Chapter 1

The ballroom buzzed, a hundred conversations a low hum under the crystal chandeliers.

Sarah Jenkins stood beside Mark Olsen, her hand tucked into his arm.

Her white dress felt perfect, their families mingled, champagne flutes clinked.

This was their engagement party.

Mark leaned into the microphone on the small stage.

"Friends, family," he began, his voice smooth, charming.

The room quieted.

Sarah smiled, her heart full.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate with Sarah and me."

A polite applause.

Mark' s smile tightened, just a fraction.

"I have an announcement to make."

He paused, for effect. Sarah squeezed his arm, a little nervous, excited.

"There's been a change of plans."

His eyes, usually warm when they met hers, were cold, distant.

"Sarah and I will not be getting married."

A gasp rippled through the room.

Sarah' s smile froze. Her hand slipped from his arm.

"What?" she whispered, her voice lost.

Mark didn't look at her. He addressed the crowd.

"It's become clear to me recently... Sarah is not well."

Murmurs started, confused, then speculative.

"She's been under a lot of... strain. Unstable. It wouldn't be fair to either of us to proceed."

Sarah stared at him, her mind reeling. This wasn't happening.

"Mark, what are you talking about?"

He finally glanced at her, a flicker of something ugly in his eyes.

"It's for the best, Sarah."

Then, his gaze shifted past her, to a figure stepping forward from the edge of the crowd.

Chloe Davis.

Sarah' s mentee from work, the quiet girl she' d helped, coached, taken under her wing.

Chloe moved to Mark' s side, her expression a careful mix of concern and triumph.

She placed a hand on Mark' s other arm.

"Mark has been going through so much," Chloe said, her voice surprisingly strong, addressing the guests. "He needs support, not more pressure."

Sarah felt the blood drain from her face.

The room swam.

Chloe? With Mark?

The whispers grew louder, uglier.

"Instability?"

"Always thought she was a bit... much."

"Poor Mark, he looks so stressed."

Sarah saw her parents' shocked faces, her friends' pitying stares.

The humiliation was a physical blow, stealing her breath.

Mark put his arm around Chloe' s waist.

"I hope you can all understand," he said, his voice firm now, almost righteous. "This was a difficult decision, but a necessary one."

He looked directly at Sarah then, his eyes like chips of ice.

"I' m sorry it had to be this way, Sarah. But I need to protect myself."

Protect himself? From her?

The words were a public branding.

Unstable. Unwell. Discarded.

Sarah stood alone, the beautiful white dress suddenly a costume of shame.

The buzz became a roar of gossip.

She wanted to scream, to deny, to fight.

But her throat closed.

Her legs felt weak.

She saw her mother start towards her, face pale with worry.

But Sarah turned, pushing through the stunned crowd, blind to their stares.

She had to get out.

The laughter, the whispers, the pity, it all chased her out of the ballroom, out of the life she thought she had.

The heavy doors closed behind her, muffling the sound of her public execution.

Her engagement was over.

Her reputation was in tatters.

And the man she loved, the man she was supposed to marry, had just destroyed her in front of everyone they knew, with her own mentee by his side.

The pain was a cold, hard knot in her chest.

She stumbled into the night, the word "unstable" echoing in her ears.