Chapter 1

It had been days since Ruth Jensen had seen Zeke Carlton. Her gaze swept over him. He wore black, his shoes still caked with the mud from mountain trails.

Calvin Ward, on the other hand, was in a bespoke seasonal suit, one arm wrapped around Ruth's waist. His eyes were full of mockery.

Zeke said calmly, "I'm not jealous, Ruth. I'll leave after taking my stuff."

A flicker of panic flashed in Ruth's eyes at how pale he looked, but she let out a cold laugh a second later. "You used to get all jealous to my face. Are you switching things up and playing hard to get instead?"

Zeke picked up the paperweight from the desk. It was a keepsake from his grandmother, Margaret Smith.

"Like I said, I'm not jealous. I'm not playing games, either. From here on out, I won't take another cent from you. However much you blow on Calvin has nothing to do with me anymore," he said.

Ruth's breath caught, and a flare of anger followed. She snapped, "How many times do I have to tell you that the money I spend on Cal is for work? You always lose it over this one thing! Is it because I called you out last time for lying about that medical bill? You're really something, Zeke."

Lying?

Zeke let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

The "lie" Ruth meant was when he'd scrambled for money to pay for Margaret's surgery when she was critically ill. By then, thanks to Calvin's manipulation, Zeke was receiving only 300 dollars a month.

The surgery would have cost 500,000 dollars. Every time Zeke had gone to Ruth for money and begged her over and over, she'd just taken it as him throwing a jealous fit over Calvin.

"Zeke, I told you that Cal's like a brother to me, and you promised me you'd knock off your antics. As for money—we'll talk once you learn to behave."

While Margaret had lain in the ICU, hovering between life and death, Zeke had set up a video call and dropped to his knees on camera, begging Ruth to give him that 500,000 dollars.

But Calvin was the one who'd picked up. "Your jealousy has gotten so bad that you've resorted to putting on an act, Mr. Carlton? Too bad Ms. Jensen is about to take me to an auction. We don't have time to play along."

Zeke snapped out of the memory as Ruth's cool voice rang in his ear. "Enough of this. Today's party is both a birthday celebration for Cal and a celebration of his success. You should head back. Once I'm done here, I'll visit your grandma at the hospital with you."

Visit Margaret?

She still had no idea that Margaret had been dead for seven days. In fact, Margaret had died the day Zeke had begged Ruth for the surgery money—the day Ruth had been overseas partying it up with Calvin.

That day, Margaret had died alone in a cold hospital room, and Zeke had broken down so hard he'd passed out from crying more than once. Meanwhile, a video of Ruth and Calvin blowing millions of dollars at the auction had gone viral.

Zeke let out a derisive snort. "Don't bother, Ruth. Cut the act."

Ruth's face darkened instantly, and Calvin jumped in right on cue to fan the flames. "What do we do, Ruth? Is Zeke mad again because you bought me something?"

She gave a chilly laugh. "Don't worry about it. It's your birthday, so spoiling you is the least I can do. I'll buy that limited-edition sports car you had your eye on last month."

Calvin lit up and slung an arm around her, grinning from ear to ear.

Zeke couldn't stand their affectionate act for another second. He turned on his heel and walked out.

He didn't even have money to put up a gravestone for Margaret, so all he could do was temporarily leave her urn and photo at a chapel for safekeeping. Then, he pressed his palms together and bowed to the priest beside him.

"Father, please help me look after my grandma for a month. I'll pull together the money for her grave and headstone within that time and bring her home."

In a month, he would leave to volunteer in Fredove for a wildlife conservation program. After that, he and Ruth would be done for good.