Chapter 3

Dominic looked taken aback.

He studied my face, his brow furrowing, as though he expected tears or an accusation to follow.

I had no more explanations to give him.

After a moment, he gave a quiet scoff.

“You’d better mean it.”

He walked past me toward his bedroom.

I waited until his door closed before picking up my phone again.

Of course I meant it.

My flight left in three days.

After that, Dominic would never have to worry about me coming between him and Angela again.

The next morning, there was a woman on the living room sofa.

Angela sat with Dominic’s jacket draped over her shoulders, her face tilted toward him. He stood beside her, listening as she spoke.

There was a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

Once, I would have spent the rest of the morning wondering when he had last smiled at me like that.

Now I noticed the security guard outside the elevator and the overnight bag beside the sofa.

She was staying.

Dominic straightened when he saw me and stepped in front of Angela, as though she needed protection from me.

“Angela’s had a rough few days. Her doctor wants her resting somewhere she can get proper care. I brought her here for now.”

Behind him, Angela pulled his jacket closer.

“I’m sorry to impose, Emilia. I haven’t been managing very well on my own. Dominic insisted.”

Her skin was pale, her voice soft. A prescription bag sat on the coffee table beside a glass of water.

I nodded.

“Then you should stay and get some rest.”

Dominic frowned, he was confused.

Angela’s eyes filled.

“I understand if you’re still upset with me.”

She lowered her gaze, rubbing a fingertip along the seam of his jacket.

“Is this about the necklace? I should never have told Dominic to give you that blue diamond after I turned it down.”

For a moment, I could only stand there.

That necklace was the only gift Dominic had given me in five years of marriage.

Then she looked up.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. If that’s why you don’t want me here, I’m sorry.”

She started to rise.

Dominic immediately reached for her shoulder.

“Stay seated.”

I looked at him.

The blue diamond necklace.

I remembered the evening he gave it to me.

My birthday.

His mother had insisted on hosting dinner at the Moretti estate. By then, Dominic had already missed two fittings and canceled three dinners with me, but I still dressed for him.

I chose the dark green gown he had once said he liked.

I kept checking the door.

An hour later, Dominic arrived with rain on his coat and an expression that made the conversation at the table falter.

I knew he had been called back from the hospital.

I knew he hadn’t wanted to come.

Still, I went to him.

I took his wet coat and asked a housekeeper for a towel.

“You’re soaked,” I said. “Let me get you something dry.”

He glanced past me at the flowers, the candles, the cake waiting on the sideboard.

Then he looked at my dress.

For a moment, he seemed almost ashamed.

“Your birthday.”

He reached into his coat pocket and took out a jewelry box.

“Happy birthday, Emilia.”

Inside was a blue diamond pendant surrounded by smaller white stones.

I had stared at it for so long that he finally asked whether I liked it.

I told him I loved it.

That night, I asked him to fasten it for me. His fingers brushed the back of my neck, and for the rest of dinner, I could barely stop touching it.

In my last life, I kept it through five years of marriage.

I thought it meant that somewhere beneath his resentment, he still wanted me as his wife.

Now I knew the necklace had never been meant for me. Neither had the happiness I’d imagined it promised.

“Emilia.”

Dominic was watching me.

Something uncertain crossed his face. His hand fell from Angela’s shoulder.

In my last life, hearing that would have left me in tears, asking Dominic why he’d let me treasure something he’d bought for another woman.

And he would have told me I was making too much of it.

But now, seeing a rare flicker of panic in Dominic’s eyes, I simply shook my head.

“If you’d like it back, Angela, it’s upstairs. I can have someone bring it down.”

Her lips parted.

“You don’t have to—”

“It’s fine.”

The necklace. The penthouse. The man standing between us.

I wasn’t going to fight her for any of them.

Dominic stared at me, his jaw tightening.

Angela raised an eyebrow. Clearly, that wasn’t the reaction she’d been hoping for.

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind me being here…” She slipped her hand around Dominic’s arm. “Could I borrow your fiancé for a little while? I’d love some fresh air.”

She leaned into Dominic, looking straight at me, openly daring me to object.

I had no reason to.

“Of course.” I said.

Dominic froze. Then his hand closed around my wrist.

“Emilia.”

He searched my face, his grip firm but not painful.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Behind him, Angela had gone quiet.

I looked down at his hand, then back at him.

“She’s weak, Dominic. She asked you to go with her.”

He didn’t let go.

I kept my voice calm.

“If I said no, wouldn’t you just accuse me of making a scene?”