Chapter 3

This penthouse, with its panoramic view of Apex Harbor, was supposed to be our marital home. The one I had chosen for us.

Every detail reflected the life I had imagined for us.

Now, every inch of it felt like a knife twisting in my gut.

I didn't own many things here. They barely filled a single suitcase.

But there was more to throw out than to keep.

It was late by the time I finished packing, and I saw the flood of missed calls from Miles.

I didn't have to guess why. He was calling to chew me out for ratting on him to Eleonora.

I tossed the key card onto the entryway table, ready to drop a crystal box filled with our photos into the shredder.

Only to have Miles and Kate burst through the door.

The crystal box shattered on the tile floor, sending sharp shards flying.

A shard of glass sliced open my ankle, and blood welled up instantly.

Miles instantly shielded Kate behind him, his voice low and accusatory.

"Harper, are you crazy? Didn't you see Kate standing right there? What if she got hurt?"

He completely ignored my bleeding ankle, crouching instead to check if Kate's dress was dirty.

I had no interest in watching him dote on her. I grabbed my suitcase and turned to leave.

The sight of my suitcase seemed to jolt him. He shot up and grabbed my wrist.

"Harper, where do you think you're going?"

Just as I was about to shake him off, his phone rang.

The screen lit up with Eleonora's name.

He frowned and answered. "Enough. I heard you. Everything will proceed as planned. I'll make her cooperate. Now stay out of it."

After hanging up, he turned back, his eyes, the same ones that once made me fall for him, now fixed on me.

"Harper, my mother has given a direct order. The wedding of the century goes on as planned tomorrow."

His tone softened.

He caressed the back of my hand with his thumb, a familiar gesture he used to get his way with me.

"Baby, help me one last time. We go through with the ceremony as planned, but when it's time for the vows, you leave me at the altar. Okay?"

"My mother has a soft spot for you. If you're the one who leaves me at the altar, she can't blame me. Then I can tell the family I married Kate in a fit of rage after you publicly humiliated me."

A wave of shock washed over me. I couldn't believe this grotesquely selfish proposal came from the man I had supported for eight years.

But then I remembered he was already Kate's husband.

This kind of absurd calculation was perfectly in line with his usual cowardice and greed.

Whatever he did had nothing to do with me anymore.

Since I was leaving anyway, I might as well grant him this one last favor.

"Fine."

My agreement must have been too quick, because it seemed to cool his overheated brain.

He finally noticed the shattered pictures on the floor, photos of us from the day we met until now.

He also saw the bright trail of blood running down my leg from my ankle.

Panic and guilt flickered in his eyes before he disappeared into the other room, returning with a first-aid kit.

The moment he was gone, Kate leaned against the spiral staircase, her chin tilted in a challenge.

"Harper Romano, you're just a sore loser. You know Miles is my man now, but you still want to hog the spotlight at the ceremony."

"So what if that old bitch protects you? She can't stop the family from accepting me eventually."

"Tomorrow, all eyes will be on me. The title of the most powerful woman in Apex Harbor belongs to me."

"And you? You'll be thrown out like a stray dog."

"And don't even think he'll take you back in three years. Because..."

She placed a hand on her flat stomach, her smugness impossible to hide. "This baby is the rightful heir to the Sterling family."

I lowered my eyes, hiding the sudden sting of tears.

I was right all along. Miles had been lying to me from the start.

It was obvious whose child it really was.

And all these years, he'd treated me like a fool, and still had the nerve to ask me to wait another three years.

A quick calculation placed the conception right around the time Miles stayed out all night.

That was the first time he'd ever forgotten our anniversary. He said he was tied up with family business.

He came back the next morning, reeking of alcohol and exhaustion, and pressed me against the floor-to-ceiling window, taking me with a fierce, almost desperate passion.

Afterward, he proposed with a pink diamond and promised me the most extravagant wedding of the century.

He said he had already submitted the marriage contract to the Romanos. Soon, I would be his bride.

I had waited eight years for this day.

My joy instantly suppressed all the unease in my heart.

But that night, when I brought him his pajamas after his shower, I clearly saw a dark red mark on his chest.

When I asked him about the suspicious marks on his chest, he swore a cat at the family estate had scratched him.

He even showed me the record of his rabies shot from that day to prove it.

I loved him, so I chose to believe him.

But my gut told me I was on thin ice.

A voice in the back of my mind kept warning me that the only reason he was finally marrying me was to make up for his betrayal.

I loved him, so I was afraid to find out the truth. I didn't dare to investigate. But I needed his absolute loyalty.

So, in the end, I used my family's intelligence network to track his movements.

And just as I'd suspected, all his so-called confidential meetings and family business took place at Kate's apartment.

I was waiting for him to confess, to come clean with me himself.

That's why I wasn't surprised when he didn't show up for the rehearsal dinner.

When he texted that he was getting married, I played along.

"Move."

I had no desire to waste another breath on Kate. I just wanted to get out.

But just as Miles rushed back in with the first-aid kit, Kate grabbed my wrist, let out a piercing scream, and threw herself backward, tumbling down the long, winding staircase.