PROLOGUE

Elise's pov

I have loved Marcus Grey for as long as I can remember.

It started off small when we were kids, the way he'd defend me from other kids, the way he'd look back to see if I was catching up when we were running, when he'd over me his ice cream when mine melted away.

All those little things started piling up until I fell so deep that I didn't know how to live without him so I stuck by his side ever since.

But, he would never find out how I felt. Our friendship meant more to me than my feelings so I would never do anything to ruin that.

Right now I sat in his room as he excitedly told me about the many things he was going to do at Grey tech once he takes over next week. His father had just handed over the company to him, three years after graduating from college

“This all feels so surreal, Lise!” He said happily, calling me by the nickname he had given me since we were kids which still made my heart flutter.

I smiled seeing the happiness in his eyes. As long as Marcus was happy then so was I.

“Of course I believe it. You've worked so hard for this, remember? You've earned it.” I told him calmly.

His face turned from happy to boastful. “I know right? I'm simply so good at whatever I do.”

“Shut up.” I said, giggling and tossing a pillow in his direction making him erupt in a fit of laughter.

I loved this.

I loved us.

When we had gotten into college he had turned into the college superstar. Marcus Grey, son of Lucien Grey, one of New York’s most influential billionaires.

His background plus his looks turned him to a fuck boy in no time. While I was Elise Bennet, last daughter of the Bennet family who owned the largest mine in the country and yet, I was a ghost. Just a shadow in their spotlight.

But I didn't mind because I had Marcus.

Although it had hurt to see him sleep with so many girls and come home drunk sometimes, I would still care for him, telling myself that it was all temporary. They were all temporary while I wiped his sweat.

I was brought back to the present as I noticed a serious expression on his face now.

“What's on your mind, pookie?” I asked.

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, it wasn't like him to be so nervous so this made me sit up straighter as my mind started running countless thoughts as to what was bothering him.

“Well, you see lise.” He stopped, ran a han down his face and blurted out. “I know this is too much for me to ask and I know that you have been wanting that position at your father's company but I cannot do this without you and I need you by my side. I know I'm being selfish but can you leave your father's offer and come work for me, I promise to give you a high position— maybe an executive. I'll give you anything! Just please say you'll be by my side.”

I blinked in surprise because he had said all this in one breath and I needed a moment to process it.

He was right, I had wanted this position all my life so I worked hard for it despite it being my birthright and now he was asking me to leave it and come be by his side instead.

It was a lot to take on.

I bit my lips in thought as I looked at his pleading face.

He had never begged me for something like this and a position by his side sounded promising. Maybe if I was by his side in the real world then he might start to see me differently.

I knew it was a bit far fetched but when it came to Marcus, I would do anything. So before I could talk myself out of it, I looked at him and said, “okay.”

****

I nervously smothered out non-existent wrinkles on my dress as I stared at myself in the mirror. It has been exactly a week since he asked me to come work for him. A week since I broke the news to my father who was disappointed but supported my decision.

I spent the night before laying out my outfit. It was a beautiful purple work dress that he had gotten for me a year ago and I had never worn.

I added our friendship necklace and a simple diamond bracelet for jewelry.

I sighed. “You've got this, Elise.”

I didn't know why I was so nervous. Nothing was new besides work.

I walked out and got into the car with my driver who took me down the busy roads of New York until we arrived at Grey tech. The building stood tall and intimidating in front of me but I didn't let it phase me aside, squared my shoulders and walked in.

I nodded at a few staff on my way to the private elevator that led to his floor. I smiled imagining the look on his face once he noticed the dress I was wearing. He would love it.

I pushed the button for the top floor and began to ascend. My reflection from the elevator walls stared back at me and I could say that I looked prepared and unshakable for whatever lay ahead.

The doors opened with a soft ding and I walked out towards his door, heels echoing in the empty hallway.

I thought I was prepared. I thought my life was going to change.

It did. But not the way I had planned.

The moment I shoved those double doors open, I wish I had never stepped foot in this building because tell me why my eyes landed on Marcus with his lip locked on another woman.

Whatever confidence I had dropped to the bottom of my ass alongside my heart

She was a tall, stunning brunette perched on his desk, his hands tangled in her hair like she was his whole world. Their kiss was so intense and intimate, that for a moment it felt like I couldn't breathe.

I watched in shock until he finally pulled back once he noticed me standing there.

He didn't look guilty or embarrassed.

He didn't see anything wrong.

Of course he didn't.

He just… smiled, as if nothing was wrong. As if my world hadn't just been flipped.

“Elise!” His voice was warm and excited. “You’re here! Perfect timing. I want you to meet someone.”

I blinked, trying to calm myself and not to let the pain of betrayal show on my face.

“This is Victoria,” he said proudly, wrapping an arm around the woman. The way he held her made me know that she wasn't like the girls from the past, she wasn't temporary.

She was permanent.

This had never happened.

No, no, no. I chanted in my head.

Time seemed to slow as his lips formed the next words that I had dreaded all my life. “My girlfriend.”

Girlfriend.

The word stabbed deeper than I thought possible. “Gir-girlfriend?”

“Yes, we met a while back…”

His voice faded as all I could hear was the pounding of my heart in my ears. “Excuse me.” I said softly, turning on shaky legs and heading out.

I wanted to hate her. But how could I? It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t been the one to make promises to me under the night skies or to whisper “forever” in a little girl’s ear. That had been Marcus. My Marcus.

And yet, he wasn’t mine. Maybe he never had been.

As I walked out of that office that day with my spine straight and my chest hollow, repeating the same words over and over in my head because I refused to give up.

“Someday, it’ll be me.”

Even if it killed me, someday, it would be me.

Because my love for Marcus wasn’t the kind you gave up on. It wasn’t

the kind that faded with time. It was stubborn, pure, maybe even foolish. But it was mine.

And for Marcus I would wait.