Chapter 4

Chloe checked her phone before she stepped out of the car, and the date on the screen told her it was twenty-four days before the apocalypse.

The latest supplies had reached the warehouse, Tyler had repaid another part of the loan, and he had even paid for the hotel party with his own money.

The contractor had finished reinforcing the basement door that morning, and the water tanks would arrive tomorrow. He paid for every brick of his own humiliation, and he does not even know it yet.

The Grandview lobby was warm and gold, with polished floors and soft music floating through the air. Chloe found Tyler in the private lounge beside a table crowded with flowers, champagne and wrapped gifts.

He wore a dark suit and the watch Chloe had given him last year, and his neck was bare.

He had worn the necklace on the morning she came back, so now it could be in his pocket, at his apartment or with Amber, and Chloe did not guess. She only watched.

"Wow." Tyler shot up so fast he nearly knocked over a glass, and his eyes slid slowly down her red dress. "You look incredible. Every man here is going to hate me tonight."

"Maybe they should wait until they see your surprise," Chloe teased, tilting her head with a slow smile.

He laughed, a little too loudly, and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're going to love it, babe."

Tyler pushed a tall drink toward her with a proud grin, an iced passion fruit cocktail with a pink straw. Chloe stared at it for a moment before she looked up.

"What is this?"

"Your favorite," he answered, spreading his hands like a magician who had just finished his trick.

"I stopped drinking cold things three months ago because of my stomach." Her voice was soft, but her eyes did not leave his face.

Tyler blinked, and a flash of irritation crossed his features before he covered it with a sheepish smile. "Right, I forgot. I'll get you something else." He remembered the size of Amber's dress, but he cannot remember one small thing about the woman he plans to marry.

Before he could wave over a waiter, the door opened, and Amber walked in wearing the white dress Tyler had tried to buy with Chloe's card. She looked like a bride on her way to the altar.

"There you are!" Amber hurried across the floor and wrapped her arms around Chloe. "You look beautiful."

"So do you," Chloe replied with a lazy smile, her eyes drifting over the white silk. "White is such an interesting choice."

Amber's smile tightened at the corners, and her fingers fidgeted with her sleeve. "It's just a graduation party, Chloe."

Then she noticed the iced drink and turned to Tyler with a small frown. "Didn't we change this order? Chloe can't have anything cold right now."

Before Chloe could say a word, Amber slid the cocktail to her own side of the table and waved over a waiter. "Could you bring her something warm, please? Ginger tea, no lemon."

Tyler gave Amber a relieved, grateful look. "Good thing you remembered."

"You've had so much to organize," Amber murmured, resting a gentle hand on his arm.

It did not feel like a performance meant to provoke Chloe, and that made it so much worse. They moved around each other with the ease of two people who had done this a hundred times.

"You remember my stomach better than my own boyfriend does," Chloe said lightly, resting her chin on her hand.

Amber's expression flickered, and her laugh came a beat too late. "We've known each other forever. I only noticed because we were reading the menu."

"And you know exactly what he's planning tonight."

"I helped with the party, that's all." Amber looked down and smoothed her skirt, her cheeks pink.

Tyler reached for Chloe's hand with a stern, patient look, as if he were soothing a child. "Amber spent the whole afternoon helping me make tonight perfect for you, so please don't turn that into something ugly."

While he spoke, Amber picked up the iced cocktail and took a distracted sip through the pink straw that Tyler had placed there for Chloe. She seemed to realize what she had done only after the glass was back on the table, and Tyler did not react at all.

Chloe slowly pulled her hand away and let her voice turn cool. "Maybe I shouldn't stay for the surprise."

Panic swept over Tyler's face, and he caught her wrist, not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to stop her. "You're not leaving."

It was not a request, and the words came out low and sharp. Then he seemed to remember himself, and his voice melted into something gentle and pleading.

"Please, babe. I spent so much time planning tonight, so just give me one chance." His eyes were wide, and his thumb rubbed her pulse like he was trying to calm a nervous horse.

Amber leaned over to move the cocktail farther away, and the neckline of her dress shifted. A thin silver chain flashed for half a second before it slid back beneath the fabric.

Chloe had seen the same chain against Tyler's throat about a week earlier. The pendant was still hidden, so it was not proof, but now she knew exactly where to look. Found you.

"The lounge is too warm," Chloe said, keeping her face calm. "I'm going outside for some air."

Tyler's grip tightened, and his brows pulled together. "You'll come back?"

"I wouldn't miss your surprise," she whispered with a sweet smile, and he finally let her go.

Chloe stepped into the hallway, but she did not let the door close all the way. She left a narrow gap, then lifted her phone and opened the camera, her heart beating slow and steady like a drum.

"God, she is exhausting," Tyler groaned from inside, and Chloe heard the creak of the sofa as he dropped onto it. "First the loan, then the card, then the party. She acts like I'm stealing from her."

"You paid her twenty-five thousand and spent thousands on this party," Amber snapped, her voice sharp with jealousy. "And you're still going to kneel in front of her?"

"Her house is worth over a million, and her investments are worth even more." Tyler's voice was smooth and sure. "Once we're engaged, she'll give me access again."

"What if she doesn't?"

"She will. Chloe is only angry because she loves me." He chuckled, low and lazy. "Women like her always mistake jealousy for strength."

Amber went quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again her voice was small and hurt. "And me? You made me apologize to her. Twice."

Tyler's tone turned soft, the same silky tone he had used on Chloe for two years. "Just wait a little longer, baby. After the wedding, the house and the money will be under my control, and then Chloe can leave with nothing."

"You promise?"

"I only ever wanted you."

Chloe held the phone near the gap. Through the narrow opening she saw Tyler pull Amber against his chest, and Amber's arms slid around his neck as their lips met.

They kissed slowly and comfortably, like two people who had done this many times before. The sight did not break Chloe's heart, because that had already died outside a locked shelter door.

It only proved that neither of them had changed, and that they had walked straight into the scene she needed. Keep going, you fools. Give me every second of it.

She recorded the conversation and the kiss, then slowly lowered the phone. Behind her the elevator chimed, and six of their old classmates stepped into the hallway carrying champagne and gifts.

"Chloe!" Jessica hurried toward her with open arms. "You look amazing! Where's Tyler?"

Chloe forced a small, hurt smile and let her eyes grow glossy. "He's inside. We had a little argument because he forgot something important again, so could you all help me talk some sense into him?"

"Of course," Jessica said at once, squeezing her shoulder with a warm, protective look.

Ryan shook his head and frowned. "He invited everyone, and then he made you wait outside by yourself?"

Chloe stepped aside and pointed toward the door with a trembling little sigh. "Maybe he's preparing another surprise."

Jessica laughed and pushed the door open without knocking. It swung wide, and the light from the hallway poured across the lounge.

Tyler was on the sofa with Amber in his lap, one hand under her white skirt and the other wrapped around her waist. They were still kissing when every light from the hallway fell across them.

Jessica's voice cracked as her face drained of color. "What on earth are you doing?"