Chapter 2

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to the hospital?! I'm busy enough as it is. Can you stop causing trouble for me?!"

Colton raised his voice as he strode toward me.

He didn't even ask why I'd gone. He only cared that I hadn't told him.

And what would have happened if I had? Would he have stayed away just to make sure I never discovered the truth?

Since when did going to the hospital count as causing trouble?

A bitter laugh escaped me, even as my heart ached.

After a long moment, I asked, "Why aren't you asking what I went there for?"

"What's there to ask? Your mother is gone. You've been miserable every day. It's perfectly normal to see a doctor and talk things through." He spoke casually as he sat down on the couch.

He picked up his glass, but I saw his wrist tremble slightly.

I stared at him and asked calmly, "If it's so normal, why are you so nervous about me going there? Is there something you're hiding from me?"

My throat went dry as memories of that afternoon flooded back.

Colton and I had been together for eight years.

He'd taken a bullet for me. I'd laundered money for him. I'd stood beside him as he went from a nobody to the Don of the Turner family.

He had promised that once everything settled down, he'd finally give me the wedding I deserved.

I trusted him completely. I thought all we had was each other.

Even when he moved out to stay with Beth, I convinced myself he was doing it to protect me.

Not once did I question him.

I wondered how much longer he would have kept lying to me if I hadn't seen the truth with my own eyes.

Colton paused, then deliberately relaxed his shoulders and took a sip of his drink. "What could I be hiding from you? I've just been exhausted lately.

"Beth is recovering slowly. When she's fully better, I'll come back.

"Don't overthink it."

The calmer he acted, the colder my heart became.

"How many months?" I asked.

Colton stared at me. A heavy silence fell between us. Then he stood and reached for his coat. "Stop imagining things. If you don't feel well, call my assistant and have her take you to the hospital. When Beth is completely better, I'll come back."

At the door, he stopped and glanced back at me. "And handle the wedding however you want. Tell me if you need more money."

Then he was gone. Silence swallowed the enormous estate.

The strength drained from my body, and I sank onto the couch.

The wind howled outside that night, and somehow, I felt the cold all the way to my bones.

I pulled out my phone, booked a flight to Boston, and accepted an offer to become the lead researcher on a medical team there.

Before Colton, medical research had been my entire life. I'd dreamed of becoming one of the best specialists in my field.

But I gave it all up for him and his family. I stayed by his side through every crisis, never knowing if either of us would survive the next day.

I'd planned to return to medicine after our wedding.

Now, there was no reason to wait.

Once everything was settled, I deleted all my wedding plans from my phone.

Then I messaged the priest at the church. "The wedding is off. You don't need to send over the marriage license."

The priest replied almost immediately. "Dr. Vance, are you sure? The wedding is almost here. If you cancel now, all your planning will go to waste."

I answered without hesitation. "I'm sure."

A year ago, when Colton and I decided to get married, he'd left every detail to me.

The dress. The venue. The rings. I handled it all.

Colton, meanwhile, devoted all his time and energy to Beth.

Back then, he'd taken my hand and said gently, "We have to handle this together right now. We'll get through it."

His words had touched me.

So I spent an entire year planning our wedding alone. Not once did he ask how it was going.

Now, I'd canceled it.

And unless I told him, he probably wouldn't even notice.