Chapter 1

JADE HART

I was already late when I realized I'd left my earrings at Julian's apartment. I checked my jewelry box for the third time, hoping they had somehow appeared there. They hadn't.

"Where did I put them?"

I remembered taking them off last Sunday when we were in bed. One of the clasps had been hurting my ear, so I'd placed them on his bedside table and forgotten about them.

My sister's wedding dinner was that evening, and I'd promised Olivia I'd wear our mother's earrings. She was wearing Mother's bracelet, and we'd planned to take pictures together.

I couldn't wear anything else.

I picked up my phone and called Julian, but his line was busy. I sent him a message telling him I was coming over, grabbed my car keys, and left.

We'd been together for seven years. I had a key to his apartment, and he had one to mine. There was no need to call before visiting. I'd spent so many nights at his place that sometimes I forgot which things belonged to me and which belonged to him.

I knew where he kept everything, including the good wine he rarely opened and the headache medicine he always forgot to buy until he needed it.

I also knew how he liked his coffee, which side of the bed he slept on, and what to say when he became frustrated with work.

Little things like that meant we were building something that would last forever.

When I arrived, I let myself in and closed the door behind me.

"Julian?" I called out but he didn't answer.

I took a few steps into the living room, then heard a noise from the bedroom.

At first, I thought he was on a call. I was about to walk in and ask whether he had seen my earrings when I heard a woman's voice.

I stopped immediately.

For a moment, I couldn't understand what I was hearing. Then I heard Julian laugh.

My stomach tightened when I realised the voices were coming from his bedroom. I held my breath as I moved closer trying to convince myself with different reasons why there would be woman in his bedroom.

The door was slightly open, so I pushed it. And then I saw them. Julian was in bed with a woman.

I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing, at first. The woman had her back partly turned toward me, and the sheet covered most of her body. Julian's shirt lay on the floor beside the bed.

I stared at the shirt. I'd helped him pick it out.

Then Julian looked up.

"Jade?"

He sounded surprised, but not frightened. The woman beside him turned her head, and my handbag slipped from my shoulder as I opened my mouth in soundless panic and shock.

Vanessa Reed.

The same Vanessa I'd introduced to Julian six months ago. The investor I'd spent weeks trying to convince that his company was worth taking a chance on.

Neither of them moved.

I looked from Vanessa to Julian, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

Instead, he sighed.

"What are you doing here?"

I blinked at him, unsure whether I heard him right.

"What am I doing here?" I repeated.

"You could have called first." He mumbled as he adjusted the covers around his body. A body I knew all too well.

I stared at him, wondering whether I'd heard correctly.

I sucked in a breath and pointed at the bed. "You're sleeping with her?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Jade, please. Not now."

"Not now?" My voice broke. "Do you realise what you have done?" I shouted as I shook my head.

Vanessa pulled the sheet closer to her chest. She looked uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything.

I wanted her to look at me. I wanted her to explain how she'd sat across from me at business meetings and then climbed into the bed I shared with Julian.

"How long?" I asked in a broken voice.

He looked away.

"Julian, look at me. How long?" I shouted again.

"It isn't what you think."

A laugh escaped me, although nothing about the situation was funny.

"Then tell me what it is, because all I'm seeing is more than clear."

He glanced at Vanessa before looking back at me.

"We'll talk about this later."

I scoffed. Was he being serious? That was all he hsd to say after betraying me like this?

He didn't say anything else.

I felt like someone had taken everything inside me and left me standing there empty. I wanted to scream at him, but my throat had tightened so much that I could barely speak.

Instead, I turned toward the door.

"Jade."

I stopped.

For one stupid second, I thought he was going to apologize and beg me to give him a chance to explain.

"Please don't make a scene," he said. "I'll call you later."

I looked at him one last time with tears gathering in my eyes.

Then I walked out.

I didn't take my earrings.

I didn't even remember why I'd come there until I was standing inside the elevator, staring at my reflection in the mirrored wall.

My phone rang.

Olivia.

I answered, trying to make my voice sound normal.

"Where are you?" she asked. "We're almost ready. You promised you'd help me arrange the tables."

"I'm sorry. Something came up."

"Is everything okay?"

I pressed my lips together.

"No," I wanted to say. "Everything is falling apart."

Instead, I told her I wasn't feeling well and promised to call her later.

When the elevator doors opened, I walked to my car.

I sat behind the steering wheel and fought tears for several minutes without starting the engine.

I had spent seven years loving Julian Sterling. We loved each other.

I had helped him build his company when nobody believed in him. I'd stayed up with him when he was worried about money, encouraged him when he wanted to give up, and celebrated every small victory like it were my own. And now he was in bed with another woman, asking me not to make a scene.

I started the car and drove home even as the anger continued to grow in me.