Chapter 1

The room went quiet for a moment.

Zeke clearly had not expected me to agree.

He frowned as if he wanted to say something. After a few seconds, he glanced at his friend, Ethan Calloway, then pushed a business card toward me.

Zeke called the man.

“You said your family has been pressuring you to get married, didn’t you?

“She’s the woman I wanted to introduce you to. Her name is Mia Sullivan. She has a PhD from a top university, and she’s a senior researcher at our lab. Talk to her and see how you two get along.”

After the man thanked him, Zeke ended the call and turned away.

If our mutual friend had not stopped him earlier, Zeke would have done what he always did.

He would have kept his distance and acted as if I did not exist.

The bitter taste of whiskey filled my mouth.

I dug my nails into my palm to keep my face under control.

When Ethan heard that I was willing to meet someone, he handed me another business card.

“He’s been asking me about you for a while, but you always refused to meet him.

“He’s a great guy. Mia, give him a chance.”

I instinctively looked over at Zeke.

He stood beside Mabel Lowell with a smile on his face. He did not spare me another glance.

One of Zeke’s friends had heard our conversation and laughed.

“Come on, Zeke! Everyone knows Mia sticks close to you because she likes you. Are you really going to set her up with someone else? That’s cold!”

“Exactly! She must’ve bought us thousands of cups of coffee over the past five years just to get on our good side. You never even gave her a chance.”

Mabel swirled her glass of drink. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

“Were you waiting for me to come back? How come you never told me how you felt?”

Zeke looked at her with an affectionate smile. “Of course. I just hadn’t gotten everything ready yet.

“You deserve the best.”

Mabel smiled from ear to ear.

His words left a lump in my throat.

When we got together, there was no confession and no grand romantic gesture.

Zeke had simply asked me, “Mia, do you like me?”

I had already been secretly in love with him for three years. When I nodded, he said, “We can be together, but I’m not going public with our relationship.

“If anyone finds out about us, we’re over.”

Back then, I was so happy to finally be with Zeke that I did not think twice about it.

I thought he had finally seen how much I loved him and that there would be a day when we could stop hiding our relationship.

I forced myself to fit in with Zeke’s circle of friends and kept hoping that one day he would introduce me as his girlfriend.

He never introduced me at all. He even pushed me toward another man just to make it clear that there was nothing between us.

I smiled bitterly.

When Ethan saw that I had added the man’s contact information, he looked relieved.

He smiled and said, “You always turned me down because you said you had a crush on someone else. But that guy has been stringing you along for years without ever committing to you. You should’ve moved on a long time ago!

“Trust me. You’ll like this guy.”

I lowered my head.

He was right. I should have moved on a long time ago.

After he said that, Ethan shot Zeke a subtle glance.

“Did he set you up with Richard Larson? Don’t meet him.

“He gets around. He’s been with quite a few models. Everyone in our circle knows his family has been pushing him to settle down for the past couple of years. He’ll marry just about anyone who agrees to marry him.”

Before Ethan left, he muttered under his breath, “How could Zeke say you two were a good match?”

My smile froze.

That was what Zeke meant by a “great match.” We were both desperate to get married.

A while ago, my family had started pressuring me to get married, so I messaged him.

I thought he would finally agree to make our relationship public and come home with me to meet my parents.

Instead, he ignored my messages and did not come home for an entire month.

If Zeke did not want to be part of my world, then I would not keep trying to force my way into his.

I turned around and left. I applied for a transfer out of Harbor City.

Just then, I saw a message from the man Ethan had set me up with.

[Are you free to meet tomorrow?]