He believes his words are going to sting, and maybe a year ago, they would have, but not now. I laugh loudly and hard, so much so, my entire body shakes.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” he hisses, forcing me against the wall.

I place my hands on his chest and push him away from me. “I would never want you again after what you did. I am looking for someone new. An upgrade. A man who knows how to satisfy me. Enjoy your new marriage.”

I barge by him, and as I do, Felicity appears. “W-w-what are you doing here?”

“How are my sloppy seconds, sweetie? Are you enjoying them? Is he everything you ever dreamed of? Was he worth losing your best friend of twenty years over?”

She hangs her head in shame. I shake my head and walk away. She is welcome to him. I return to the bar for another drink, proud of myself. I never really stood up to him after everything went down last year. I was hurting too much, grieving the thing I never had the chance to have because of him—the one thing I will never forgive him for. I down my drink because I can’t think of these things, not tonight. I have other things to focus on.

I turn around on the stool and scan the room. I am looking for a certain person. He should be here unless Henry got his way, and he was kept away. My eyes finally fall on him, and I smirk. I run my eyes over him. He looks good in his dark grey suit with his dark hair slicked back. He has the same confident, cocky aura about him that he has always had. Conall Arison, Henry’s half-brother. A product of his father’s infidelity. The one person Henry hates the most in this world. He hates him with every ounce of his being, even more because he has the same surname rather than his mothers. Conall is younger by two years. The family didn’t know about him until five years ago.

I finish my drink and saunter over to him, confidently. He is in a conversation with a business associate of the family. I tap on his shoulder. He seems a little annoyed, but when he looks over his shoulder and sees me standing there, his annoyance disappears and a smirk curls on his lips.

“Hello, stranger. It has been a while. Where have you been hiding?”

“Did you miss me?”

He excused himself from the people he was talking with, who are now glaring at me. Why am I being treated like the bad one? Henry is the one who cheated on me.

“Of course. Damn, sweetness, divorce looks good on. Where have you been?”

I bite my lower lip. “You are looking good too, but you always have. How about you buy me a drink and I will tell you all about it?”

He nods and places his hand on the small of my back, keeping me close. We pass by Henry and Felicity on the way to the bar. I smile sweetly at them. Henry looks pissed.

Oh, it is going to be an interesting night.