Chapter 9

Vivienne's business trip lasted a week. On the final night, she stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of her hotel suite, a myriad of emotions swirling in her eyes.

Without Julian, nothing had felt right. Not the breakfast, the coffee, or the fragrance in the room. She'd stayed at this hotel many times and never had a complaint. When she asked at reception, she learned why: Julian had always arranged her breakfasts, coffee, and favorite aromatherapy himself. Because she woke so early on business trips, he often started before dawn.

She'd been miserable all week. Then, at the farewell dinner, her business partners began talking about the things her husband had done.

"Julian didn't come this time? He's usually so attentive."

"Remember the snowstorm at Eastlake Lodge last year? Ms. Sterling collapsed from gastritis, and every road down the mountain was blocked. Julian carried her all the way down on his back. He walked through snow all night. His feet were covered in blisters when he reached help."

"And the winter before, when she was hospitalized with a fever? Julian negotiated that impossible project himself. He's allergic to alcohol, but he drank with the investors until an ambulance had to take him away. That's what finally closed the deal."

"He even found those rare mineral specimens she collects. Every year he had a friend of mine overseas get one from his lab for her birthday. He traded paintings he'd collected for over a decade to secure them."

Story after story came out. Each ended with the same message.

"You have a wonderful husband, Ms. Sterling. Treasure him."

Her grandmother had said the very same thing.

Apparently everyone knew how much Julian loved her. Everyone except Vivienne.

When she'd woken in the hospital after the blizzard, only Clara had been at her bedside. She hadn't even known about the blocked roads or that Julian had carried her down the mountain. She'd credited someone on her staff with closing the difficult deal. And the anonymous minerals she'd received each birthday? Those had been from him too.

For the first time, she grasped how much he'd given to a marriage she'd barely considered worth her attention.

She wanted to see him. She wanted to ask why he'd never told her any of it.

The next morning, she took the earliest flight back to Larkmoor. She was restless the entire journey, yet beneath the anxiety was an unfamiliar anticipation.

As she hurried through the arrivals hall, she spotted a familiar figure.

"Vivienne! Over here!" Elliot waved happily.

She stopped. On his hand was a ring she knew too well.

Vivienne grabbed his fingers. "Where did you get this?"

Elliot flushed, then looked confused. "I thought this was what you wanted."

"What are you talking about?"

"Julian proposed for you a few days ago. He gave me your ninety-nine gifts and your wedding ring. He said you'd always loved me, and he was stepping aside." Elliot smiled nervously. "I've finally understood my own feelings. I don't want to be just friends anymore. Vivienne, let's be together."

Her mind went numb.

Julian had proposed to Elliot? Stepped aside? After everything he'd done for her, how could he simply give up?

Terror gripped her. Before Elliot could get another word out, she hurried past him and out of the airport.

She drove home in half the usual time, barely aware of the road. At the mansion she abandoned her car with the door hanging open and rushed inside.

"Julian!"

Only her own voice answered.

Everything that belonged to him was gone. On the coffee table lay a divorce agreement, signed by Julian.