Chapter 1

After Adrian Pierce turned down my fifty-second proposal, he rested a hand on my head and spoke in the same cool, detached tone he used for everything.

“Come on, Claire. People don't marry their pets.”

I had spent years believing Adrian's supposed diagnosis explained his distance. That was the excuse everyone around him used, and I had been foolish enough to accept it.

For seven years, I wasn't his partner. I was something he kept around.

For him, I walked away from a promising career in medical research and took a clinical job close to home.

Now I knew better.

The truth had nothing to do with a diagnosis.

He was perfectly capable of showing up for someone. He had simply never chosen to show up for me.

“Claire's a pet,” Adrian said from inside the private dining room. “Something pretty to keep around. Why would I marry her?”

Laughter followed.

“I've never tried being with anyone else. How am I supposed to know she's the best I can do?”

Then his voice softened in a way it never had for me.

“Besides, I made Nina a promise. On my twenty-eighth birthday, I'd ask her to marry me. Claire already has everything. Nina has no one but me. She's different. She's the one exception I'll always make.”

Nina Lawson was the adopted daughter of Adrian's mentor and the girl he had grown up with. The Lawsons had raised her as their heiress before discovering that she had been switched at birth with their biological daughter. When their real daughter was found, Nina was sent abroad.

And today was Adrian's twenty-eighth birthday.

I had come to surprise him.

Instead, he had surprised me.

Fine.

If he wanted Nina that badly, he could have her.

Seven years of devotion. Seven years of my life.

Happy birthday, Adrian. You could keep them.

***

Noise spilled through the half-open door. There were congratulations, flattery, and laughter at my expense.

My hand hovered inches from the brass handle, trembling so violently I had to curl it into a fist. I bit the inside of my lip until I tasted blood.

Seven years.

After seven years, what was I to Adrian Pierce?

Something convenient. Something disposable.

I forced back my tears and turned to leave. Before I could take two steps, a familiar woman appeared at the end of the hall.

“You must be Claire.” Nina Lawson widened her eyes as though this were a delightful coincidence. “Adrian talks about you all the time. Thank you for taking care of him while I was abroad.”

She linked her arm through mine before I could move away.

“Why are you standing out here? Come on. Let's go in.”

Her smile stayed sweet, but triumph flashed in her eyes.

“No, thank you. I have somewhere else to be.”

Someone inside heard us. The door swung open.

The room went silent.

A dozen strangers stared at me with expressions ranging from curiosity to open ridicule. Adrian looked from me to Nina, who was still holding my arm. For one unguarded second, confusion and something almost like panic crossed his face.

Then he pulled Nina behind him.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was low and warning. “I told you I'd celebrate with you at home tonight. This dinner is for Nina. Don't make a scene. We'll talk when we get home.”

Home.

As if we had ever truly shared one.

For seven years, I had asked him to acknowledge our relationship and introduce me to his friends. He always gave me the same answer.

“You don't take a skittish house cat into a crowded room. It'll only get sick.”

He had been right about one thing. I did feel sick.

My fingers loosened around the cake box.

I looked past Adrian at Nina. She wore a white wedding dress.

“Do women usually wear wedding dresses to welcome home dinners?” I asked.

Adrian's expression hardened. “What is that supposed to mean?”

In seven years, I had seen real emotion on his face only twice before.

The first was when Nina fell ill in France. Adrian had abandoned me in the emergency room after my car accident to fly to her side.

The second was when the Lawsons tried to arrange Nina's marriage to the son of another prominent family. Adrian got drunk for the first time in his life. By the following morning, every Pierce company had terminated its contracts with that family.

“You're reading too much into it, Claire,” one of his friends said quickly. “Nina always dresses like this.”

Nina's eyes filled with tears. “Claire, I didn't mean to...”

I stepped away from her.

Didn't mean to wear the dress? Or didn't mean for me to see it?

I was about to leave when Adrian caught the wrist of the hand holding the cake box.

“Claire.” He frowned. “That cake is loaded with sugar and saturated fat. It shouldn't even be in your hands.”

Adrian's need for control extended to my body. He tracked my weight, my meals, even my body fat. On my birthday, he let me have salad.

On the table sat a cheap supermarket cake covered in pink frosting. Crooked letters spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADRIAN, surrounded by lopsided hearts.

I looked at it, then at the cake in my hands.

Without a word, I dropped mine into the trash.

Then I walked away.

Outside, the cold night air hit my face. Tears finally spilled down my cheeks, but I let them fall only until I reached the end of the block.

Then I called Lucas Reed.

“That research position you offered me,” I said. “If it's still available, I accept.”

***