Karyn, with a show of magnanimity, insisted on taking the guest room. "The master bedroom is yours and Chace's, Ember. I wouldn't dream of intruding."

Chace praised her for being so "understanding" and "thoughtful," casting a look at me as if I should take notes.

I was in the kitchen, pouring a glass of water, my hand frozen mid-air.

"So I'm supposed to be okay with this?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. "Your fiancée is living in our guest room?"

Chace walked up behind me, trying to wrap his arms around my waist. "Don't be difficult, Ember. It's just for a little while."

I flinched away from his touch, stepping aside. "Don't touch me."

His arms dropped. For a second, he looked hurt, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance.

I turned and walked into the master bedroom, our bedroom, and pulled out my suitcase. I started packing, my movements stiff and robotic. I would stay the night, but tomorrow, I was gone. As soon as Keith Mosley arranged everything, I would be free.

Chace followed me into the room, a confused look on his face. "What are you doing?"

He saw the suitcase and his expression cleared, but not in the way I expected. He misunderstood completely. "Oh, I see. You're moving your things to the other guest room to make Karyn more comfortable. That' s very considerate of you, Ember."

Then he dropped the final bomb. "This will be our marital home after the wedding, so it's good for her to get used to it."

I stopped packing. I slowly lifted my head and looked at him, really looked at him. The man I thought I knew was gone. In his place was a stranger, a monster of selfishness and arrogance.

He thought I was packing my things to move into a smaller room in my own home to make way for his fiancée. The home he was now calling their marital home.

I didn't bother correcting him. What was the point? He was living in a different reality, one where his desires were the only thing that mattered.

"Okay," I said, my voice flat. I resumed packing.

He seemed surprised by my easy compliance. He was probably expecting a fight, tears, a scene. But I had no fight left in me. Just a cold, hard resolve.

His phone buzzed. He glanced at it, and a smile softened his features. A text from Karyn, no doubt. He typed a quick reply, completely forgetting I was even in the room.

I finished packing my essentials and went to the kitchen to make dinner. It was a force of habit. For four years, I had cooked for him almost every night.

Karyn emerged from the guest room bathroom, wrapped in a short, silk robe that barely covered anything. She feigned surprise at seeing me. "Oh! Ember, you startled me."

She clutched the robe theatrically, but it did little to hide her body. "I just love the showers here. So much pressure."

Chace came out of the living room, and his eyes immediately locked onto Karyn. A flicker of raw desire crossed his face.

He looked from her to me, dressed in my simple jeans and t-shirt. "You know, Ember, you could learn a thing or two from Karyn. You're always so... conservative."

The hypocrisy was staggering. This was the same man who used to get angry if my skirts were too short or my necklines too low. He said he didn't want other men looking at what was his.

Apparently, that rule didn't apply to his fiancée.

I ignored them and focused on dinner. I made his favorite dishes, the ones he always said tasted like home.

When I set the food on the table, Karyn wrinkled her nose. "Oh, is this what we're eating? It's all so... heavy. And oily. I'm trying to watch my figure for the wedding."

She pouted at Chace. "Honey, can you order me a salad from that place I like?"

"Of course, sweetie," Chace said instantly, pulling out his phone. He didn't even glance at the food I had spent an hour preparing.

I ate my meal in silence, a stranger at my own table.

They talked and laughed in French, a language I didn' t understand, effectively shutting me out. It was a deliberate, calculated cruelty.

Karyn then suggested opening a bottle of wine.

"Karyn, Ember is allergic to alcohol," Chace said, a rare moment of remembering a basic fact about me.

Karyn's eyes widened in fake surprise. "Oh, my goodness, I completely forgot! I am so sorry, Ember. I keep forgetting you're even here."

The insult was so blatant it was almost funny.

I put down my chopsticks. "I think I'll go for a walk."

I needed to get out of there before I suffocated.

As I stood up, Chace grabbed my wrist. He pressed his credit card into my hand. "Here. Go buy yourself something nice. Don't say I never do anything for you."

It was a payoff. A tip for my services.

As I walked to the door, I heard Karyn let out a tinkling laugh behind me.

Just before I closed the door, I glanced back. Chace had already moved to Karyn' s side, his hand tracing the line of her back, his eyes dark with a look I knew all too well.

The door clicked shut, sealing them in their world and me in my misery.

Chapter 3

You might like