Chapter 1

“The Laurent? You mean that members-only place? I heard you can’t even get a table without someone to recommend you.”

“Vivian, your boyfriend must be loaded.”

The coworkers marveled one after another, and Vivian quickly said, “Got it,” and hung up in a hurry.

She was so worked up that she knocked over the wine glass beside her, spilling wine all across the table.

“He just got his bonus, so he splurged this once. We’re just ordinary people.”

She kept her head down, pulling out a tissue to dab at the wine stain on her skirt, never daring to look up at me.

“That’s still spoiling you, though! Who else would blow their hard-earned bonus on a single dinner?”

“A place like that, only someone like Mr. Blackwood goes there regularly. Right, Claire?”

A coworker looked at me.

I held my glass, took a small sip with my head lowered, and spoke softly.

“Yeah. He used to go there a lot.”

Then I set the glass down and turned to Vivian, whose face had gone slightly pale.

“He just never once invited me.”

“I always thought that place was only good for business deals, as far as he was concerned.”

I gave a faint smile.

“Guess I had it wrong.”

When I finished, the whole room went quiet.

I knew everyone had recognized the voice on the other end of Vivian’s phone. It was Adrian.

His voice was easy to place. Low and rough.

They’d all been taking orders from him for years, so they knew it by heart.

They just didn’t dare say so.

Vivian’s face flushed red at once.

“Claire, don’t get the wrong idea. My boyfriend’s voice does sound a little like Mr. Blackwood’s, but it really isn’t him.”

“And a man like Mr. Blackwood, why would he ever look twice at me? So...”

“Enough.”

I cut her off.

“It was just a joke. No need to get so worked up.”

“Adrian told me he has an important business dinner tonight. He wouldn’t have time for The Laurent.”

After that, I didn’t spare Vivian another glance.

Everyone could tell I didn’t want to keep going with the topic, so they quickly started talking about a movie that had just come out.

I leaned back on the couch and watched Vivian sitting in the corner, head down, thumbs flying across her phone.

I had no idea who she was messaging, or about what.

Just then, my phone lit up with a message.

It was from Adrian.

[Got a meeting tonight. Get some sleep early.]

Reading that line, I gave a self-mocking little smile.

Seven years together, all right. Even our lies were perfectly in sync with each other’s.

I didn’t reply. After settling the bill, I got up and left the room early.

Stepping out of the restaurant, the night wind hit me head-on, and the alcohol left me a little unsteady on my feet.

I braced myself against the rough wall and walked on, until I suddenly heard the faint sound of a piano.

The Laurent was right there on the corner.

A few understated luxury cars were parked outside, and a valet bent down to open a door for a guest, his movements smooth and refined.

I stood there, and suddenly thought back to years ago.

Back then Adrian and I had just failed at our first startup, counting every coin just for the bus fare home.

We’d walked past this very spot hand in hand, neither of us saying a word.

Until a warm, golden light blocked my path.

Behind the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, candlelight and flowers glowed in the warm gold light like another world.

Adrian had looked down at me for a long moment, then suddenly gripped my hand.

He said, “Claire, one day I’ll walk you in there myself, your hand in mine.”

I gave a self-mocking smile.

When I looked up again, a familiar Porsche pulled up at the entrance.

Adrian got out, circled to the other side, and opened the door for Vivian.

She took his arm, and with the attendant leading the way, walked into The Laurent.

Through a pane of glass exactly like the one in my memory, I watched Adrian lean down and fasten a necklace around her neck.

That necklace. I’d once stood in front of the display window staring at it for the longest time.

Under the lights, Vivian blushed and lowered her head.

Adrian leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.

So he hadn’t forgotten those promises after all. He’d just found someone else to keep them for.

And thinking about it, I felt no grievance, no anger. Only exhaustion.

I quietly drew my gaze back and kept walking, letting the piano music fade slowly behind me.