Chapter 2

Julian remained silent.

That was answer enough.

I did not wait any longer. I took off the ring and went home alone.

He had made his choice. There was no reason for this relationship to continue.

Sometime after midnight, Celeste posted an update on social media.

The photo showed a table covered with an elaborate dinner.

[Someone went to all this trouble. Lucky me.]

I recognized the dinnerware.

Every dish on the table was one of my favorites.

It was the celebratory dinner Julian had prepared for after I accepted his proposal.

I had suffered from stomach problems since childhood, so Julian had hired a nutritionist specifically for me. My meals were planned around my work schedule.

He had even learned to cook my favorite dishes himself.

In the five years we had been together, he had never allowed another woman inside his private home.

Yet on the very first night after his proposal fell apart, he let Celeste sit in the place that had been meant for me.

I could have left Mercer Holdings immediately, but I still had a project to finish.

Our relationship could end. My work still deserved to be seen through.

The moment I arrived at the office, several younger employees gathered around me.

“Ms. Bennett, was that fireworks display last night for you?”

“When are you and Mr. Mercer getting married?”

I did not answer. I opened my laptop and continued working on the unfinished investment report.

At lunchtime, my assistant glanced toward the door.

“Ms. Bennett, why hasn’t your nutritionist delivered lunch today?”

Only then did I realize Julian had canceled everything he had arranged for me.

He was waiting for me to give in.

I did not call him. I ordered myself a light lunch, ate on time, and returned to preparing the documents for the afternoon meeting.

Before I met Julian, I had been perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

When I left the office that evening, I found him leaning against his car.

Julian opened the passenger door for me as usual, as though nothing had happened the night before.

The temperature inside was set to seventy-three degrees, exactly how I liked it. There was a bottle of warm water in the cup holder and stomach medication on the passenger seat.

He still remembered every one of my habits.

But now, those small gestures only reminded me that I had to obey him if I wanted to keep receiving his love.

After I got into the car, his phone screen lit up.

For the past five years, his wallpaper had been a photograph of us standing outside the office on the day Mercer Holdings secured its Series A funding.

Now, it had been replaced with the default black background.

Julian noticed me looking.

“During the worst days of the startup, I used to look at that picture and think that as long as you were there, we could survive anything.”

“Now when I look at it, I realize I was naive enough to believe our relationship was that pure.”

His voice sounded indifferent, but his grip on the steering wheel visibly tightened.

Then he picked up a document beside him and dropped it onto my lap.

“But I still love you, and I’m still willing to marry you.”

“Sign this prenuptial agreement, and you can still become Mrs. Mercer.”