Chapter 1

"Take another look. It's unopened. We ran out at home." Odette Fairbanks tried to explain.

Ezra Whitlock gave a low "mm" and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as if to nap.

He was putting on a show of being unbothered and refusing to talk, and for once, a crack appeared in Odette's usually cool composure. "Are you upset?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, sounding exasperated. "When Rafe was misdiagnosed with cancer, his only wish was to have a wedding with me. He's my mentor's son, and I just wanted to grant his dying wish. The moment I found out it was a misdiagnosis, I divorced him.

"Ezra, I promise you, it was a sham marriage. Rafe and I never slept together. It's only ever been you, right from the start."

Ezra gave a thin smile and finally asked the question that had been eating at him for so long. "Odette, you're a doctor. Are you really telling me you couldn't see what shape Rafe was in?"

When Rafe Ellington said he had cancer, Odette believed him without question. When he said he wanted to marry her, she forced Ezra into a divorce.

Ezra couldn't just throw away ten years together. He clung to their failing marriage, ready to bring everything down with it, and pushed himself until he became a hysterical wreck.

Around the same time, his mother, Maureen Haskell, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and needed surgery. As it happened, nobody but Odette could perform it. So, she used Maureen's life to force him into the divorce, then rushed to marry Rafe.

Even then, she made sure to reassure Ezra. She told him she was an orphan, that her mentor had always looked after her, and that Rafe was like a little brother to her.

She asked Ezra to wait for her, promising they would remarry once she had seen Rafe through the last stretch of his life, and Ezra forced himself to believe her.

That lasted until he saw Odette and her so-called little brother tumble into the bed they'd once shared as husband and wife.

The suggestive, grating sounds hit him like a slap across the face. This time, Ezra didn't make a scene, and he left Port Seward that same night with Maureen, who by then had fully recovered.

Six months later, Odette showed up at his door.

She told him Rafe's cancer had been a misdiagnosis, that she and Rafe were already divorced, and that she wanted to take Ezra to the county clerk's office to remarry.

Before Ezra could lift a finger, Maureen chased Odette out with a broom. Still, Odette refused to give up and started waiting every day along the route Ezra always took.

Fed up, Ezra threw his coffee right in her face. "Odette, I will never remarry you as long as I live. Never!"

The coffee dripped down her delicate face and left a small stain spreading across her collar. Even so, she kept her cool composure and didn't look the least bit humiliated. "Ezra, you'll come begging."

At the time, Ezra found it laughable, but six months later, his mother's illness came back.

Maureen couldn't bear to see him beg anyone, so she wanted to stop treatment. But she was the only family Ezra had left, and he would've given his own life for hers without hesitation. Begging was nothing compared to that, so he went to Odette.

"Ezra, if you're going to beg, you need to act like it."

She leaned back in her chair, curved her red lips into a smile, and beckoned him over. "So, are you ready to admit you were wrong?"

Ezra did as he was told and walked over to her. Under her smug, satisfied gaze, he nodded, and later, they remarried.

But what was broken could never truly be mended, and Rafe would always stand between them.

The name had barely crossed Ezra's mind when Rafe called.

Odette hesitated for a moment, then answered. Rafe's crisp voice came through the line right away. "Odette, I twisted my ankle playing basketball. Could you come keep me company?"

Odette glanced at Ezra without thinking, but he just kept staring out the car window as if he hadn't heard a thing.

A wave of irritation washed over her. "Rafe, you're an adult. You can't keep relying on me."

"But you said that even though we're divorced, we're still family. You were always there whenever I got hurt playing ball. I'm used to it."

"That was then." Odette's voice turned cold.

"I'm remarried now, and I can't keep being there for you."

"Got it." Rafe scoffed. "If it's not convenient for you to come, I'll just get some other woman over here."

Odette tightened her grip on her phone. "Don't you dare! Stay right there."

She hung up abruptly and turned to Ezra. "Ezra, I—"

Before she could finish, Ezra had already pushed the car door open. "I'll take a cab home. Go keep him company."

He moved so fast that Odette didn't even have time to react.

"Ezra!" She got out, chased after him, and grabbed his wrist.

"I owe his father my whole career. I can't cut ties with Rafe completely, but I really only see him as a little brother. Don't—"

Ezra cut her off. "I know. Go on, don't keep him waiting."

"Then head home first. I'll try to get back early—"

She meant to say she'd try to be home early, but Ezra had already flagged down a cab and climbed in without looking back.

Odette was still standing there after the cab pulled away. As its taillights disappeared into traffic, for the first time, she felt as though something was slipping out of her control.

In the cab, Ezra opened the notes app on his phone and checked the date of Maureen's surgery. It was ten days away.

Once his mother made it through her final surgery, he would be free to divorce Odette again without a second thought, and then he would take Maureen abroad and get as far away from Odette as possible.