Chapter 5

For one long second nobody in the lounge moved, and the soft music from the lobby sounded strangely loud.

Tyler's hands were still on Amber, and her fingers were still tangled in his hair, and they only broke apart because the opening door had startled them.

The champagne bottle slipped from Ryan's grip and thumped onto the carpet.

Tyler shoved Amber off his lap so fast that she tumbled to the floor with a yelp.

"Chloe, wait!" He rushed toward her with his shirt half open and his hands raised. "This isn't what it looks like."

Chloe stepped into the room last, and her face held anger but no heartbreak. The woman who had loved Tyler enough to forgive anything had died outside her parents' house, and the one standing here only needed them to keep lying. Go on, dig the hole a little deeper.

"Then tell me what it is," Chloe said, folding her arms with a cool, patient look.

"She kissed me." Tyler jabbed a finger at Amber without a moment's hesitation, his eyes wide and wounded. "I was trying to push her away."

Amber stared up at him from the floor, her mouth open. "Tyler?"

"Don't act innocent," he snapped, his lip curling. "You knew Chloe was outside, and you threw yourself at me like a cat in heat."

The speed with which he fed Amber to the wolves was almost impressive, and Chloe tilted her head to enjoy it. Amber's face went white, and then she looked into Tyler's eyes and seemed to understand something: the house, the money, and the future they had planned. She swallowed her fury and turned toward Chloe with trembling shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Amber sobbed, pressing her hands to her chest. "I don't know what came over me, and it was only one mistake."

One mistake. Chloe picked up the iced cocktail Tyler had bought for her and threw it straight into his face. The cold drink soaked his hair and his shirt, and before Amber could scramble away, Chloe tipped the rest over her white dress.

Amber shrieked, and Chloe slapped Tyler first, so hard that the crack echoed off the walls. Then she turned and slapped Amber with the same hand.

"That one is for the boyfriend," Chloe said, her voice shaking with power, "and that one is for the best friend."

"You're crazy!" Amber screamed, clutching her cheek with her hair dripping.

Jessica stepped forward with her eyes blazing. "She's crazy? You were in her boyfriend's lap wearing white at the party where he was supposed to propose to her!"

"He was going to propose?" Chloe asked Tyler, widening her eyes as if the word had shocked her.

Tyler's face shifted as he did the math in his head. The ring was still hidden in his pocket, the flowers were arranged, and every classmate he wanted as a witness was standing in the room. He could not let her walk out now.

"Yes," he said quickly, wiping the drink from his eyes. "I was going to propose tonight because I love you, and Amber ruined everything."

Amber looked at him as if he had slapped her too. "I ruined it?"

Tyler shot her a warning glare, and her hands curled into fists at her sides. Then, to the shock of everyone watching, she dropped to her knees in front of Chloe with tears streaming down her face.

"Please forgive me," she cried, clutching at the red silk of Chloe's dress. "Tyler loves you, and I was only jealous and confused, so don't throw away two years because of me."

Chloe almost admired their shamelessness. They were willing to turn Amber into a home-wrecker and make her beg on the carpet, all so Tyler could keep his hands on Chloe's money.

"So there's nothing between you?" Chloe asked, looking down at Amber with a soft, mocking smile.

"Nothing," Tyler said at once.

"Nothing," Amber echoed through clenched teeth, her eyes burning with hatred.

The neckline of Amber's wet dress had slipped to one side, and the silver chain was fully visible now. Chloe had been waiting for this moment since the second she opened her eyes in the past.

She crossed the room, hooked a finger under the chain and pulled the crystal pendant out from beneath the fabric. The chain bit into her palm as Amber yanked, but Chloe held on.

"Then why is the Reed family necklace around her neck?"

The lounge went dead silent. Amber clamped her hand over the pendant, her knuckles white. "Let go of me!"

Chloe did not release it. She turned to Tyler, and her eyes filled with tears, wide and wounded like a woman whose last hope had cracked.

"Your mother told me this belongs to the woman a Reed man chooses as his wife, and you said you were going to propose to me tonight." Her voice broke on the last word. "So why is it hanging on her?"

All the color drained from Tyler's face. He looked at Amber, then at Chloe, then around the room at every pair of eyes fixed on him, and in that moment he made his choice.

"She stole it."

Amber stopped breathing. "What?"

"I couldn't find it this morning," Tyler said, grabbing the first lie that floated past. "Amber must have taken it from my apartment, and I was looking for it everywhere because I wanted to give it to Chloe tonight."

"You put it around my neck yourself," Amber whispered, her voice cracking with disbelief.

"Stop lying!" Tyler barked, his chest heaving.

He stepped forward and unclasped the chain from her throat. She tried to hold on, her fingers clawing at the crystal, but he ripped it from her hand and turned his back on her.

"This was always meant for you," he told Chloe softly, his eyes shining with false devotion.

In front of everyone, Tyler fastened the Reed family necklace around Chloe's neck. The crystal settled against her skin, cold at first, and then strangely warm.

Her heart began to pound against her ribs. I did it. He gave it to me with his own hands.

But she was not finished. Chloe slipped out her phone, opened the dial pad and looked at Tyler with a calm, sweet smile.

"If Amber stole your family necklace, darling, then let's call the police."