Chapter 2

Evan Carter's POV

After landing in Riverton, I headed straight for the address I'd found on Maya's phone.

On the way there, the driver told me we were entering the most exclusive neighborhood in the city, where some of Riverton's wealthiest families lived.

Just after I got out, a black luxury sedan cruised past me.

The rear window was lowered slightly.

Through the narrow gap, I caught a glimpse of Maya's profile.

I took off after the car.

A few blocks later, it pulled up in front of a sprawling mansion.

Maya stepped out.

She had changed into an elegant dress. A diamond ring glittered on her finger, and both her necklace and earrings were set with stones that caught the sunlight.

I'd never seen her dressed like that before.

Not once.

A man who looked like an assistant opened the car door for her. "Mrs. Whitmore."

I stood there frozen, unable to move.

A man in a tailored suit emerged from the mansion. Maya immediately rushed into his arms. "Honey."

Her voice was sweeter than I'd ever heard it.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him on the cheek. "So? How's the new air conditioner?"

He smiled. "Perfect. But of course it is. My wife picked it out for me."

My phone slipped from my hand and hit the pavement.

Maya's head snapped in my direction.

I quickly scooped up my phone and turned to leave.

Whatever happened, I refused to humiliate myself in front of them.

But in my rush, I missed a step and tripped. I scraped my knee badly enough to draw blood.

I sat there on the pavement, humiliated, gritting my teeth as I rubbed my aching leg.

Maya had lied to me again.

The small-town girl who'd come to Northbridge with nothing. The struggling young woman trying to make it in the big city.

It had all been an act.

She'd lived with me in a cramped rental. Clipped coupons with me. Saved every penny with me until we could finally afford a tiny fixer-upper in the suburbs.

Every month, she would hand me her entire paycheck.

I'd always felt guilty taking it, so I would insist on keeping only half and giving the rest back to her.

But the whole time, Maya had never needed the money at all.

My phone buzzed. A message from Maya appeared on the screen.

"Evan, I'm sorry about last night. Don't be mad at me, okay? I'll come home as soon as I'm done here."

My hands were shaking as I opened my browser and typed her name. The first result was an article about her wedding.

The headline read, "Wedding of the Century. Childhood Sweethearts Finally Tie the Knot!"

The article identified Maya Cullen as the heiress to the Cullen family fortune and the wife of her childhood sweetheart, Adrian Whitmore, the man at the helm of Whitmore Group.

The accompanying photo showed Maya in a breathtaking wedding gown covered in glittering jewels. She looked radiant.

The sight of it made my eyes burn.

When Maya married me, we had nothing. I'd never even worn a suit.

There had been no ceremony, no reception, and no wedding photos.

All we'd had was a marriage certificate that cost less than ten dollars.

The wedding had taken place two months ago. I remembered that day all too well.

I'd been involved in a rear-end collision while driving and had ended up in the hospital.

On the way there, I'd called Maya more than a dozen times. Her phone had been off every single time.

I went into surgery alone, pale with pain beneath the harsh operating-room lights.

Even after it was over, no one was waiting for me.

Maya didn't make it back from Riverton until the next day. Her eyes were red as she clutched my hand and apologized over and over again.

I'd never seen her like that before—so panicked, so shaken.

I'd thought she was devastated because she hadn't been there when I needed her.

Now I knew better. She'd been terrified because she had something to hide.

I pulled up the photo I'd taken outside the mansion.

Maya had her arms around Adrian's waist, smiling up at him. Sunlight fell across their faces, making them look like the perfect couple.

I didn't scream. I didn't call her and demand to know why she'd done this to me.

I simply sent her the photo.

Three seconds later, my phone rang. It was Maya.