Chapter 1

The check felt heavy in my hand. One million dollars.

Eleanor Ashford, Victoria' s mother, sat across from me in the cold, white living room of the Park Avenue penthouse.

Her eyes were like chips of ice.

"Mr. Miller," she said, her voice smooth, but with an edge. "This is for your departure."

She didn' t smile. She never smiled at me.

"Leave New York. Leave Victoria' s life. Never return."

Her words were precise, like a surgeon' s cuts.

This was it. The end of a line I didn' t even know I was walking until it crumbled under me.

I looked at the check again. My name, Ethan Miller, typed neatly.

One million dollars.

Enough to disappear. Enough to start over.

Enough to finally admit defeat.

I nodded slowly. "Alright, Mrs. Ashford."

My voice sounded hollow in the huge room.

She gave a small, satisfied nod. No emotion. Just business.

The business of erasing me.

As I stood to leave, my mind flashed back.

Three years ago. Rain. So much rain.

Brooklyn. My cramped studio. The smell of damp concrete and cheap coffee.

That was before Victoria Ashford, heiress, reappeared in Vic' s life.

Before the money, the penthouses, the cold shoulders.

Before Vic, my Vic, started to fade.

Back then, she was just Vic.

No last name she could remember.

Just wide, scared eyes and a cut on her forehead.

I found her by her wrecked car, the storm raging around us.

She didn' t know who she was. Complete amnesia.

I took her in. What else could I do?

My place was small, my wallet usually empty. A struggling musician.

But Vic... she was warm. Real.

We shared instant noodles and cheap wine.

We laughed a lot.

She believed in my music, even when I didn' t.

Her hand, warm in mine, as we walked through Prospect Park.

The way she' d hum tunes I was working on, off-key but full of heart.

That was the wealth we had. Not money.

Love. Pure and simple.

I pawned my grandmother' s vintage guitar pick years ago, a stupid mistake.

One day, Vic came home, eyes shining, holding that exact pick.

She' d seen it in a dusty shop window, worked odd jobs for weeks, saved every penny.

Just for me.

That was Vic.

The Vic who got "E.M." tattooed on her inner wrist, a tiny, secret promise.

The Vic I loved.

The Vic who was gone.

Now, Victoria Ashford sat across from me at charity galas, a stranger in a designer dress.

This new Victoria was all sharp edges and cool smiles.

Her laughter, once warm, now sounded like ice clinking in a glass.

She moved through her world of wealth and power like she was born to it.

Because she was.

I just hadn' t known.

And Spencer Hayes was always by her side.

Heir to some banking fortune. Eleanor' s pick.

Tall, blond, with a smile that never reached his eyes when he looked at me.

The tabloids loved them. "Power Couple," the headlines screamed.

Victoria and Spencer at some gallery opening. Victoria and Spencer at a polo match.

Always together. Always perfect.

The first time I saw one of those photos, a glossy magazine left open on the marble coffee table, it felt like a punch.

"Don' t be jealous, Ethan," Victoria had said, her voice cool, distant.

She didn' t see the hurt. Or maybe she didn' t care.

The warmth Vic had for me was buried deep under layers of Ashford.

Replaced by Victoria' s ambition. Her duty. Her mother' s expectations.

We were at a charity auction. One of those high-profile events.

Chandeliers dripped crystals. Champagne flowed.

I felt like a ghost in my old, worn suit.

Victoria was radiant, talking to a circle of people whose clothes cost more than my yearly rent.

I saw her adjust Spencer Hayes' s bow tie. A small, tender gesture.

The kind she used to do for me.

My stomach twisted.

I tried to move, to get some air, and knocked over a small ice sculpture.

It shattered on the polished floor.

Silence. Everyone stared.

Victoria turned, her face a mask of annoyance.

"Ethan! Can' t you be more careful? You' re causing a scene."

Her voice was sharp, loud enough for everyone to hear.

My face burned.

Spencer Hayes smirked, then "accidentally" spilled his champagne down the front of my jacket.

My favorite jacket. Worn, but cherished.

"Oh, terribly sorry, Miller," he said, his voice dripping with false apology. He subtly mocked my worn clothes.

"It' s just a little champagne. Don' t be so sensitive, Ethan," Victoria said, siding with him.

She didn' t even look at me. She just turned back to Spencer, smiling.

Each word was a cut. Deeper than the last.

The million dollars in my hand suddenly felt like the only real thing in the room with her mother.

The price of my dignity.

The cost of my exit.