Chapter 1

The school fair buzzed with kids' laughter and the smell of popcorn, but a knot formed in my stomach.

Lily, my daughter, squeezed my hand, her eyes scanning the crowd.

"Is Daddy coming soon?" she asked, her voice small.

"He's trying, sweetie," I said, forcing a smile. "He has a very important product demo."

Ethan's text from an hour ago burned in my mind: "Swamped. Critical demo. Can't make it. Don't make Lily sad."

I had dressed Lily in her favorite yellow dress, the one Ethan said made her look like sunshine. I wore a simple sundress, something to blend in, like always.

For five years, I' d been Sarah Miller, wife of a rising tech exec, not Sarah Sterling, heiress. It was for him, for his pride, so he could feel he built everything himself.

Then I saw him.

Across the crowded lawn, near the cotton candy stand. Ethan.

He wasn't in a suit, looking stressed from a demo. He was laughing, his arm casually around Chloe, his colleague. Her son, Leo, a boy from Lily's class, was perched on Ethan's shoulders, squealing with delight. They looked like a family.

My breath caught. The noise of the fair faded.

My phone buzzed. A new text from Ethan.

"Saw you. Don't make a scene."

My hands started to shake.

Lily tugged my hand again. "Mommy, can we do the three-legged race?"

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak. We lined up. Chloe and Ethan were a few pairs ahead, Leo between them, though he wasn't racing with Ethan.

The whistle blew. Lily and I managed a clumsy rhythm.

As we passed Chloe, who was "cheering" Ethan on with another parent, her foot shot out. I stumbled, my ankle twisting, and went down hard. Lily cried out.

Pain shot up my leg, but the pain in my chest was worse.

Ethan rushed over, not to me, but to Chloe.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice full of concern. She' d feigned a stumble herself, a near miss.

He glanced at me on the ground, Lily trying to help me up.

"Sarah, be careful," he said, his tone sharp. "You almost made Chloe fall."

He helped Chloe "steady" herself. Someone nearby muttered, "What a gentleman, helping that lady."

The race organizer, flustered, looked at Ethan.

"The race result is void," Ethan announced loudly, then turned to Chloe. "Don't worry, I'll buy you and Leo anything you want later to make up for this."

He didn't even look at me again. Lily started to cry.