Chapter 2

Just as a sliver of composure returned, the lounge doors opened with a flourish.

Ethan strode in, Chloe clinging to his arm like a designer handbag. He spotted Ava immediately.

His face, once familiar and loved, twisted into a sneer.

"Well, well, look who it is," Ethan said, his voice loud enough to turn heads. "Ava. Didn't expect to see you slumming it after your little tech dream went bust."

Chloe giggled, a high-pitched, artificial sound.

Liam stiffened beside Ava.

"Ethan, this isn't the place," Ava said, her voice low.

"Oh, but it is," Ethan said, stepping closer. He reeked of expensive cologne and arrogance. "Perfect place to run into my desperate stalker."

Ava flinched. "Stalker?"

"Yeah," Ethan said to Chloe, but loud enough for everyone. "She was obsessed with me. Couldn't let go, even when I told her it was over. Sad, really."

Chloe looked Ava up and down with disdain. "Some people just can't take a hint."

Ava' s mind reeled. This was the man she rescued from a dead-end job, whose stepfather' s gambling debts she' d quietly helped manage. She' d poured her own money, money her family didn' t even know she was using so freely, into his music career, his studio time, his instruments.

She remembered his constant insecurities about her then-greater financial means, how she' d downplayed her background, lived modestly with him to make him feel comfortable.

And the irony, her startup, NovaSpark, had collapsed partly because her grandfather, Arthur, was subtly pulling strings, wanting her to join Innovate Corp. She hadn't known that then.

All she knew was that NovaSpark's failure coincided with the day she planned to propose. The day Ethan' s song went viral. The day he publicly started wooing Chloe.

Now he stood there, dripping in new money from some distant Hamilton branch, calling her a gold-digger when she' d been the one supporting him.

The words felt like shards of glass in her heart.

"Ethan, you know that's not true," Ava said, her voice trembling despite her efforts.

"Oh, spare me," Ethan scoffed. "Always the victim, Ava."