Chapter 1

Sebastian Morrison was serious as he tore open the packaging on the robot vacuum.

"This is the newest model. Really smart. Leave this stuff to it from now on. You won't have to work so hard."

I looked at the price on the box. Thirty-eight hundred dollars. Not cheap, that was for sure.

If this had happened before, I probably would have talked myself into being grateful. Sebastian loved me. His love was just too practical.

But tonight, I'd just watched that spectacular fireworks show. Streams of gold had spilled from the sea all the way to the horizon, like a dream that refused to end.

And that dream hadn't been mine.

I asked quietly, "Was tonight's show your design?"

Sebastian's hands stilled for a second. When he spoke again, his tone was casual.

"Yeah. Victoria's back in town. I promised her I'd put on a show for her every year."

Every year.

Those two words settled over me, and it felt like something was slowly pressing down on my chest.

I'd waited seven years. Waited for Sebastian to say he had time. Waited for him to say next time. Waited for him to promise that one day, he'd design the most beautiful show in the world, just for me.

But Victoria Grey never had to wait. She got one every single year.

Sebastian seemed to notice my silence. He came over and took my hand.

"Rose, fireworks are things that burn out and disappear. I bought you this because I really do want you to have it easier."

I smiled and didn't push him the way I used to. Sebastian relaxed, reaching out to ruffle my hair.

"I knew you'd like it. You've always been so understanding."

Understanding.

That word again. I'd heard it more times than I could count over these seven years.

On my birthday, I wanted a bouquet of flowers. Sebastian got me an air fryer.

"Flowers die in a few days," he said. "This will last for years."

On our anniversary, I wanted to go to the beach. He got me a massage gun.

"You're always complaining your neck and shoulders hurt," he said. "This is more useful than running around outside."

When I said I wanted a little more romance, he laughed and pulled me into his arms.

"We've been together this long already. Don't start acting like some little girl."

Back then, I used to think he was just being rational. Sebastian designed fireworks for a living. He'd seen enough spectacle and splendor that maybe people who understood romance best were the ones who refused to waste it on the everyday.

It wasn't until tonight that I understood.

It wasn't that he didn't understand romance. He simply never wasted it on me.

Victoria liked gold-tailed sparks. He'd stay up tuning the formula until three in the morning for her. Victoria said she loved the ocean. He set off fireworks across an entire stretch of sea for her.

And then I remembered. That gorgeous streak of blue-violet in tonight's show, the prettiest part of the whole thing, was something I'd sketched for him on a whim, seven years ago.

Back then, I'd been sprawled across the table, telling him excitedly, "Sebastian, if you ever design me a fireworks show, can you make it look like a galaxy falling into the sea?"

He'd laughed at me. "That's not how fireworks work."

But tonight, that same childish galaxy had rained down over Victoria's head.

Sebastian's phone lit up. Victoria's name flashed on the screen. He glanced at it, then took the phone out to the balcony.

The balcony door didn't close all the way. Sebastian's voice drifted back in, pitched low, in a tone I'd never once heard from him. Doting.

"Did you like that streak of blue-violet today?

"Yeah, it was something Rose mentioned once, off the cuff. She doesn't know anything about fireworks, so I borrowed the idea and tweaked it."

My fingers went stiff. A second later, I heard Victoria ask something. Sebastian laughed.

"She won't mind. She's always been so understanding. Besides, all she does is do the laundry and cook. What does she know about fireworks? My fireworks are only for people who actually understand them. Like you."

I looked down at my phone, at the text confirming my abortion appointment had gone through.

Suddenly it all seemed ridiculous.

So the fireworks show I'd waited seven years for had never been about love, not in Sebastian's eyes. It had been about whether I deserved to watch it at all.

I used to think that if I just waited a little longer, Sebastian would eventually turn around and see me.

But now, the fireworks had faded. And it was time for me to exit his world too.