Chapter 1

Three years. That' s how long it had been since I walked out on David Chen. The memory that pushed me out the door was still sharp, a clean wound that no longer hurt but had left a permanent scar. It was a Tuesday afternoon. The sun was streaming into our minimalist, million-dollar living room. Jessica Lee, his childhood friend, was visiting. She' d pointed to the antique silver locket around my neck, a piece my grandmother had given me.

"That' s so old-fashioned, Sarah," she' d said, her voice dripping with fake pity. "It really doesn' t go with David' s modern image."

David, without a moment' s hesitation, looked at me.

"Take it off," he said. It wasn' t a request.

I froze. I told him it was my grandmother' s. He just shrugged, a casual dismissal that cut deeper than any shout.

"Jessica' s right. It' s ugly."

To appease her, to prove some point I never understood, he took it from my hands. He didn' t just put it away. He walked to the kitchen, dropped it into the garbage disposal, and flipped the switch. The grinding sound was the end of our marriage. I packed my bags and took our son, Leo, that same day.

Now, three years later, I was back in the same city, standing in the grand hall of the St. Regis Hotel for the International Jewelry Design Competition. It was the most prestigious event of the year, and my collection, 'Resilience,' had made it to the final round. I was no longer Mrs. Chen, the quiet wife of a tech mogul. I was Sarah Miller, a designer in my own right.

"Sarah?"

The voice was familiar. I turned slowly. David Chen stood there, looking just as handsome and wealthy as ever in a tailored suit. A flicker of something I couldn't name crossed his face.

"I didn' t expect to see you here," he said, his eyes scanning me from head to toe.

"The world is a small place," I replied, my voice even.

"You look... good," he said, a little surprised. He probably expected me to be struggling, a single mother barely making ends meet.

I just nodded, offering nothing more.

"I' ve been looking for you, Sarah," he continued, stepping closer. "I heard you were back in town. About the locket... I was wrong. I can get you another one. A better one. Any diamond you want."

His words were hollow. He thought money could fix the part of him that was broken, the part that chose a sycophant' s fleeting approval over his wife' s history.

Before I could answer, a small hand slipped into mine.

"Mommy, who' s this?"

Leo, now a bright seven-year-old, looked up at David with curious eyes. He didn' t remember him. I had made sure of that.

David' s face softened for a second, then hardened again as he processed Leo' s question.

"Leo, I' m your..."

"I already have a dad," Leo interrupted, his voice clear and confident. He pointed across the ballroom. "He' s over there, talking to the man with the shiny head. He said he' d get me a strawberry tart after you were done with your speech."

David' s gaze followed Leo' s finger. He saw Michael Thompson, the CEO of the Thompson Corporation, the very man whose company was sponsoring this entire event. Of course, David didn' t know our connection. Nobody did.

David' s jaw tightened. He looked back at me, his eyes full of disbelief and accusation.

"You replaced me? With him?" he hissed, his voice low and angry. "You moved on that fast? And you let my son call another man 'dad' ?"

The arrogance was stunning. He thought three years of silence, three years after he shattered a piece of my soul in a garbage disposal, was 'fast.'

"My life is my own now, David," I said, my voice cold. I squeezed Leo' s hand.

"Leo, honey, why don' t you go find Uncle Ben? He' s near the dessert table. I' ll be there in a minute."

Leo nodded, gave David one last suspicious look, and darted off into the crowd. I trusted Michael' s head of security, Ben, with my son' s life.

Once Leo was gone, I turned my full attention back to David. The noise of the ballroom seemed to fade away. It was just me and the ghost of my past marriage.

I used to love him. I remembered a time when his smile made my day, when the thought of a future with him was all I wanted. That girl was gone now. He had destroyed her along with the locket.

Looking at him now, at his handsome face twisted with anger and entitlement, I felt nothing. Not hatred, not love, not even sadness. Just a profound, quiet emptiness where my feelings for him used to be. It was liberating. He no longer had any power over me.