Chapter 6

The sun was a blinding glare through the hospital window when Chace and Karyn arrived the next day to pick me up.

"We're going to pick out dresses for the auction," Chace announced, his tone light and cheerful, as if the past few days of hell hadn't happened.

"I don't need a new dress," I said, my voice flat.

Karyn stepped forward, her smile saccharine. "Oh, but you do, Ember. You can't show up to an event like this looking... well, like you usually do. You need help."

Her words were a thinly veiled insult, painting me as a charity case with no taste.

Chace nodded in agreement. "Karyn knows about these things. You should listen to her."

I felt a wave of exhaustion. I remembered a time when Chace would have been furious at anyone who spoke to me that way. He used to say I was perfect just as I was. Now, he was her biggest cheerleader.

The change was so drastic, so complete, it felt like a betrayal all over again.

I gave a short, tired nod. "Fine."

At the exclusive boutique, Karyn immediately took charge. She pulled a garish, frilly pink dress from the rack.

"This would be perfect for you, Ember," she said, holding it up against me. "It' s so... sweet. Just like your personality."

The dress was hideous. It was something a teenager would wear, not a grown woman. It was a deliberate attempt to make me look foolish.

I looked at Chace, hoping to see a flicker of his old self. But he just smiled. "Karyn has great taste. You should try it on."

I ignored them. My eyes scanned the racks, and I saw it. A simple, elegant gown of deep crimson silk. It was bold, sophisticated, and powerful. It was everything I wanted to be.

I walked over to it, my hand reaching out. "I'll take this one."

Karyn's smile tightened. "Oh, no, Ember. That dress is not for you. It's too... aggressive." She turned to Chace. "Besides, I was thinking of trying that one on myself."

Chace hesitated for a moment, his eyes on me. "Karyn, let her have it. It's just a dress."

Karyn's lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes filled with tears. "But... but I wanted it. Don't you think it would look better on me, Chace? Am I not as beautiful as her?"

It was a masterful performance. The damsel in distress.

Chace immediately caved. He turned to me, his expression hardening. "Ember, stop being difficult. Just take the pink one. Karyn wants the red one."

"No," I said, my voice cold and clear. I looked at the sales associate. "I'd like to try this on. Size four."

The change in me, the defiance, seemed to stun them both into silence. I walked into the dressing room, leaving them standing there.

When I emerged, the entire boutique went quiet. The crimson dress fit me perfectly, clinging to my curves in all the right places. It made my skin glow and my eyes sparkle. For the first time in days, I looked in the mirror and saw a flicker of the old me, the confident architect with a bright future.

Chace stared at me, his eyes wide with an emotion I hadn't seen in a long time: pure, unadulterated desire. "Ember... you look..."

Karyn' s face was a mask of fury. "It doesn't suit her at all! It makes her look cheap."

She tried to get Chace to agree, but he was still staring at me, captivated.

Seeing she was losing his attention, Karyn resorted to her ultimate weapon: tears. She let out a choked sob and turned to run out of the store. "Fine! If you think she's more beautiful, then just be with her!"

Chace snapped out of his trance. He rushed after her, grabbing her arm. "Karyn, stop it. Of course, you're the most beautiful."

He comforted her, his voice soft and gentle. Then he turned to me, his face a cold, angry mask.

"Take it off," he ordered.

The sales associates were whispering, their eyes filled with pity and scorn. They thought I was the mistress, the homewrecker, trying to cause a scene.

"Why?" I asked, my voice shaking with rage. "Because she's crying?"

"Don't you dare talk about Karyn like that!" Chace snapped. "She is innocent and kind. You're the one causing problems."

He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a threatening whisper. "You are just the daughter of a homewrecker. Karyn's family is powerful. Do you want me to make a call and have your mother's grave dug up?"

I froze. He knew. I had told him everything about my mother, about the lies, about my pain. I had trusted him with my deepest wound.

And now, he was using it as a weapon against me. He was siding with the daughter of the woman who had destroyed my mother's life, and he was calling my mother a homewrecker to my face.

Because Karyn cried.

I looked at him, at this man I had loved, and I felt nothing but a profound, aching sadness. He would always choose her. He would always be willing to hurt me for her.

I lowered my head to hide the tears that threatened to fall.

He saw my submission and thought he had won. He shoved me into his car, the expensive dress still on me.

"I'll buy you the dress," he said, his tone softening slightly, as if that could fix anything. "And I'll get you a new car. Just behave tonight. Be sensible."

Four years of love. And all it was worth was a dress and a car.

I said nothing. The fight had gone out of me, replaced by a cold, numbing certainty. This was the end.